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CONDITION MONITORING GETS CLEVER FOR GEAR UNITS

Companies as diverse as cement makers and offshore windfarm suppliers are making significant cost savings through the greater use of condition monitoring, such as on-site and remote services from Siemens Mechanical Drives for mechanical handling and power generation applications.

Prevention is always better than cure, and by monitoring the wear characteristics and other aspects of a gear unit – such as envelope, acceleration and velocity frequencies – Siemens qualified engineers are able to identify when gears and geared motors require servicing, maintenance work or replacement.

Through forward planning via this type of monitoring system, plant availability can be maximised and unscheduled plant breakdowns avoided. 

Siemens GearControl, offered in the UK through Flender Service, provides graphic readouts covering envelope, acceleration and velocity spectra to give accurate fault diagnosis at an early stage.  A visual perspective can also be gained of the inside of the gear unit via a borescope.  Comprehensive reports are then provided to customers.  The system is suitable for larger types of gears and geared motors, and is not just designed to monitor Flender geared products, but is also suitable and proven for use on competitors’ geared drives used in various applications and industries.

The benefits of monitoring gearbox conditions are obvious.  Expensive plant breakdowns and unnecessary component replacements become a thing of the past, and continuous monitoring, particularly in remote and difficult to access sites – such as offshore windfarms – ensures substantial long-term cost savings. 

For engineers and service contractors, Siemens has also launched a portable GearControl monitoring unit that provides a number of appropriate graphic readouts.  Full training on the use of these units is provided by Flender Service.

For more information on how condition monitoring can save your business costs, please contact Siemens Mechanical Drives on 01274 657700 or email anna.grimshaw@siemens.com

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The Engineer 14 May 2012

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