Online condition monitoring for detection of crack in the shaft using vibration analysis method

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to identify the crack in the shaft at incipient stage. Transverse crack is the most common type of crack found on the periphery of the shaft. The changes in dynamic behaviour of the rotor at high speed are enormous. The reliable operation of the machinery is paramount for the safety of individual and plant. Condition-based maintenance monitors the mechanical and operational condition of the machine. During such inspection, if any unhealthy symptoms are detected, then affected part is identified and taken out for the maintenance at most appropriate time.

Design/methodology/approach

Simulating the transverse crack of different depth and location is the most challenging part of the experimental analysis. To optimize the total experimental cost for simulation of crack in the shaft, inverted crack is proposed to be produced in shaft and investigation shall be carried out for of early crack detection in shaft using vibration analysis. The set of experiments has been conducted on healthy shaft, inverted cracked shaft and actual cracked shaft. Inverted crack methodology provides flexibility of simulating crack of any size and at any location, and it can be reconfigured for several times to obtain various set of results.

Findings

To derive objective of the study, steady state response analysis and transient response analysis are performed on the experiment test rig. Vibration signals are acquired from the bearing locations to detect the crack. The paper addresses the influence of the inverted crack on critical speed of the shaft and deviation of first and second harmonic component of the shaft because of introduction of inverted crack. The resultant Nyquist plots, orbit plots and frequency plots are compared with the baseline data (obtained with the healthy shaft) to identify the crack.

Originality/value

The present study focuses on methodology by which inverted crack is developed in the healthy shaft, which resembles the behaviour of actual crack, and it shall be used to study the changes in rotor stiffness caused by transverse crack. The experimental results obtained using the inverted crack shaft have same vibration characteristics but in reverse direction as it would have occurred with the cracked shaft.

Citation

Shah, B.A. and Vakharia, D.P. (2018), "Online condition monitoring for detection of crack in the shaft using vibration analysis method", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 70 No. 7, pp. 1193-1200. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILT-11-2017-0348