Vibration analysis is an important tool that allows building engineers to monitor rotating equipment and identify potential problems early. By establishing a baseline vibration signature when equipment is functioning properly, future analyses can detect changes that signal issues like misalignment or bearing failure. This helps prevent catastrophic failures and saves money compared to reacting to breakdowns. Advances in software make collecting and analyzing vibration data more efficient and cost-effective by allowing remote data transfer and analysis. Regular vibration analysis is recommended for critical rotating equipment to catch problems in early stages.

1. Spring 2010 - Page 2
electric motor problems and defective bearings in the early
stages of failure. At a minimum, these problems could be
keeping the equipment from operating at maximum energy
efficiency. Worst case, some of these problems could lead
to catastrophic failures.
Vibration From the vibration analysis data, a baseline signature on
the equipment is established and future vibration analysis
Analysis? results are compared to the baseline to signal potential
problems. Fortunately, advances in the computer software
that works with the vibration analysis equipment provide
Why is it important? additional flexibility with how the data is recorded and
By Jeff McBrayer, President, used. Gone are the days where the service technician
Atmac Mechanical Services, LP needed to observe and analyze the data in the field. Now
the data can be transferred to the office with ease for
further reporting, analysis and recordkeeping. This
Building property managers and engineers are well flexibility makes the data collection process more efficient
aware of the state of the economy and have worked hard and has driven down its cost over time.
to do their part to manage property costs. However,
there is a balance between investing in preventive
maintenance or new equipment and responding to the
failures as they occur. This is especially tricky as it
relates to building mechanical systems in which failure
could result in tens if not hundreds of thousands of
dollars in losses. Fortunately, advances in technology
have given building engineers non-invasive means to
test equipment in order to identify problems before they
result in equipment failure. Vibration analysis is one of
the tools to help with this.
If you have rotating mechanical equipment that you
depend on to perform on a daily basis, it could be worth
the investment to perform a vibration analysis in order to
establish a baseline signature. Going forward, a vibration
analysis performed on a routine basis gives an idea of how
the equipment is performing relative to the baseline so
issues can be identified and addressed in the early stages.
PM Advantage
Wishes You and Yours
Similar to monitoring blood pressure to prevent a heart
attack, vibration analysis performed by a certified service
technician allows building engineers to record the
a Very Happy Holiday
vibration signatures of various rotating equipment and
analyze it. It is routinely performed on such equipment Season and a
as centrifugal water chillers, centrifugal water pumps,
vane axial fans and blower assemblies. With vibration
analysis, we can detect pump cavitation, mis-alignment
Prosperous New Year
PM Advantage Fall 2011 - Page 4