The gold standard for fluid-film hydrodynamic bearings: measuring absolute shaft dynamic displacement, radial vibration, axial thrust position, and phase reference up to 10 kHz.
Directly measures the micro-inch oil film clearance inside hydrodynamic fluid-film journal bearings. Prevents catastrophic metal-to-metal rubbing, babbitt wiping, and thermal seizure through instantaneous 2oo3 trip voting.
An oscillator inside the proximitor generates a high-frequency RF signal (~1.5 MHz) through a precision coil embedded in the probe tip. This induces eddy currents within the conductive steel shaft surface. The closer the shaft comes to the probe tip, the more energy is absorbed by eddy currents, lowering the RF amplitude. The demodulator extracts a DC negative voltage proportional to physical clearance distance and an AC ripple representing dynamic vibration.
Probe Tip RF Coil → Matched Low-Loss Coaxial Extension Cable → Demodulating Proximitor Unit (-24V Supply) → Galvanically Isolated Buffer Amplifier → Dual 24-bit Simultaneous High-Speed ADC (102.4 kS/s) → Optruss Deterministic Orbit DSP Engine.
Confirm target shaft area electrical and mechanical runout is below 6 µm (0.25 mil)
Maintain 90° ±5° angular separation between radial probes in the bearing housing
Verify DC gap voltage is within -9.5 VDC to -10.5 VDC at cold assembly clearance
Use isolated terminal boxes with individual insulated shield grounds per channel
Install pairs of probes separated by 90° geometrically (at 45° left and right of true vertical centerline) on each bearing plane. Calibrate the probe gap to -10.0 VDC (approximately 1.2 mm gap) using a calibrated micrometer rig against the shaft metal. Use matched 5m or 9m total electrical length cables; cutting or extending cable alters calibration curve slope.
Direct shaft center-line orbit and polar plot analysis
Precession frequency tracking at approximately 0.42X to 0.48X running speed with expanding circular forward orbit
Full spectrum orbit truncation & subharmonic generation
Flattened/clipped circular orbit with prominent reverse precession components and fractional harmonics (1/2X, 1/3X)
Dual axial probe DC gap delta tracking
Rapid progressive DC voltage drift exceeding calibrated axial clearance limits (> 0.25 mm shift)
Shaft centerline equilibrium migration plot
Downward drop of static shaft position over hours accompanied by elevated 1X vibration amplitudes
Streams continuous high-frequency orthogonal raw dynamic signals directly into the Optruss Orbit Visualizer. It plots instantaneous Lissajous shaft orbits, calculates dynamic eccentricity ratio, monitors DC gap stability, and interfaces directly with the plant distributed control system (DCS) for API 670 alarm enforcement.
The core sensing workhorse for rotating machinery: capturing bearing race spalling, gear mesh harmonics, and mechanical unbalance up to 12 kHz.
Rapid zero-cabling deployment for Balance of Plant assets: monitoring radial, axial, and tangential vibration with 5-year battery life and long-range LoRaWAN telemetry.
The earliest warning system on the P-F curve: detecting sub-micron lubrication film degradation, microscopic metal-to-metal contact, and pressurized gas leaks at 38 kHz.
Zero-downtime non-intrusive electrical monitoring from the MCC: diagnosing motor broken rotor bars, stator turn faults, and mechanical eccentricity via high-resolution current demodulation.
Continuous non-contact optical temperature telemetry: monitoring bearing housing caps, rotating kiln shells, electrical busbars, and furnace refractories up to 600°C.
Deterministic high-speed acquisition and local AI inference: running air-gapped on DIN rails with FPGA DSP, dual isolated Ethernet, and sovereign Merkle audit ledger.
Benefit from sub-millisecond edge FFT processing, early P-F curve anomaly detection, and automated CMMS work order generation.
