What Is Machine Vibration?

Most machinery experiences a level of vibration, and will have an expected ‘normal’ range of machine vibration while functioning. However, over time, or if something breaks or goes wrong, this level of vibration may be elevated beyond what is expected, and this can easily become dangerous to operators and the machine itself.

Machine vibration can be analysed by amplitude (the magnitude of the vibration), frequency (the number of oscillations, typically denoted in Cycles Per Minute [CPM] or Hertz) and direction (e.g. radial or axial).