Condition Monitoring of a Water Hydraulic Cylinder by Vibration Analysis

This paper attempts to lay some groundwork on reciprocating machines with particular emphasis on a water hydraulic cylinder. The objective is to diagnose a worn-out piston seal by means of vibration analysis. Pulsation theory is used to explain the harmonics produced in reciprocating machines. The cylinder piston seal was removed to simulate actual wearing of the seal. This mod ified machine was tested for its vibration signals and compared against the “healthy condition” state under some loading. LabVIEW® was used as the software interface. Results show that removing the piston seal caused an increase in magnitude at a fundamental fault-dependant frequency in the amplitude spectra.