Technical Information

Maintenance
Products
TI No. WL 80-65 E January 2003

State-of-the-Art, Condition-Related Monitoring of Plants

and Machines with Digital FAG Vibration Monitors
Machine Monitoring with Vibration Monitors · Digital, Frequency-Selective
Vibration Monitoring

Machine Monitoring with Digital, Frequency-Selective In order to detect rolling bearing dam-
Vibration Monitors Vibration Monitoring age at an early stage, the envelope spec-
trum is calculated from the vibration sig-
An optimal utilization of production Detection of damage at an early stage nal. This signal is then broken up into its
plants can only be achieved through is only possible with frequency-selective frequency components. By defining nar-
maximum availability. In the past, opera- monitoring since minor damage or faults row frequency bands, the amplitudes of
tors usually evaluated the condition of cause an increase in the amplitudes of in- these components can be monitored. The
machines intuitively. However, the in- dividual, characteristic frequencies. Only characteristic value is referred to as selec-
creasing complexity of machines calls for by means of this method is condition-re- tive RMS value.
measuring methods that permit an objec- lated maintenance feasible. So the fre-
tive assessment. Vibration diagnosis is quency-selective method permits moni- Vibration monitors are already suc-
one such method. It helps operators to di- toring of specifically selected machine cessfully used with:
agnose damage at an early stage and en- parts.
ables them to initiate suitable measures • fans
while the plant is still operative. The examination of envelope signals is • centrifuges
particularly suitable for the detection and • gears
To this end, the machine noise is meas- analysis of shock pulses such as are • electric machines
ured by means of a sensor and evaluated caused, for example, by gear damage and • mills
by a vibration monitor. Faulty or dam- rolling bearing damage. • rolling mills
aged machine parts cause, as a rule, addi- • calenders
tional vibration. A discrete damage on a Damage can be identified at an early • pumps
rolling bearing, e.g. pitting in the race- stage by characteristic patterns in the fre-
ways, generates, when cycled, a periodic quency spectra of machine vibrations.
series of individual shock pulses. These
shock pulses induce structural resonances
of the bearing or of adjacent machine
parts. The pulse frequency or damage fre-
quencies are determined by the bearing
geometry and are proportional to the
bearing’s speed.

Conventional vibration monitors usu-

ally yield a sum level that is compared
with a previously defined threshold value.
If this threshold value is exceeded, an
alarm is triggered. This type of vibration
monitoring does not suffice to reliably
monitor the condition of complex ma-
chines with numerous components since
the broad-band RMS value (= root mean
square) changes only in the final stage of
a damage. Moreover, this method does
not work effectively with alternating
speeds.

Frequency-selective vibration monitoring with individually adjustable frequency

bands

FAG · 1
 Digital Vibration Monitor DTECTX1

Digital Vibration Monitor If a large part of the spectrum is taken

DTECTX1 into consideration when setting the width
of the frequency bands a broad-band
Today the DTECT series offers a characteristic value is obtained.
range of vibration monitors for applica-
tions where permanent frequency-selec- The vibration acceleration envelope
tive monitoring is desired but the utiliza- signal is obtained through a suitable
tion of more complex ONLINE systems configuration of the DTECTX1 device.
is out of the question for cost reasons. The frequency spectrum of the enve-
lope signal is evaluated with the LDZ
Various signal conditioning modules value. This enables the system to distin-
with an integrated sensor supply and an guish, for example, between the frequen-
amplifier with autoranging permit con- cy components measured for outer
nection of all commonly used accelera- ring, inner ring, rolling elements and
tion, speed and displacement sensors. The cage.
signal is sent to an A/D converter via a Device with different pickups
programmable antialising filter. The For monitoring in the time domain,
downstream digital signal processor carries various characteristic values such as
out a Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) • RMS All devices of the DTECT series, when
in real time and breaks the signal up into • peak value fitted with acceleration pickups, measure
its frequency components. This permits • peak-to-peak value the acceleration and are able to convert
monitoring of amplitudes within very nar- • steady component these into vibration velocity or vibration
row, defined frequency bands for previous- • crest factor displacement through integration.
ly defined threshold values and triggering can be calculated from the signal in the
of an alarm if these values are exceeded. DTECTX1 device. The characteristic val- When fitted with vibration velocity
ues are a yardstick of the intensity of the pickups, the measured velocity can be
The RMS value is used to evaluate the measured quantity within the selected converted into displacement.
raw signal. frequency band.
Depending on the version used, a
DTECTX1 device features, at most, two
so-called additional channels via which
process quantities like
• speed
• torque
• temperature
• pressure
or other physical quantities can be
recorded and used to validate the vibra-
tion characteristics obtained.

Broad-band monitoring

FAG · 2
Digital Vibration Monitor DTECTX1 · Remote Monitoring with DTECT

In practice, e.g. the speed-dependent Remote Monitoring with unplanned downtimes and increases the
tracking of the frequency bands and the DTECT availability and operational reliability of
setting of load- and speed-dependent machines.
alarm thresholds is effected in this way. DTECTX1 vibration monitors with a
remote-monitoring function permit users In addition, FAG offers an availability
Thus the DTECTX1 offers features to reliably identify damage and faults on guarantee for monitored rolling bearings
which were not offered before by vibra- machine parts without requiring the pres- regardless of the manufacturer.
tion monitors but only by considerably ence of a diagnosis expert.
more expensive online systems. DTECTX1 can be used with a fixed-
DTECTX1 devices automatically re- line modem, a mobile phone modem or a
There are two types of adjustable port changes via telecommunication lines satellite modem.
threshold values: pre-alarm and main to the operator, the plant builder or the
alarm thresholds. Each of these alarm service provider, regardless of in which With this version, the modem permits
thresholds can activate a switching relay. place on Earth they are used. remote access to the DTECTX1 at any
time. This holds both for saved and for
A main alarm delay can also be pro- Advantages of Remote Monitoring with presently measured data. The device can
grammed to suppress brief exceedances of DTECTX1 be re-parameterized at any time in order
the threshold values. to conduct additional measurements suit-
• Worldwide, cost-effective monitoring of able for solving a current problem.
Two analogue outputs display the plants
characteristic-value levels they were as- • Presence of vibration expert no longer Another DTECTX1 version can auto-
signed to or report the alarm status to a required matically issue an alarm if a threshold
process control unit. • Permanent availability of monitoring value is exceeded. The alarm can also be
data activated via SMS or e-mail.
A “traffic light” display in the front • Immediate activation of alarms via
plate of the housing with green, yellow telecommunication lines DTECTX1 devices are delivered in a
and red lights immediately indicates the rail housing for installation in switch cab-
monitoring status. Measured data can at any time be called inets or as a 19” slide-in module.
up from a distance and analysed by the
Additional information is provided for FAG diagnosis centre. This permits a cost- On request we also offer the system in
the user on a two-line LCD display. effective, condition-based maintenance. an IP66-protected housing with an inte-
grated mobile phone modem. The avail-
Remote monitoring saves time-con- ability of other designs will be indicated
suming and expensive journeys, prevents on inquiry.

Front plate of the housing

FAG · 3
 TCP / IP Link · DTECTX1 Basic Systems

TCP / IP Link DTECTX1 Basic Systems with monitored via a freely selectable input
2, 4 or 8 Channels channel.
With this type of link the data are
transferred via a network using TCP/IP The smallest version of the Of course it is possible to define sever-
protocol. It is available if the administra- DTECTX1 device features two input al monitoring configurations for a single
tor is linked to a PC network (Ethernet) channels to which any sensors and signals channel.
and if the X1 device is also linked to this with an output voltage of +/-10 V can be
network via an additional channel, the connected. For example, with a device featuring
so-called “comserver”. The comserver eight input channels and sixteen monitor-
makes the X1-device networkable. The recorded signals are transmitted ing configurations, the user can specify
This makes it possible to access the to the device’s signal-processing elements nine monitoring configurations for one of
DTECT from any PC connected to the via an internal multiplexer. the channels and only one for each of the
network. seven other channels.
If signals from more than two sensors
are to be processed, the sensors must be For every monitoring configuration
connected to the DTECTX1 device via the DTECTX1 device determines the
an external multiplexer. In this way up to characteristic values from the time and
eight sensors can be connected. frequency signals and saves them in the
configuration’s ring buffer. If speed-
A DTECTX1 device can save and au- tracked characteristic values are moni-
tomatically process up to sixteen moni- tored, the speed is also recorded as a sepa-
toring configurations. rate trend. So every buffer contains the
characteristic values, possibly with the
In a monitoring configuration the user corresponding speed, of a certain number
defines the channel, the quantity to be of measurements. This number is deter-
measured, the type of characteristic value, mined by the number of characteristic
the frequency bands and the alarm values obtained in every measurement.
thresholds for an X1.
To ensure that the characteristic values
Several DTECTX1 modules can be In each of these monitoring configura- are saved over an extended period, the
networked via Ethernet, using TCP/IP tions up to 12 frequency bands can be saving intervals can be defined in the
protocol, to form a plant monitoring sys- monitoring configuration.
tem that can be enlarged as required.
Up to 4 DTECTX1 devices can be
connected to a network (e.g. via a 4-port
HUB (router) and at the same time to a
modem (via the integrated router).

The logging of data and the automatic

evaluation - including activation of DTECTX1 DTECTX1 DTECTX1 DTECTX1
alarms - continues to be carried out local-
ly in the DTECTX1 modules.
The plant visualization software per- COM- COM- COM- COM-
mits the machine operator to see the con- SERVER SERVER SERVER SERVER
dition of the entire plant at a glance.

LAN 4-Port HUB (TCP/IP) LAN

Phone modem
or GSM port

FAG · 4
ADMINISTRATOR-Software

Administrator Diagnosis Soft- laptop and to save the data - both para-
ware for DTECTX1 meters and measured data - on this
laptop.

The ADMINISTRATOR software Unlike many other vibration moni-

package runs under Win95, Win98, tors, this system also enables users to
WinNT and Win2000. The central com- identify the causes of problems and to
ponent of Administrator is a configura- initiate suitable measures to avoid such
tion module, called X1–Explorer, by problems in the future.
means of which the device is configured
via a serial interface and data are output
by the watchdog system.

In the graphic component of the X1

Administrator, the X1-Viewer, the meas-
ured data can be displayed graphically.
The user is assisted by various zoom and
cursor functions such as difference cursor,
harmonics display, zoom with mouse,
zoom via dialogue box and zoom in x/y
direction.

The monitored frequency bands in the

spectrum are also visualized in the colour
indicating their current alarm status
(green: no alarm; yellow: pre-alarm; red:
alarm, see picture on page 3).

In addition, there is a list of the latest

alarms, which also indicates their ampli-
tudes, the exact times when they were
measured, and possibly the correspond-
ing speeds.

The parameters of the settings can be

saved in a database. This permits users to
configure any number of X1 devices via

FAG · 5
 DTECTX1 Device Versions · Options

DTECTX1 Device Versions Order code:

DTECTX1.SSNT2
• DTECTX1K2.12 (2 channels, 4 con-
figurations, 12 frequency windows,
speed tracking of the frequency win-
dows, envelope detector)

Order code:
DTECTX1K2.12

Optional: upgradeable to a maximum

of 16 configurations

• DTECTX1K4.12 (4 channels, 16 con-

figurations, 12 frequency windows,
speed tracking of the frequency win-
dows, envelope detector, 1 external
4-channel multiplexer)

Order code:
DTECTX1K4.12

• DTECTX1K8.12 (8 channels, 16 con-

figurations, 12 frequency windows,
speed tracking of the frequency win-
dows, envelope detector, 1 external
8-channel multiplexer)

Order code:
DTECTX1K8.12

Options:
• Switch cabinet incl. power supply unit
and wiring, IP66, sheet steel, powder
varnished, for 2-channel DTECTX1
+ modem
Dimensions in mm: 400x400x220
(width x height x depth)

Order code:
DTECTX1.SSNT1

• Switch cabinet incl. power supply unit

and wiring, IP66, sheet steel, powder
varnished, for 4-channel or 8-channel
DTECTX1 + modem
Dimensions in mm: 600x400x220
(width x height x depth)

FAG · 6
Options

• COMserver • Frequency-voltage converter

(speed, 0-100 Hz/0-600 rpm)
Order code:
DTECTX1.LAN Order code:
DTECTX1.TACHO

• Modem (standard telephone modem for • HUB (4-port HUB, TCP/IP router,
installation in switch cabinet) incl. RS232 interface)

Order code: Order code:

DTECTX1.MOD DTECTX1.HUB

• GSM modem (modem for installation • Low-pass module (12 frequency ranges:
in switch cabinet) 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500,
1000, 2000, 5000, 10000, 20000 Hz)
Order code:
DTECTX1.GSM Order code:
DTECTX1.AAF2

FAG · 7
 Technical Data

Technical Data optionally: DTECTX1.AAF2 yellow for “pre-alarm”,

5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 Hz, green for “no alarm”.
1 kHz, 2 kHz, 5 kHz, 10 kHz, 20 kHz
The vibration monitors are available in • Envelope detector with switchable HP
many versions. Therefore not all devices (750 Hz/2 kHz) (standard) Setting keys
feature all the features described.
Three keys on the front for para-
Signal amplifier meterizing the device, adjusting the dis-
Measured quantities and characteristic play during operation and alarm reset
values Adjustable from 1 to 1024, or autorang-
ing
Quantity measured by vibration pickups: System test
acceleration, convertible into vibration
velocity and vibration displacement A/D converter Automatic system test after system is
switched on
Calculation of the characteristic values in Resolution 12 bit, sampling rate up to
the time domain: 80 kHz
• RMS, peak value, peak to peak, steady Interfaces
component and crest factor
Memory RS232 (optionally RS485)
Calculation of the characteristic values in
the frequency domain: SRAM (non-volatile) ring buffer for diag-
• Effective value (RMS value) of accel- nosis characteristic values, spectrum and Field bus
eration, vibration speed and vibration time signal, EPROM program memory
displacement, broad-band in accord- Profi process field bus in preparation
ance with ISO 10816 1-3 (formerly
VDI 2056/ISO 2372) or selective FFT
• LDZ value (bearing diagnosis value), Temperature range
broad-band or selective 2048 lines
• Speed-dependent adjustment of the fre- Standard: 0 to 50 °C,
quency bands (position and width) Optionally: -20 to +70 °C
Outputs

Number of channels 2 switching outputs (relays, brake con- Housing

tact, make contact 30 V/5A) for main
DTECTX1 basic device with 2 channels, alarm and pre-alarm, analogue output Rail housing in accordance with DIN
4 channels or 8 channels with external can be assigned to a configuration, stand- 50022-35, 164x105x109 mm (width x
multiplexer ard 4 – 20 mA, optionally 0 – 20 mA, height x depth), mass < 1 kg or
0 – 5 V or 0 to 10 V, sensor raw signal to 19” slide-in module, power supply
BNC jack unamplified and buffered. 24 VDC/500 mA
Sensors

Standard piezoelectric acceleration pick- Additional inputs

ups and inductive vibration sensors as
well as other sensors (temperature, pres- 2 inputs for validation of the measured
sure, force, current, power) with voltage data, e.g. speed and power, are specified
output ±10 V max. Measuring ranges de- in separate ring buffer
termined only by pickups used

Display
Filters
LCD display: alphanumerical, 2 lines per
• 1 analogue antialiasing filter, Butter- 16 digits,
worth 24 dB/octave, adjustable via soft- LED “traffic light” display:
ware between 200 Hz and 10 kHz, red for “main alarm”,

FAG · 8
FAG Kugelfischer Georg Schäfer AG
Industrial Bearings and Services
Postfach 1260 · D-97419 Schweinfurt
Georg-Schäfer-Straße 30 · D-97421 Schweinfurt
Service-Hotline: Tel.: +49 2407 9149-99
E-mail: support@fis-services.de
www.fis-services.com

State-of-the-Art, Condition-Related Monitoring

of Plants and Machines with
Digital FAG Vibration Monitors
Every care has taken to ensure the correctness of the information contained
in this publication but no liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions.
We reserve the right to make changes that serve technical progress.

© by FAG 2003 · This publication or parts thereof may not be reproduced without our permission.

TI No. WL 80-65 E/99/1/03