There are plants where there are no abrupt stops in production lines. This level of dependability is reached by teams who constantly monitor the technical status of machines and detect the earliest signs of growing harm. Repairs are completed during process downtime or maintenance shutdowns. If you want to take control of breakdowns, you’ll need a dependable, trusted instrument. In the midst of daily chores, the convenience of use and automation of data gathering, and analysis will be critical for you. Given the wide range of equipment and accompanying difficulties, you will be concerned about the solution’s versatility and scalability. That’s exactly what CL@VE is.   

Vibration levels rise when machinery’s moving parts are damaged or not adequately oiled. Characteristic patterns enable you to identify different types of damage and correlate them with certain machine parts. A machine health monitoring (vibration analysis), you may estimate when a machine will halt due to a fault. CL@VE captures the vibration signal using two sensors with varying settings. Both are low-noise acceleration sensors built with microelectromechanical systems (MEMS vibration sensors) technologies. CL@VE basic INDUSTRIAL version is appropriate for evaluating the overall technical condition of machine components. You may readily compare the findings to the criteria outlined in the standards. Measuring systematically will result in a faster growth in the levels of the measured values. It will indicate wear on the monitored machine components. Using a vibration range of ±16 g and a maximum frequency of 6.4 kHz, you may spot typical defects such as: unbalance and eccentricity of rotors, shaft misalignment, mounting clearances and cracks in machine components, damage and misalignment of gear wheels and gear belts, damage and dirt on turbines and fans, electrical damage to motors, critical speeds, resonances.  

The simple accelerometer (wireless vibration sensor) detects vibrations in 3D space. Before beginning to measure, consult the handbook. In it, we explain how to mount the CL@VE and use the omni-directional sensor.   

You can enhance your basic version of wireless sensor by enabling additional features.  

The SOUND license activates a built-in acoustic transducer with a measurement range of 15 Hz to 51.2 kHz. It will be used in the low-frequency region to measure noise levels and perform vibroacoustic testing. Ultrasonic analysis is said to be the oldest approach for detecting bearing lubrication deterioration or damage. Ultrasonic measurements will help you locate leaks in compressed gas systems. If cavitation is present in your machinery, the SOUND option will allow you to determine its severity. This license is worth looking into if you need to detect incomplete discharges in insulators, transformers, or drives.  

The built-in magnetic field strength sensor is highly sensitive, allowing it to determine world directions. However, this application was not the most crucial to us. The magnetometer responds to field variations of up to 10 kHz. With its assistance, you will examine the recurrence of the magnetic flux emitted by the separate windings of a drive or power generator. An unbalanced image suggests damage or difficulties with the power circuitry. Using the magnetic field sensor, you will measure the drive’s rotating speed and incorporate it into the vibration spectrum studies, looking for distinctive fault frequencies.  

You can utilize the CL@VE as a mobile device for workaround diagnostics. Your smartphone or tablet, running the mVIDIA or MADI software (vibration sensor monitoring applications), will then serve as the user interface. Stick-on stands fastened to the machine bearing housings ensure that the sensor is magnetically attached and aligned in 3D space. An distinct QR code or NFC tag placed on each cradle will immediately direct you to the measuring location at where you are located. The measurement findings will be routed to the appropriate location in the plant structure of the VIDIA.cloud or VIDIA.server environments. You simply need to take one measurement at each point (e.g. vibration analysis). The software will pick the sensor settings such that all of the required parameters are counted. You don’t have to worry if you forget to perform an analysis. You can easily do it later; all source signals will be recorded on your mobile device and transmitted to the cloud in real time. The sensor’s built-in Li-Ion rechargeable battery allows you to use it for an average of 10 hours with rounds of diagnostics. Advanced power-saving algorithms in walk-around measurements extend this time to a few hours.  

If the system under examination is functioning in fluctuating conditions or damage symptoms arise at random, you can leave CL@VE unattended for an extended period of time. Look for the ACQUIRE licence, which includes 8 GB of built-in data memory. Once the logging parameters are set, the sensor will wake up at the appropriate time to gather time waveforms (sensor data) from all sensors. If you give continuous network connectivity, the results will be sent to the VIDIA server without your input. If you do not have network access at the measurement location, bring CL@VE with you and connect it to the server using the network in your workplace.  

The MONITOR license will undoubtedly prove useful in wireless sensor stand-alone operation. Once enabled, the sensor will begin to determine the diagnostic parameters you have selected. This ensures that the plant’s most vital objects are constantly observed (machinery health). When alarm thresholds are exceeded, CL@VE activates the built-in relay and sends measurement data to the server immediately. If you use VIDIA.cloud, the system will notify you of an emergency via SMS and/or email.   

The CL@VE with an active MONITOR licence will work seamlessly with your plant’s automation systems, which you are just introducing to the realm of Industry 4.0. In addition to the WiFi wireless interface (which can be disabled), the sensor has a wired network card that supports PoE (Power over Ethernet) and Modbus/TCP communication. Once linked into the network architecture, CL@VE will communicate the specified parameters to the automation system, which will evaluate the status of chosen machine components. The acquired results, along with the alarms, will be presented on the synoptic panels and used to improve plant operations management. Remember that in the event of an alarm, you can still communicate the measurement results stored in the sensor memory to the VIDIA environment and perform (or have performed) a thorough problem diagnostic.  

If you are monitoring equipment with varying cycles or speeds, use a rotation or position sensor to trigger the measurement. You’ll attach it to the CL@VE digital input.  

CL@VE will soon be used in conjunction with a wireless laser shaft angle sensor for multi-plane rotor balancing in own bearings. We are working on a related application.