Maintenance Matters

Maintenance practices have been continually developing and the last decade has seen the most significant changes from digitisation of maintenance. The result of this is large amounts of data being created along with maintenance tasks.

Condition monitoring is being used widely within industry to determine the health of machinery while in operation. The key to a successful condition monitoring programme involves knowing what to listen for, how to interpret it and when to put this knowledge to use. SKF offers a range of solutions to assist in collecting vibration data.

BASIC HANDHELD TOOLS

SKF handheld condition monitoring tools, such as the SKF Machine Condition Advisor, put the benefits of condition-based maintenance within reach for experts and novices alike. This basic equipment range allows users to spot-check critical machines and establish trends needed to identify problems early on, before they result in costly downtime.

PORTABLE DATA COLLECTORS AND ANALYSERS

The SKF Microlog series of portable data collectors and analysers can handle all tasks needed to perform predictive maintenance and on the spot analysis of rotating machinery. Units in the series are supported by SKF @ptitude software.

ONLINE SURVEILLANCE AND PROTECTION

The SKF Multilog series of online monitoring systems use permanently installed sensors to alert plant personnel to deteriorating machine condition changes and are ideal for critical equipment or equipment that is unsafe or in hard-to-reach locations.

SKF Multilog Online System IMx is a key component in an advanced condition monitoring system, offering a robust measurement unit designed for tough industrial environments. Depending on the specific needs, a range of SKF Multilog IMx models are available with up to 32 analogue signal inputs. The dynamic signal inputs are configurable for a variety of parameters, such as acceleration, velocity, displacement and other inputs can easily be added. Additionally, up to 16 digital channels are also included which may be used for measuring speed, as a trigger, or digital status, such as indicating when a measurement can take place. Several measurement points may be attached to one channel and both AC and DC measurements can be measured on the same channel.

The unit’s unique built-in hardware also auto-diagnosis the system and continuously checks all sensors, cabling, and electronics for any faults, signal interruption, shorts or power failure with system alarms are automatically generated for any problems found.

SOFTWARE

In order to make use of the vast amount of information generated, the SKF Multilog systems transmit the data collected from the accelerometers to the SKF @ptitude Monitoring Suite which consists of three modules – Analyst, Inspector and Observer. These form the basis for a completely integrated approach to condition monitoring, permitting fast, efficient and reliable storage, manipulation and retrieval of large amounts of complex machine and plant information. This powerful software accepts data from the full range of SKF data collection devices and interfaces with SKF @ptitude Decision Support to facilitate consistent and reliable decision making.

The SKF @ptitude Decision Support system enhances your team’s ability to keep plant machinery up and running. It systematises the reliability maintenance decision-making process by automatically identifying probable faults with an asset or process, then prescribing appropriate action, and enabling a consistent methodology among employees throughout your local or global organisation. @ptitude enables your workforce to rapidly determine what is the problem, how serious it is, what should be done about it and what the potential risks to productivity, quality, worker safety and the environment are.