Vibration Monitoring

Guarding the Hovercrafts’ Drivetrains

monitransept12aMonitran - a world-leader in the development and manufacture of transducers for the measurement of vibration, proximity and displacement – is supplying Southampton-based Griffon Hoverwork with condition monitoring systems for 12 of its Griffon 8000TD hovercrafts, ordered by the Indian Coast Guard.

The system, designed and developed by Monitran as a turnkey solution, employs 14 MTN/1100W general purpose constant-current analysis sensors with AC outputs, sealed to IP68 (submersible) and supplied with marine-approved cables. These feed into a bulkhead-mounted waterproof cabinet that contains 14 MTN/8066 g-mac signal conditioning units.

Each g-mac unit provides analogue (AC) outputs proportional to velocity and peak g, which feed into a PCB-mounted microcontroller programmed by Monitran to drive a touch-screen display on the front of the cabinet. Several screen views are available but the most useful show:
• The current numeric mm/s values of all sensors;
• The mm/s values of all sensors shown as a bar chart, with each bar showing current value, threshold and maximum value recorded; and
• The mm/s values of all sensors as lines on a 360o dial.

All of the above also include a colour-coded status indicator; green to denote below-threshold and red to denote above-threshold.

The cabinet also feeds a status indicator in the hovercraft's cockpit to give the pilot an indication of vibration levels.

Tony Roxburgh, Project Manager of Griffon Hoverwork comments: "A hovercraft's drivetrain experiences a wide range of loads, in terms of torque and RPM, during operation as it tends to be worked hard when a crew is responding to an emergency. The Indian Coast Guard requested that their 8000TDs be fitted with an integrated engine and gearbox vibration monitoring system to warn the pilot if the drivetrain experiences any abnormal vibrations."

Other requirements included that the system be lightweight, compact, compliant with marine regulations and itself tolerant to high levels of vibration. In addition, provision had to be made for maintenance engineers to view the vibration levels on any given sensor in order to identify which component(s) might be wearing or developing faults; a requirement that was easily met thanks to each g-mac having a buffered native accelerometer output presented on a BNC connector.

Andy Anthony, Monitran's Managing Director, comments: "Monitran is increasingly undertaking turnkey projects, and developing engineered solutions from the sensor up. The project with Griffon Hoverwork also exemplifies what can be achieved with a relatively humble, general purpose accelerometer like the MTN/1100W."

For more information please visit www.monitran.com

A comprehensive condition monitoring system designed and developed by Monitran warns of excessive drivetrain vibration levels on Griffon 8000TDs ordered by the Indian Coast Guard.

About Monitran
Established in 1986 and based near High Wycombe in the UK, Monitran is a world leader in the development and manufacture of sensors and systems for vibration and displacement measurement. The company has the widest range of standard vibration and displacement products available from any single supplier and has an impressive track record of customising products for bespoke applications.

With full ISO 9001:2008 approval, Monitran's products are used for monitoring vibrations in machinery (such as pumps, motors, engines and drive trains) in a diverse range of applications including automotive, aerospace, industrial processing, power stations and wind turbines. Indeed, the products are at home in any application where vibrations or displacements provide early indications of mechanical wear or that a structure's integrity has been compromised. They are also used in other vibration related applications, such as R&D, structural testing, equipment qualification testing and calibration. For more information please visit www.monitran.com

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