A new book from the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT), titled: An Introduction to Condition Monitoring and Diagnostic Technologies, edited by Professor A Hope and Mr D Whittle, introduces the reader to the wide range of technologies that can be used for the condition monitoring (CM) and diagnostics of structures, plant and machinery through surveillance, monitoring and analysis.
Condition monitoring forms a vital part of the asset management process. It involves the measurement and monitoring of specific parameters that may give an indication of machine health or a fault condition, through an increase or decrease in the measured values or by other changes to characteristic values over a period of time. Techniques collectively referred to as CM have a common objective of knowing and understanding the health and condition of a machine and indicating the early signs of deterioration or malfunction and changing wear trends.
This new title contains eleven chapters and provides a general introduction to CM and diagnostic technologies. The opening chapter covers the challenges involved in setting up a condition-based maintenance programme and this is followed by several chapters that describe the most widely used CM techniques and diagnostic technologies, including vibration analysis, oil analysis, wear debris analysis, acoustic emission, thermal imaging, ultrasound condition monitoring, motor current signature analysis and electrical condition monitoring, optical condition monitoring and laser shearography.
A further chapter introduces the wide range of international CM standards currently in use and, although the book is essentially an introductory text, an additional chapter is included on the important topic of prognostics.
The individual chapters are written by experts who are well-known in their particular fields of expertise. The book provides a useful introduction to the subject for undergraduate and postgraduate engineering students, as well as researchers, academics, condition monitoring practitioners and those overseeing the asset management process.
An Introduction to Condition Monitoring and Diagnostic Technologies is available to purchase now from the website of the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing at www.bindt.org priced at £66.75 plus p&p (300 pages, A4, soft cover, ISBN 978 0 903132 76 3). A discount is available to members of BINDT.
BINDT publishes an introduction to condition monitoring and diagnostic technologies
About BINDT
The British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT) is a UK-based professional engineering institution working to promote the advancement of the science and practice of non-destructive testing (NDT), condition monitoring (CM), diagnostic engineering and all other materials and quality testing disciplines. Internationally recognised, it is concerned with the education, training and certification of its members and all those engaged in NDT and CM and through its publications and annual conferences and events it disseminates news of the latest advances in the science and practice of the subjects. For further information about the Institute and its activities, visit http://www.bindt.org
What are NDT and CM?
Non-destructive testing is the branch of engineering concerned with all methods of detecting and evaluating flaws in materials. Flaws can affect the serviceability of a material or structure, so NDT is important in guaranteeing safe operation as well as in quality control and assessing plant life. The flaws may be cracks or inclusions in welds and castings or variations in structural properties, which can lead to a loss of strength or failure in service. The essential feature of NDT is that the test process itself produces no deleterious effects on the material or structure under test. The subject of NDT has no clearly defined boundaries; it ranges from simple techniques such as the visual examination of surfaces, through the well-established methods of radiography, ultrasonic testing and magnetic particle crack detection, to new and very specialised methods such as the measurement of Barkhausen noise and positron annihilation spectroscopy.
Condition monitoring (CM) aims to ensure plant efficiency, productivity and reliability by monitoring and analysing the wear of operating machinery and components to provide an early warning of impending failure, thereby reducing costly plant shutdown. Condition monitoring originally used mainly vibration and tribology analysis techniques but now encompasses new fields such as thermal imaging, acoustic emission and other non-destructive techniques. The diagnostic and prognostic elements, in addition to increasingly sophisticated signal processing, is using trends from repeated measurements in time intervals of days and weeks.
Contact for press enquiries and image requests:
Sharon Creed
Marketing & PR Manager
The British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing
Midsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road, Northampton NN1 5NX, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1604 438300, Fax: +44 (0)1604 438301
Email: sharon.creed@bindt.org
