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by Torbjörn Idhammar
This is a question I often get so I like to offer some guidelines from the real world. The short answer
to this question is that you have to use your experience and common sense supported by a logic
decision structure.
For you who want to indulge in the details of setting PM inspections, let’s begin with defining what
we mean with inspections. Inspections include all objective inspections (we measure something) by
observations or by using an instrument, for example, a vibration analyzer, an infrared camera, a volt
meter, a flow meter, or ultrasonic. Inspections also include all subjective inspections (look-listen-
feel-smell).
In order to set inspection frequencies we need to understand what failure developing period is.
Failure Developing Period (FDP) (Called Pf Curve by some)
The FDP is the time period from when it is possible to detect a failure until we have a breakdown. A
failure is when a system or equipment is operating correctly within given parameters, but has signs
of problems.
For example a centrifugal pump may be cavitating, but is still providing the required flow for the
operation; we have a failure, but not a break down. The cavitations in our example will eventually
develop into a breakdown. The breakdown occurs when the pump is unable to perform its intended
function.
The FDP is the time difference between the failure and the break down. If the pump started to
cavitate at 6 am and it broke down 6 pm 6 days later, the FDP is 156 hours.
Inspection Frequency
The theoretical answer to the question is very simple. The inspection frequency should roughly be
FDP/2. For example, if the estimated failure developing period is 14 days and we need some time to
plan and schedule the corrective maintenance for that failure to avoid a break down. I think a
reasonable inspection frequency is 7 days (FDP/2) in this case. If the inspection frequency is longer
than 14 days, we may miss both the failure and we will have a breakdown. So, our rule of thumb is
Inspection frequency = FDP/2.
The real problem is that we don’t know what the FDP is. There is no standard, no documentation
and most plants do not have any history on FDP.
Inspection Tools changes the FDP
We also need to understand that the FDP changes when we have access to better tools. For
example, we may be able to detect a problem with a pillow block bearing by listening to it with a
stethoscope. This method may give us a warning period of a few days (on average depending on
situation). However, if we use a vibration analyzer, we can probably detect the same failure at least
6 weeks in advance. The failure is the same, but the FDP has changed! For the most part, the only
reason we buy inspection tools is to extend the FDP with more accuracy.
In reality, the ability to detect a failure during the FDP also depends on the person’s ability to do the
inspection, environment (lighting, temperature, indoor vs. outdoor, etc), and operational parameters
at the time of inspection, equipment design and accessibility, and much more.
Many Variables
Each component has many failure modes, and each failure mode can have different FDPs. We also
know that each FDP may change depending on the inspection tool, technique, the person doing the
inspection, and more. On top of all this, each component is running at different speeds, different
environment and different load.
At this point of reasoning, many plants do the wrong things. Some plants make the conclusion that a
massive study needs to be done in order to find the answers to all these questions. Why is this not a
good approach? This is not a good approach because in 999 times out of 1000, you will not have
the data you need to do the analysis and even if you did, the best bang for the buck is usually to get
your people trained and then out there doing inspections rather than performing a big analysis.
What you will end up with when you do a complicated analysis without data is a guess based on a
lot of work, so let’s not do the complicated analysis and instead do a guess using our experience
and cut out 99.9% of the work.
Example
Let’s look at some typical problems with an AC Motor. This example does not include all failure
modes, for example, if you look at bearing manufacturer manual, a bearing has over 50 failure
modes. Therefore we need to look at most common and most likely problems.
Example: AC Motor, 125 HP, 80% load, 24/7 operation, dusty environment.
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