Another piece of good news is that when these impacts occur, the

vibration that results is not smooth; the vibration will suddenly

spike in amplitude before it settles again. That causes harmonics
to appear in the spectrum. And even more good news is that under
certain conditions the amplitude of those spikes will rise and fall
(as a spall on the inner race of the bearing, or the damaged rolling
elements, move in and out of the load zone). That causes
sidebands to appear in the spectrum.
All of these telltale signs, which we can look for even if we do not
know which bearing is installed in the machine, provide an early
warning that the bearing is damaged. We can look for these signs
well before we would ever hear a change in vibration, even with
the best screwdriver.

There are a few ways to tackle this challenge.
1. There are simple meters that focus on higher frequencies can be used to get an
indication that a fault exists. However, other fault conditions can be confused
with bearing faults.
2. Shock Pulse meters are specifically designed to detect bearing faults. When
used properly they provide an affordable way to get started.
3. Ultrasound meters allow you to listen for the presence of high frequencies. It is
possible to detect lubrication problems and bearing defects. Again, they offer an
affordable way to get started.
4. If you rely on standard velocity spectra (in linear format) then you will find it
difficult to detect the fault until the fault has become more severe. Switching to
log can help, and using units of acceleration and setting a higher Fmax will help.
5. The best solution is to use more sophisticated techniques such as enveloping
(also known as demodulation), Shock Pulse (with access to the spectra and time
waveforms), Spike Energy, and PeakVue. Well discuss these techniques in the
next article.
In the next article we will explore the techniques described in item 5 above. I
hope this article has given you a better understanding of how the vibration
changes as a defect grows, and the challenges involved with detecting the fault at
the earliest stage.

When viewing the velocity or acceleration spectrum (or
any spectrum from PeakVue, enveloping, etc.) there
are a few techniques that help to achieve the best
results:
Look for peaks at frequencies that are non-integer
multiples of the shaft speed (e.g., 3.09X, 4.65X, 7.89X,
etc.).
There should be harmonics of those frequencies (e.g.,
peaks at 3.09X, 6.18X, 9.27X, etc.).
Check for sidebands of the turning speed of the shaft.
If they exist, then suspect a fault on the inner race. If
there are no sidebands, suspect an outer race fault.
Check for sidebands of the fundamental train
frequency (slightly less than half the turning speed of
the shaft). If they exist, then suspect a fault on the
rollers/balls.