It can be a scary moment on the plant floor: A machine starts shrieking and shaking so violently, you think it might break.
This type of incident can result from mechanical resonances caused by a load attached to a motor. Many design factors attribute to the resonances, such as physical size, material selection and installation procedures. And while workers usually can make a control adjustment to resume production, resonance issues have lasting consequences on your machines and your business.
In the past, the typical adjustment to resolve the resonance either degraded performance or resulted in wasted energy.
New low-voltage AC drives with adaptive tuning can help better combat resonance issues, so performance is better and you spend less. During production, the drive identifies the problem and applies the correct solution, resulting in a higher-performing machine that accounts for machine variations.
Think of these smart drives like guards. They keep a vigilant watch of your application for undesirable resonance. If they see something wrong, they can sound the alarm or even attack the issue on their own. And by helping you win the war against resonance, the drives can help you stay up and running longer while helping to reduce your repair and energy costs.
Protect the Machine’s Potential
Resonances result from design decisions that may or may not be modeled by the designer. Known design decisions include the load shape, material selection, dimensions and physical size. Unknown design decisions include tolerances, assembly processes and motor characteristics.
The resonances may change over time because of normal machine wear and tear. This can include applications that use shaft extensions or large loads like winders.
