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What Is Condition Monitoring? Uses & Benefits
As manufacturing technology advances, we demand even more from industrial machines that perform numerous daily functions. Yet maintaining this complex and heavy-duty machinery is no small task and often requires a mix of techniques to keep the production line flowing successfully.
Manufacturing companies can implement condition-monitoring practices across industries to reap the benefits and protect their machines and their bottom line.
What Is Condition Monitoring?
Condition monitoring — also known as condition-based monitoring — is a type of predictive maintenance that company owners employ to evaluate the current health of complex machinery and heavy-duty equipment.
Monitoring the condition of these critical assets requires a bevy of sensors that feed data analysis programs to help owners make more informed maintenance decisions. These programs compare the collected data to normal operating parameters to determine what — if any — may stray from what’s expected.
At its core, condition monitoring helps prevent downtime, unnecessary repairs, and catastrophic failure. Although condition monitoring requires closely observing how a machine functions, this approach can significantly reduce maintenance costs while keeping the machine running efficiently.
Rather than performing reactive maintenance or preventative maintenance on a set schedule, maintenance crews can use condition monitoring to let the machine tell them when it’s time for repairs.
Like many other maintenance techniques, condition monitoring requires identifying the characteristics that indicate a machine's health. For example, it’s critical to periodically check your vehicle's various fluid levels — like oil, coolant, and brake fluid — to ensure it remains functional.
Different machines require one or more condition monitoring methods depending on which parameters remain critical to optimal and efficient performance.
How Does Condition Monitoring Work?
Condition monitoring starts with identifying the healthy characteristics of a given machine. These parameters are typically related to how the machine functions or the task(s) it’s designed to perform. Let’s consider a car’s braking system as an example.
A vehicle’s brakes are designed to slow the car down and keep it at a standstill once decelerated. Condition monitoring techniques dictate reviewing the health of the entire brake system, from the brake pedal to the brake pads and rotors on the car’s hubs, including both mechanical elements and liquid components (i.e., brake fluid).
The data gathered while monitoring the condition of the brake system would indicate whether or not individual components require servicing or if they’re performing as intended.
Advanced condition monitoring processes leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to evaluate the vast amounts of data generated by the sensors used to measure performance.
For example, sensors in the brake system could indicate fluctuations in brake fluid pressure to alert drivers of a leak. These integrations can also help vehicle owners identify when the fluid has begun to break down and their car requires a brake flush.
What Are the Common Types of Condition Monitoring Methods?
Versatile in nature, condition monitoring methods adapt to the machines they evaluate through various processes.
Below are examples of the most common types of condition monitoring methods:
- Electromagnetic monitoring: This type of condition monitoring uses magnetic fields to measure wear, corrosion, and surface defects.
- Humidity testing: Particularly valuable in food and medical device industries, humidity testing ensures the optimal amount of moisture in the air.
- Laser interferometry: Instead of sound waves or magnets, laser interferometry leverages lasers to detect inconsistencies and strain.
- Oil analysis: A type of fluid analysis, oil analysis, reviews the microscopic features of various lubricants.
- Pressure monitoring: Monitoring the pressure of a sealed system can indicate leaks (low pressure) or air bubbles (high pressure).
- Thermographic testing: This type of condition monitoring requires a camera that can measure heat signatures to determine if components are at optimal operating temperatures.
- Ultrasonic monitoring: These high-pitched sound waves can help maintenance technicians locate structural flaws or cracks.
- Vibration analysis: Maintenance crews use vibration analysis to determine whether rotating parts are performing correctly by sending vibrations through the machine and measuring the results.
Any of these condition-monitoring techniques can be applied to heavy-duty equipment based on its characteristics.
How Is Condition Monitoring Used in Various Industries?
Condition monitoring maintenance techniques can be applied across industries, from aviation and manufacturing to fleets and farms.
For example, companies that operate heavy machinery can use oil analysis to more accurately gauge if and when maintenance is necessary. Conveyor belts that keep the food and beverage industry moving also benefit from laser interferometry, thermographic testing, and vibration analysis.
The medical industry also leverages thermographic testing as a diagnostic procedure. NASA implements pressure testing here on Earth to help understand what astronauts experience while in space. Scientists can also use electromagnetic interference testing to ensure clear communication between spacecraft.
What Are the Benefits of Condition Monitoring?
Integrating condition monitoring into your maintenance routine offers several benefits, many of them far-reaching.
Maintenance technicians can use condition monitoring to report on a machine’s status more accurately and schedule repairs as needed. Performing repairs based on the machine’s condition — instead of at scheduled intervals — can also reduce unexpected downtime and expenses.
Beyond tapping into maintenance funds only when necessary, condition monitoring helps prevent catastrophic failures that can further drain a company’s maintenance budget. Replacing one machine presents enough of a setback, but the collateral damage associated with the failure of heavy equipment can potentially cripple a business. Condition monitoring ensures companies keep tabs on their machines to prevent these costly and dangerous scenarios.
Businesses often reap the most benefit from condition monitoring through the increased performance, efficiency, reliability, and longevity of their equipment. Condition monitoring ensures each machine functions as designed and intended, optimizing productivity to ensure worker safety and profitability.
When critical equipment functions as expected, companies can meet their production goals.
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Sources:
“A review of vibration analysis and its applications” | PMC
CADRE Rover Undergoes Electromagnetic Testing | NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)