Fundamentals of Rotating Machinery Diagnostics

By Donald E. Bently with Charles T. Hatch. Edited by Bob Grissom

OVERVIEW

A practical course in the fundamentals of machinery diagnostics for anyone who works with rotating machinery, from operator to manager, from design engineer to machinery diagnostician.

This comprehensive book thoroughly explains and demystifies important concepts needed for effective machinery malfunction diagnosis:

(A) Vibration fundamentals: vibration, phase, and vibration vectors.

(B) Data plots: timebase, average shaft centerline, polar, Bode, APHT, spectrum, trend XY, and the orbit.

(C) Rotor dynamics: the rotor model, dynamic stiffness, modes of vibration, anisotropic (asymmetric) stiffness, stability analysis, torsional and axial vibration, and basic balancing.

Modern root locus methods (pioneered by Walter R. Evans) are used throughout this book.

(D) Malfunctions: unbalance, rotor bow, high radial loads, misalignment, rub and looseness, fluid-induced instability, and shaft cracks.

Hundreds of full-color illustrations explain key concepts, and several detailed case studies show how these concepts were used to solve real machinery problems.

A comprehensive glossary of diagnostic terms is included.