Maintenance Minders

Making Phase a
Routine Vibration
Route Measurement
Mike Fitch, Ludeca, Inc.

O
ne of the most neglected tools in the vibration
analysis toolbox is phase. This neglect is partially
due to the extra time and effort often necessary to
collect the information. Many analysts are also not properly
trained in phase measurement and analysis.
With the top-of-the-line data collectors now available,
little time and effort are necessary to add this valuable data Figure 1
to route collection. Useful phase data can now be taken on a
route, simply by carrying along an extra accelerometer. accelerometers are placed axially on the bearings on each side
of a coupling. If the accelerometers are placed in the same
quadrant (i.e. both on top, left side, right side or bottom)
Absolute Phase vs. Relative Phase and and same direction, a coupling with angular misalignment
Cross Channel Phase (Figure 2) will exhibit a delta phase of nearly1 180-deg (±30-
Absolute phase is the actual phase of the vibration at the deg) (see Figure 1).
frequency of interest, as the accelerometer placement relates If you cannot place the accelerometers in the same
to a reference point on the rotor. Absolute phase measure- direction, and they must be placed opposed to each other
ments must be taken with some type of tachometer or key (see Figure 4), a 180-deg phase error is introduced because
phasor. of accelerometer orientation. This error must be accounted
Relative phase is simply the phase difference of the for by either adding or subtracting 180-deg from the result.
vibration phase at the frequency of interest between a refer- Before making the correction, a delta phase of approxi-
ence point and a second point. The analyst may choose any mately 0-deg (± 30-deg) would indicate probable angular
two points to apply the accelerometers. misalignment.
In many cases, absolute phase is not necessary because
many diagnoses are made by simply analyzing relative phase.
Cross channel phase is a measurement of relative phase.
Cross channel phase measurement requires a two-channel
analyzer/data collector, but not all two-channel data collec-
tors will record cross channel phase as route data.
Bent rotor, misalignment, looseness and other prob-
lems can be more reliably diagnosed when cross chan-
nel phase data is included with amplitude and frequency
measurements.

Misalignment
For example, a cross channel phase point is built and two Figure 2

72 MAY 2009 www.pump-zone.com PUMPS & SYSTEMS

 Know
Notice the information available in the screen
capture (Figure 3) taken as a routine route
the flow.
point in a polar plot showing phase and ampli-
tude of the two channels. Notice A is the refer-
ence channel and is shown to be at zero on the
polar plot.
Skip
The exact amplitude of both channels:
Channel A = 0.311 ips
Channel B = 0.295 ips
the meter.
The relative phase angle between the two
channels (Delta Phase) is in degrees. Notice Think about ITT.
the delta phase is 173-deg, which is essentially
180-deg.
The phase coherence value is 1.
The frequency of the vibration data repre- Figure 3. Cross channel phase
sented is 3,270-rpm. screen

Taking radial cross channel phase measurements across a coupling will help
diagnose parallel (offset) misalignment (Figure 2). As in the axial measurements,
when the accelerometers are mounted in the same quadrant and same direction, You probably know
misalignment is more likely the closer the delta phase approaches 180-deg. Another
that PumpSmart®
good indicator of misalignment is when the delta phase between the radial vertical
and horizontal on the same bearing is nearly 0-deg or 180-deg.2 prevents failures,
improves pump
Bent Rotor reliability and greatly
In another example, the same type of axial cross channel phase measurement is set reduces energy and
up as above, but on bearings that are on the same shaft with the rotor between the maintenance costs.
bearings. If the delta phase is 180-deg (± 30-deg) when both accelerometers are But did you know
oriented in the same direction and same quadrant, a bent rotor or severely cocked that it also provides
bearing is indicated. If the analyst is unable to place the accelerometers in the same sensorless flow
direction and they must be placed opposed to each other, the orientation error measurement for
must be corrected.
thousands of dollars less than a
If the accelerometers are opposed, and the orientation error is not corrected
mathematically, a delta phase of 0-deg (± 30-deg) would indicate a bent rotor (see flow meter? One more reason
Figure 4) or severely cocked bearing. If this is indicated, and it is not possible to smart plant managers are
measure the physical run-out of the rotor, a run up or coast down should be per- choosing PumpSmart—the
formed to rule out the intelligent pumping solution.
possibility that the View our Sensorless Flow video
circle 132 on card or go to psfreeinfo.com
rotor itself is resonat- at www.ittmc.com, or call
ing. This should be 1-800-734-7867.
done because the mode
shape of a resonating
rotor can mimic a bent PumpSmart
rotor.
If this shaft (Figure
Figure 4 4) were bent and moni-
tored without phase, a
high one-time vibration would be present and time would likely be wasted trying
to balance the rotor. While you may be able to balance out some of the radial vibra-
tion, most of the axial will remain.

PUMPS & SYSTEMS www.pump-zone.com MAY 2009 73

 Maintenance Minders
Figure 5
Looseness
Measurements can be taken on the foot of the machine (or
bearing housing) and on the base of the machine, or on the base
and the ground or floor. If everything is tight, the vibrations
should be in phase. As looseness progresses, the delta phase
will increase along with an increase in amplitude difference
between accelerometers. Figure 5 shows two sets of acceler-
ometers. The accelerometers of Set #1 are taking relative phase
between the foot and the base, and the accelerometers of Set
#2 are taking relative phase between the base and the floor.
Trending
Route phase data can be trended and compared to amplitude
data (see Figure 6). In this way, a worsening situation can be
evaluated over time. For trending phase, as with amplitude
circle 135 on card or go to psfreeinfo.com
74 MAY 2009 www.pump-zone.com
Figure 6. Trending software
trends, repeatedly placing accelerometers in the same position
is always necessary.
Changing phase is a red flag. If the delta phase changes
more than 30-deg, even if it stabilizes on the change, this
clearly indicates a significant change on the machine. It may
be a dirty rotor causing imbalance, or it could be a loose foot
reducing the stiffness and bringing the resonant frequency
of the machine or structure near operating speed. This latter
condition will more likely be detected when the reference
accelerometer is on a different machine in a machine train. If
both accelerometers are on the same machine there may be no
relative phase change, even when the absolute phase changes
substantially.
Given phase, amplitude and fre-
quency, the vibration cause will be
easier to diagnose accurately. As the
tools available to the analyst improve,
diagnoses should become easier and
require less effort to reach the same or
higher levels of confidence. In addition,
the more the analyst uses each particular
tool, the more competent he or she will
become at analyzing the data, detecting
machine faults and accurately determin-
ing their sources.
Notes and References
1. For practical purposes, a 7 ± 30-deg
variation from a phase quantity is con-
sidered negligible.
2. Avanti Notebook 2nd Edition, Ralph T.
Buscarello, Update International.
P&S
Mike Fitch is a vibration applica-
tion engineer for Ludeca, Inc. He
can be reached at 305-591-8935 or
Mike.Fitch@ludeca.com
PUMPS & SYSTEMS