TF3600 | TwinCAT 3 Condition Monitoring

Condition monitoring (CM) describes the measurement of physical quantities – such as vibration, temperature, and viscosity – and their evaluation. The aim of the evaluation is to draw conclusions about the condition of a machine or component. Condition monitoring is a prerequisite for predictive maintenance, because continuously recording and evaluating the machine condition is the only way to make reliable predictions about the future probability of failure.

The TwinCAT 3 Condition Monitoring library offers the option of integrating the CM system directly into the machine control system. This eliminates the need for difficult-to-scale and non-transparent black box monitoring systems that are connected to the machine control system via separate interfaces. The required measurement channels are simply added as EtherCAT Terminals, making the measurement data available synchronously and transparently in the control software. The measurement data is processed in the TwinCAT PLC, which makes all the data available to the control system via standardized software interfaces.

The Condition Monitoring library is a central building block in the scenario described here. The library offers extensive methods for the targeted processing and statistical preparation of raw measurement data and its classification. Signal processing methods in the time, amplitude, displacement time, spectral, and cepstral domains are provided. The library is aimed at both beginners and experienced developers of CM applications, covering everything from simple threshold detection to ISO 10816 for vibration assessment and order analysis of bearings or gears with non-stationary rotational speed. The library can be used at different levels of abstraction. In addition to algorithms for signal transformation, smoothing, or statistical evaluation, there are also function blocks that represent concrete use cases, such as a block for vibration analysis according to ISO 10816 or a block for rainflow counting for damage calculation in cyclically loaded structures.

The Condition Monitoring library is available as a PLC library for programming in the TwinCAT 3 PLC and also includes the license of the TF3680 Filter Library. In addition, the library is available in the form of TwinCAT Analytics algorithms for graphical engineering with the TE3500 Analytics Workbench, so no PLC knowledge is required when creating projects. If required, the corresponding PLC code for your condition monitoring application can be generated automatically after configuration. Another option is automatic dashboard generation based on the TwinCAT HMI. This drastically reduces the engineering work required for CM applications. TwinCAT Analytics also provides convenient functions for storing raw and processed measurement data, as well as displaying them in the TwinCAT Scope.