Creating PeakVue Measurement Points

To find bearing faults, the general rule of thumb is to acquire at least 15 orders of turning speed.
Therefore, to calculate the time required to achieve 15 orders of RPM, the following calculation must be
made:

This equation provides the minimum acquisition time in seconds.

The Fmax for the acquisition should be around 40 times the turning speed. We actually like Fmax to be
greater than 4 times BPFI. Therefore,
Fmax(Hz)=40*RPM/60
This Fmax calculation is in units of Hz. This value must be rounded to achieve a reasonable integer value
that is a multiple of 10 (example to follow).
The acquisition time and Fmax is now used to determine the lines of resolution. This calculation is:
Lines of resolution (LOR) = Fmax(Hz) * acquisition time (seconds),
where LOR is an nth power of base 2 or 2n. The value of n is always an integer.
As an example, my running speed is 1760 rpm. First calculate the minimum acquisition time as
900/1760 = 0.5114 seconds
The Fmax(Hz)= 40*1760/60 = 1173.3 Hz
We can round down to 1000 Hz or up to 2000 Hz. Typically, 1000 Hz is sufficient so we will choose
1000 Hz. Now the lines of resolution will be 1000*0.5114 = 511.4 lines. We always round up to the
nearest number of 2n lines. In this case we will choose 800 lines. It is fine if we choose 1600 lines, but we
must use at least 800 lines. If we choose 2000Hz for Fmax then the LOR required would be 1600 lines.
The high-pass filter required for PeakVue measurements must always be equal to or greater than Fmax.
Recommended high-pass filters are:
a. Turning speed 600 RPM; HP = 500 Hz
b. Turning speed > 600 RPM and < 900 RPM; HP = 500 Hz, sometimes 1000 Hz
c. Turning speed 900 RPM and < 2 pole motor; HP = 1000 Hz
d. Turning speed 2 pole motor; t HP set to 2000 or 5000 Hz.

When using PeakVue for gearbox measurements, two measurements are often required. The first
measurement is to obtain data to analyze bearing condition. For bearing detection, the requirements
above need to be followed. To detect gearbox related faults such as broken teeth, etc. a second
measurement should be acquired where Fmax is set to be between 2.25 times gear mesh frequency
(GMF) and 3.25 times GMF. That is:

The required time is determined by the slowest turning gear speed at the point of the measurement.
This time must be at least 6 cycles of turning speed. Therefore,

As an example, shaft 1 has a speed of 1193 rpm and shaft two a speed of 284 rpm. GMF is 15 times
1193 rpm (298.25 Hz). The range for Fmax is:
2.25*298.25 Fmax 3.25* 298.5 or
671 Hz Fmax 969 Hz.
Therefore, we set Fmax to 800 Hz.
Now, since the slowest turning pinion is 284 rpm, the minimum required time is 360/284 =
1.27 seconds. The lines of resolution are calculated as before:
LOR = 800*1.27 = 1016 lines
We round up to the nearest 2n value or 1600 lines.
Our measurement setup for this point is therefore, Fmax = 800 Hz, LOR=1600 lines with a high-pass filter
of 1000 Hz (remember high-pass filter has to be equal to or greater than Fmax ).