Monitoring Vibration of a Model of Rotating Machine

Abstract

Mechanical movement or motion of a rotating machine normally causes additional vibration. A vibration sensing device must be added to constantly monitor vibration level of the system having a rotating machine, since the vibration frequency and amplitude cannot be measured quantitatively by only sight or touch. If the vibration signals from the machine have a lot of noise, there are possibilities that the rotating machine has defects that can lead to failure. In this experimental research project, a vibration structure is constructed in a scaled model to simulate vibration and to monitor system performance in term of vibration level in case of rotation with balanced and unbalanced condition. In this scaled model, the output signal of the vibration sensor is processed in a microcontroller and then transferred to a computer via a serial communication medium, and plotted on the screen with data plotter software developed using C language. The signal waveform of the vibration is displayed to allow further analysis of the vibration. Vibration level monitor can be set in the microcontroller to allow shutdown of the rotating machine in case of excessive vibration to protect the rotating machine from further damage. Experiment results show the agreement with theory that unbalance condition on a rotating machine can lead to larger vibration amplitude compared to balance condition. Adding and reducing the mass for balancing can be performed to obtain lower vibration level