Unprecedented insights into rotating machines with Dragonfly®

Dragonfly® measures directly the minute forces generated by the moving parts of industrial machines, down to slow machines where accelerometers fail to capture useful information. On a gearbox with a missing tooth rotating at 1 Hz, its polar plot clearly highlights the missing tooth and the shock generated by backlash compensation.

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The challenge

In rotating machines, various components can generate shocks and vibrations, making rotating machine monitoring a complex task. The main hurdle lies in extracting meaningful insights from traditional sensors for early wear detection and preventive maintenance.

This challenge is even greater for slow-moving machines, where minimal rotational shocks result in accelerometers failing to capture useful information. Instead, critical health indicators lie in the forces and stresses transmitted through machine components. However, until now, no readily available sensor existed to effectively monitor these parameters.

Phenomenon discrimination

Traditional condition-based maintenance relies on accelerometer-based measurement. It gives an image of the machine's overall displacement, which can result from multiple solicitations acting simultaneously, making signal analysis challenging.

Slow machines monitoring

The lack of sensitivity of accelerometers at low frequency makes the diagnosis complicated on slow rotating machines. This can result in undetected or missed failures.

Integration complexity

Strain gauges complement and enhance vibration analysis thanks to their fast integration, low footprint, and interoperability, providing genuine added value.

Breaking point

10/10The score Chakib gave Dragonfly® for its outstanding accuracy and reliability

Currently, over 99% of vibration monitoring for industrial assets relies on accelerometers, as they are the only available sensors on the market. However, many types of industrial equipment remain unmonitored because accelerometers fail to capture relevant data: this includes assembly lines, hydroelectric turbines, industrial mixers, and more. These are critical, high-value assets, and their failure can lead to significant costs due to production downtime during repairs.

We asked ifmWhat is the added value of Dragonfly® for rotating machines?

Dragonfly® has become an essential ally to accelerometers in certain complex vibration analyses, thanks to its groundbreaking precision and sensitivity.

Chakib MouhoubiRTM Project Leader · ifm

“We are glad to be part of the development and distribution of a product that adds significant value to condition-based maintenance, enhancing efficiency and reliability.”

The solution

Dragonfly® is a revolutionary strain sensor that offers 1000x the resolution of traditional gauges, allowing for the direct measurement of the minute forces generated by the moving parts of industrial machines during operation. At the same time, it is thin and flexible, making it easy to integrate anywhere.

Discover Dragonfly®

Local stress

Strain measurement, providing a direct representation of the local stress on the instrumented component.

Quasistatic measurements

Bandwidth from 0.02 Hz to over 100 kHz, enabling monitoring of slow machines and phenomena.

High resolution

1000 times more sensitive than standard strain gauges, enabling it to detect even the smallest strains in rigid components.

Key features

Sensitivity: 1000×More sensitive than traditional sensors
Signal to noise ratio: >120 dBExtremely low noise level
Measurement range: ±3000 µm/mAbove steel plasticity
Integration: Plug & PlayVoltage, charge, IEPE standard

The evidence

A gearbox with 20 teeth rotating at 1 Hz, one tooth missing

The forces over one rotation of the gear, as a polar plot: the missing tooth and the shock due to backlash compensation

The gearbox with a missing tooth is equipped with a Dragonfly® sensor, which measures the forces exerted by the gears as they rotate at low speed (1 Hz).

The data is presented in a circular plot, with 360° representing a full rotation of the gear. The polar plot offers detailed insights into the gear's condition, clearly highlighting the missing tooth and the shock generated by backlash compensation when the next tooth engages with the other gear.

This method can be applied to any rotating machinery, such as gearboxes, machining spindles and turbines, to gather valuable and reliable information about the health of their internal components.

Dragonfly® versatility extends to

Wind Turbines
Automotive
Infrastructures & Bridges
Transportation

Next step