Part 1 – What causes vibration and why do we care about it?

Barry T. Cease
Cease Industrial Consulting
September 9th, 2011
 A machine’s vibration level “reflects” the amount of dynamic forces
present in the machine.

 A machine is designed to withstand a certain level of dynamic force

or dynamic stresses. Once this level is exceeded, expected machine
life decreases and reliability suffers.

 Total Forces = Static Forces + Dynamic Forces.

 Examples of static forces in rotating machinery: weight or gravity,

belt tension, pre-loads due to misalignment or improper
installation, etc.

 Examples of dynamic forces in rotating machinery: unbalance,

effects of looseness, a portion of the effects of misalignment, etc.

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 The diagram below is known as a S-N diagram for materials. It shows the
relationship between a material’s strength (S) versus the number of loading cycles
(N) it is subjected to.
 For most structural materials such as steel, iron, titanium, aluminum, etc, a
material’s strength (S) decreases with the number of loading cycles (N) until a
limiting number of cycles (106 cycles @ 50 kpsi) known as the endurance limit (Se)
or fatigue limit is reached.
 Depending on the type of material
used, the original design strength
can be reduced by ½ to ¼ simply
due to fatigue (from diagram ,120
kpsi  50 kpsi). Sut

 3,600 rpm  4.6 hrs to limit.

 1,800 rpm  9.25 hrs to limit.
 900 rpm  18.52 hrs to limit. Se

 Think of bending a paper clip.

How many times can you bend it
by 1/2” or so until it breaks?
S-N Diagram[1]
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 Static Stress
Fluctuating
Stresses[2]
Dynamic Stress

-Higher vibration levels reflect higher

alternating (dynamic) stresses.

-As either the mean (static) or alternating

(dynamic) stresses rise, the real factor of
safety in the machine design drops.

- So, for a designed factor of safety (FS) such

as 3 and a known endurance strength (Se), we
must keep our real mean & alternating
stresses inside the Soderburg Line or other
design limits to achieve our design life. Soderburg Line[2]

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 In addition to the amount of fluctuating
stress a machine is subjected to, other
factors exist that effect it’s life such as:
 Stress Concentration Factors:
Discontinuities or irregularities in the
design or geometry of a part that cause an
amplification or rise in localized stresses
(see plot at right for examples).
 Surface finish: Generally, the more
smooth a material’s surface is finished or
polished, the less it’s strength is reduced.
 Corrosion: Corrosion has particularly
nasty effects on a material’s strength in
that unlike the other factors mentioned
above, corrosion tends to continually
reduce a material’s endurance strength
overtime until failure inevitably occurs.
There is no fatigue limit for a part
subjected to corrosion. Minimize Calculation of common stress concentration
corrosion![1] factors[2]

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 This is what fatigue failure looks like on a shaft subjected to both bending
stress and corrosion.
 In both cases over half of the shaft area had already been lost due to fatigue
(crack propagation) before final failure occurred.

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  Note how the crack started at the
keyway and propagated out from there.
Ultimate failure of the shaft occurred
after roughly 25% of the shaft area had
been lost.

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From the SKF products catalog[3],
we learn that a given bearing’s
life expressed in hours of
continuous operation can be
estimated as:

C = A bearing’s basic dynamic

load rating (found in
catalog).
P = Equivalent dynamic bearing
load.
rpm = machine speed (rpm)

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Outer race fault (spalling) on a spherical Inner race fault (spalling) on
roller bearing. a triple race spherical roller
bearing.

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 The dynamic forces present in a The equation of motion for a damped single
machine are only one of many factors degree of motion system driven by a
that effect the amount of vibration harmonic force is as follows in two forms[4]
measured at a machine.
Inertial Spring
Force Force
 The amount of vibration measured at
a machine depends on at least the
following factors:

1) Amount of dynamic force (Fo). Damping Dynamic

Force Force
2) System mass (m).
3) Stiffness of mechanical system (k).
4) Damping in mechanical system (c).
5) How (if at all) do the frequency(s) of Same equation solved for acceleration.
the driving dynamic forces interact
with any system natural frequencies?

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 Transmissibility diagram showing the
Force diagram of a damped single effect of a resonance on vibration
degree of freedom mechanical system levels[4]. Resonance acts as a
driven by a harmonic force[4]. mechanical amplifier of vibration.

= frequency of vibration (rad/sec) = 2π

= system natural frequency (rad/sec) = 2π
ξ = damping ratio = damping/critical damping
= Damped natural frequency

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If we let then the response of a damped mechanical
system under a harmonic force is:

= Damping Ratio = Damping / Critical Damping

X = Maximum displacement
= Static Force
k = System stiffness

X=

Machine Vibration Standards: Ok, Good,

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  Another particularly nasty quality
commonly associated with machines
Higher vibration levels reflect the presence of exhibiting high vibration levels is
higher dynamic forces & stresses on their tendency to fail unexpectedly
machinery. resulting in the following additional
costs to the plant:

1) A potential loss of plant production

as a result of unscheduled machine
Dynamic forces & stresses on machinery that failure that interrupts a process.
exceed design levels result in reduced
machine life.
2) A real possibility of machine failure
occurring at a time when repair
resources (labor or materials) are not
available.
Shorter machine life results in repair &
replacement costs ($) occurring more
frequently overtime and thus causing much 3) Machine damage is typically more
higher total operating costs over a given time extensive & costly to repair if the
frame (5-10 yrs, etc). machine is allowed to run to failure.

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 Pro-Active Maintenance
What are the Pro-Active
efforts involve lowering
pros & cons Maintenance the dynamic stresses on
of each ($6/hp/yr) machines which are
approach? reflected in lower
vibration levels.
Predictive or Condition
Based Maintenance
($9/hp/yr)

Preventive or Time-Based Maintenance

($13/hp/yr)

Breakdown or Run-to-Failure Maintenance ($18/hp/yr)

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1) Shigley, Joseph & Mitchell, Larry Mechanical Engineering Design,
Fourth Edition, Chapter 7, Design For Fatigue Strength, McGraw-Hill
Co., NY, 1983

2) Lindeburg, Michael Mechanical Engineering Reference Manual, Tenth

Edition, Chapter 50, Failure Theories, Professional Publications, Inc, CA,
1998

3) SKF Bearings & Mounted Products Catalog, Publication 100-700, p. 16,

SKF USA, PA, 2002

4) Rao, Singiresu Mechanical Vibrations, Second Edition, Chapter 3,

Harmonically Excited Vibration, Addison-Wesley Co, MA, 1990

5) Piotrowski, John “Pro-Active Maintenance For Pumps”, Pumps &

Systems, February 2001

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