Vibration Analysis for Predictive Maintenance and Improved Machine Reliability of Electric Motors in Centrifugal Pumps

Vibration can be used as a means to detect failure in nonstationary machines including centrifugal pumps whose functions greatly depend on the behavior of the electric motors attached to it. This work measured the vibration of two pumps in four directions and studied its relationship. One of the pumps was replaced with a bad motor bearing, and measurements were retaken in the four directions. The time domain analysis results showed a remarkable increase in the vibration intensity with the bad bearing. The measurements when compared with acceptable vibration standards showed unacceptable values which showed that faults could be detected through vibration. Using intuition which could be derived from long-time vibration testing and also deductible from other researches, predictive maintenance planning can be developed to improve system reliability and reduce or prevent downtimes. The work succeeded in driving attention to the effective use of vibration studies in predictive and preventive maintenance drives of electrical devices.