Vibration Measurement of a Rotating Shaft using Electrostatic Sensor

Measuring Vibration parameter for rotating machinery is essential for monitoring and diagnosis system in industrial plants. This paper demonstrates another approach to vibration measurement for rotating machine using electrostatic sensor and signal processing techniques. A single electrostatic sensor is used to detect charges surrounding the moving shaft of the machine. The signal from the electrostatic sensor is processed in MATLAB using Autocorrelation, Fast-Fourier, and Root Mean Square. The implementation of this technical approach was conducted on a modified test rig using three different shafts. The three shafts represent three different vibration modes: normal, abnormal, and severe. Each shaft was experimented under low and high rotation speed to observe amplitude and frequency level. Although the results of the tests did not show a direct measure of vibration displacement, due to the complex nature of the induced charges by the surface pattern. However, the results showed an indicative level of vibration at different amplitudes for the three shafts.