Mechanical Technology

Mechanical Technology — October 2015

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Power transmission, bearings, bushes and seals

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The TKSA 41 shaft alignment tool

KF has announced the introduction of

the TKSA 41 shaft alignment tool with

enhanced measuring and reporting

capabilities. Developed for use in rotating-

machine applications in industry, the instru-

ment helps customers identify and correct

shaft misalignment to improve equipment

uptime and lower maintenance costs. The

TKSA 41 has been designed to make shaft

alignment easy, even for operators with

minimal experience.

Comprising two wireless measuring

units, large detectors and bright lasers,

the TKSA 41 provides precise measure-

ments, even in challenging conditions or

difficult-to-access areas. Its liquid crystal

display (LCD) with touchscreen navigation

makes alignment fast and simple, and its

free measurement feature allows alignment

measurements to start at any angle and fin-

ish with a total angular sweep of only 90°.

The TKSA 41’s live view supports intuitive

measurements and facilitates horizontal and

vertical alignment corrections.

Because the instrument enables hands-

free measurement by detecting when the

heads are in the correct position, operators

can use both hands to rotate and hold the

shafts in place. After each alignment, the

TKSA 41 automatically generates a custom-

ised report with notes and pictures available

from its built-in camera.

This camera also enables QR codes to

be scanned for machine identification and

access to the machine library to review past

alignment reports or to start a new alignment

process. The TKSA 41 replaces its predeces-

sor, the widely used TKSA 40.

SKF’s TKSA 41 shaft alignment

tool has enhanced measuring and

reporting capabilities.

meters – such as vibration, temperature,

lubrication condition and load – and

informs the user when conditions are

abnormal and can threaten to cause

bearing damage.

When it was launched at Hannover

in 2013, SKF Insight was a technology

concept – a way in which maintenance

engineers might improve condition moni-

toring by keeping tabs on bearing health.

Two years on, it is a fully functioning

solution running as customer pilots,

capable of supplying data directly to

diagnostic centres for better condition

monitoring via the SKF Cloud using

SKF @ptitude. From there, dashboards

and reports can be supplied to the plant

operator, machine manufacturer, SKF or

any other authorised person with Internet

access.

The data can also be accessed on

mobile devices such as iPads – and this is

how SKF Insight was demonstrated dur-

ing Hannover, in a live working exhibit.

Using dynamic bearing data provided

by SKF Insight, an innovative new ap-

proach to bearing health management is

under development, which can determine

how actual conditions are affecting bear-

ing health and trigger corrective action to

cure it – such as the automatic addition of

lubricant or altering machine conditions.

This prevents damage to the bearing to

maximise its useful life.

One of the most promising areas of ap-

plication for SKF Insight is in wind turbine

monitoring, because of the huge cost of

maintenance. In some cases, changing

the main bearing on a wind turbine is so

expensive that it undermines the busi-

ness case for building the turbine in the

first place. Used here, SKF Insight could

monitor loads and lubrication conditions

in service, giving plenty of time to limit

or reverse the occurrence of damaging

process conditions.

The company is already working with

a wind turbine customer to develop such

a system. It measures dynamic bearing

information in the true operating state

and wirelessly communicates it to remote

monitoring centres or local maintenance

crews. The solution being developed

will monitor bearing speed, vibration,

temperature and lubrication condition.

Most importantly, it can be retrofitted – so

could enhance the operational potential

of both new turbines and the many

thousands that are already in operation

worldwide.

The company is developing a similar

solution in the railway sector, for wheel-

end bearings, which are critical railway

vehicle components that are usually

changed at set intervals, regardless of

their condition. SKF Insight creates a

cost effective way of collecting condition-

monitoring data so that bearing life and

change-out intervals can be determined

based on real operating conditions.

SKF Insight and bearing health man-

agement are among a series of innova-

tions that SKF showcased at this year’s

Hannover fair.