While many bearings can fail due to lack of lubrication, over-lubrication is considered one of the major causes of bearing failure.

Scientists at the University of Manchester, U.K., are developing a new type of wireless sensor to remotely monitor mechanical parts and systems and allow predictions of breakdowns in advance of failure.

Timken?s StatusCheck wireless sensor system detects excessive temperature and vibration levels in manufacturing equipment. Plant Engineering magazine readers give it a silver award.

BP's Loch Rannoch project began by testing the effectiveness and reliability of a promising wireless network technology and then went on to develop a commercial system that could be used in the company's refineries.

You all remember Ohm's law and the definition of electrical resistance as the ability of a circuit to resist the flow of electrical current. Although useful, Ohm's law applies to only one circuit element and assumes it to be an ideal resistor. Real-world circuit elements are more complex and exhibit resistive, capacitive, and inductive behavior that together define its impedance.

Vibrational theory can seem overwhelming, but it does prove manageable to those who wish to use the modal parameters within a single frequency response function as indicators of product health.