Vacuum Cleaner OEM Case Study
Contact Vibration Analysis is Not Always Effective
When first attempting to study the unknown cause for user experienced vibration at the handle this vacuum cleaner OEM attempted to instrument the vacuum in order to study the vibration associated with the machine.
Unfortunately the instrumentation did not lend itself well to the plastic housing and the mass of the instrumentation inadvertently negatively effected the test results.
This is one of many applications where non-contact Vibration Analysis using DragonVision-Video Deflection Technology is very appropriate and helpful.
Non-Contact Video Deflection Selected
When traditional sensor driven vibration analysis did not work the OEM selected DragonVision non-contact video deflection using a 5000 frame-per-second Phantom camera.
The user recorded the video and then uploaded it into DragonVision for analysis. Identifying targets within the first frame was the first step. Targets represent a bi-axial sensor in capability and function.
During the Target selection process specific focus was applied to the areas where the user experienced vibration occurred (on the handle) and in the area where the motor and rotor were installed because of the likelihood of the forcing function being found within that area.
Processing the Video
Once the targets and static points were identified processing the video and selecting the dominant frequency within the data set took approximately 2 minutes.
Quite simply the user had a total of 5 minutes invested in diagnosing the problem at this point.
Phase Simulation Model
Once processing was completed a phase simulation model was performed and phase analysis clearly identified the problem. Despite precision manufacturing of the rotor the slight amount of imbalance was clearly identifiable as was the corresponding phase.
Identifying the dominant root cause via FFT analysis is a very powerful tool made possible with DragonVision Video Deflection Technology. Creating a visualized phase simulation allowed the user to quickly and easily see that the majority of force being applied to the device was originated by the vacuum motor/rotor combination.
Completed Video Deflection Model
Within a total of 5 minutes (1 minute recording) the user was able to clearly identify the issue of imbalance that could not be easily identified by traditional methods as a result of available instrumentation, plastic housing, and the effects of added sensor mass on the housing.
The DragonVision Video Deflection Model was used by the design engineers to improve rotor balancing and add appropriate mitigation to the handle thereby improving the user experience.
In less than 10 minutes a problem that had been studied for nearly 50 man hours was solved using DragonVision Video Deflection Technology. Are you ready to See the Unseen?
