Papers and Case Studies

Chase Kohlberg - Mechanical Engineer 1

Since instillation, the motor of fan 21F030 has experienced elevated vibration amplitudes when operating speeds are in certain zones. The maximum vibration amplitude was measured at the OBH location of the motor reaching 0.98 ips 0-p at 1,252.5 cpm (1x motor running speed) in November 2021.

Chad Wilcox - President

There are multiple organizations who have compiled vast libraries of standards for many different applications. These standards offer a wealth of information which has been thoroughly reviewed and is continually updated by the technical committees. Here are a few standards you can use to support your industrial condition monitoring efforts.

Chad Wilcox - President

The best part of being a vibration analyst to me is the opportunity to troubleshoot many different types of equipment and always being challenged with new and interesting problems to solve. However, for many vibration analysts there is a large amount of data to be processed between those interesting problems.

Chad Wilcox - President

Customers contact Red Wolf Reliability often with a good understanding of exactly what they need and why they need that particular service. However, sometimes customers call Red Wolf simply with a problem and don't have the internal expertise to know exactly what should be done to troubleshoot the problem to drive to a solution. This case study is example of the latter.

Alex Tomsick

Red Wolf Reliability (formerly Pioneer Engineering) was contacted to troubleshoot excessive vibration on a fin fan structure at an oil refinery.

Chad Wilcox, President

Analyzing only vibration response spectra is difficult since they often don't clearly match wall chart and textbook examples.

Kevin Aiken, MSME- Mechanical Engineer

Do you need remote vibration monitoring? Do you have rotating equipment that is in a confined space, dangerous environment, or requires work at heights?

Mitchell Stansloski, PhD., P.E.

As a follow up to my last post, I thought I might add a bit more grit. It's easy to talk about tracking failures in order to compute Reliability but not so easy to do in the real world.

Mitchell Stansloski, PhD., P.E.

One of the most common metrics that I see tracked on a regular basis is Availability vs. reliability tracking. In fact, a popular metric, the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), uses it in its calculation. The OEE is computed using availability, percentage of design capacity, and the percentage of adequate quality production.

Grant Slinger - Mechanical Engineer II

Fluid film bearings are one of the most fundamental and critical components in rotating machinery. Fundamentally bearings constrain the motion of a rotating shaft and provide a means to transmit force from a rotating shaft to a stationary support with minimal friction.

Matt Price, B.S.M.E, C.M.R.P

Fully understanding the maintenance and reliability strengths and weaknesses within a facility can be a huge undertaking. Traditionally, a study to understand reliability is performed one of two ways.

Tyler Faucett, MSME; Mechanical Engineer

All too often when performing routine vibration analysis or condition monitoring, the one thing everyone wants to know is the vibration amplitude. This, of course, is because amplitude is directly related to machine condition and fault severity, right?

Grant Slinger - Mechanical Engineer II

Crank shaft main bearings are one of the simplest and most inexpensive components in an internal combustion engine, however damage to a main bearing failure can lead to catastrophic failure of the engine requiring expensive repairs and extended downtime.

Grant Slinger - Mechanical Engineer II

As vibration consultants at Red Wolf Reliability (formerly Pioneer Engineering) we are frequently called out to investigate machinery that exhibits excessive vibration.

Michael Dennison, Mechanical Engineer

Reciprocating compressors are used to compress several different types of gases. This article focuses on Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and items to look out for during reciprocating collection and analysis to ensure your compressor operates safely.

Mitch Stansloski, Ph.D., P.E.

One of the advantages to holding a side role of Mechanical Engineering Professor at Colorado State University is that alumni occasionally donate extremely cool gifts. Upon moving offices recently I came across a donated device that I didn’t really pay much attention to when it was brought to my lab there last year.

Chad Wilcox, President

Vibration analysts often look at a time waveform and assume it is a valid representation of the component being monitored. Analysts may forget the time waveform is a digital representation of the raw analog signal. Due to it being a digital representation, the time waveform is limited by the signal processing parameters the analyst defines.

Daniel Adami, MSME - Field Services Manager

Vibration analysis is an integral part of many plant's condition monitoring program for rotating equipment, and every analyst understands the importance of using frequency-based spectra to detect machine faults. Many analysts also understand the importance of analyzing time-based waveforms as well.

Matt Price, CMRP - Reliability Engineering Manager

Asset management in your facilities Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) is a vital part of any maintenance and reliability program. The proper development of an asset tagging and characterization system can pay huge future dividends in terms of improved data quality for reliability analysis and improvement.

Austin Neumeier, Mechanical Engineer II

Vibration is any oscillatory motion caused by a restorative force. Free vibration occurs when a bell is rung or a guitar string is plucked. Forced Vibration occurs when a repetitive force is applied to a body. Industrial machinery, particularly rotating equipment, sees forced vibration as a consequence of a spinning shaft.

Kevin Aiken, MSME - Mechanical Engineer

Sometimes the biggest culprit of unbalance comes from the least predictable aspects, weather. Field balancing offers one solution. Large fans for moving air are among one of the more universally used pieces of equipment at every industrial facility worldwide