Bearing / Rotor Condition
Early fault detection via acoustic signature analysis
Monitoring solution
Acoustic and strain sensing for industrial equipment.
Predictive maintenance through UW-DAS acoustic sensing and UW-FBG temperature/strain monitoring — detect bearing faults, conveyor belt wear, and process anomalies weeks before failure.
The engineering question
What must be observed before failure becomes visible?
Industrial manufacturing environments demand maximum equipment uptime, yet rotating machinery, conveyors, and production lines are subject to continuous wear, bearing degradation, misalignment, and thermal stress. Unplanned downtime in a single production line can cost tens of thousands of dollars per hour in lost output. Traditional vibration monitoring and thermal imaging provide partial coverage but miss the early, subtle signatures of developing faults.
Modern smart factories need a sensing approach that provides comprehensive, continuous health monitoring across all critical equipment — from motor bearings to conveyor belts to structural supports — without interfering with production processes. Fiber optic sensing offers a unique advantage: passive sensors immune to electromagnetic interference, capable of distributed acoustic and thermal monitoring from a single interrogation unit located in a control room far from the noisy factory floor.
Monitoring boundary
Define the quantity, coverage and required response first.
uwDAS high-frequency acoustic sensing
Machine Vibration
0.1–10 kHz vibration monitoring on rotating equipment
Temperature Profile
Motor, bearing, and process temperature ±0.5°C
Conveyor Belt Strain
Continuous belt tension monitoring
Structural Fatigue
Frame and support structure strain cycles
Process Anomaly Detection
Real-time identification of abnormal acoustic/thermal patterns
Sensing chain
Treat sensing, interrogation and interpretation as one system.
The industrial monitoring system deploys uwDAS fiber attached to machinery frames, bearing housings, and conveyor structures for continuous acoustic and vibration sensing — converting a single fiber into thousands of virtual vibration sensors.
Acoustic & Vibration Monitoring: uwDAS fiber bonded to bearing housings and motor frames captures acoustic signatures from 0.1 Hz to 10 kHz, enabling real-time detection of bearing degradation, misalignment, imbalance, and lubrication failure through machine learning classification.
Temperature & Thermal Profiling: UW-FBG temperature arrays embedded in motor windings and bearing pockets provide continuous ±0.5°C accuracy thermal monitoring, preventing thermal runaway in critical rotating machinery.
Conveyor & Structural Health: UW-FBG strain cables track conveyor belt tension and structural fatigue in real time, detecting abnormal load patterns that precede belt failure or frame deformation. An RS-DAS/HFBGA interrogator in the plant control room collects all sensing data, and the Ray-Sensor platform triggers predictive maintenance alerts with automated CMMS work order generation.
Acoustic & Vibration Monitoring: uwDAS fiber bonded to bearing housings and motor frames captures acoustic signatures from 0.1 Hz to 10 kHz, enabling real-time detection of bearing degradation, misalignment, imbalance, and lubrication failure through machine learning classification.
Temperature & Thermal Profiling: UW-FBG temperature arrays embedded in motor windings and bearing pockets provide continuous ±0.5°C accuracy thermal monitoring, preventing thermal runaway in critical rotating machinery.
Conveyor & Structural Health: UW-FBG strain cables track conveyor belt tension and structural fatigue in real time, detecting abnormal load patterns that precede belt failure or frame deformation. An RS-DAS/HFBGA interrogator in the plant control room collects all sensing data, and the Ray-Sensor platform triggers predictive maintenance alerts with automated CMMS work order generation.
Field placement
Translate the monitoring question into a placement plan.
- 01
uwDAS sensing fiber bonded to bearing housings and motor frame surfaces
- 02
UW-FBG temperature arrays embedded in motor windings and bearing pockets
- 03
UW-FBG strain sensing cables along conveyor belt support structures
- 04
uwDAS fiber around process vessels and pipelines for acoustic anomaly detection
- 05
RS-DAS/HFBGA interrogator in plant control room (fiber runs up to 10 km from sensors)
- 06
Ray-Sensor platform with ML-based acoustic classification and alert system
Engineering record
What continuous measurements make visible.
- Early bearing fault detection weeks before failure — reducing unplanned downtime by up to 60%
- Single fiber replaces hundreds of discrete vibration sensors — no wiring, no sensor nodes, no batteries
- EMI-immune operation ideal for welding, motor drives, and high-voltage manufacturing environments
- Continuous temperature monitoring prevents thermal runaway in critical rotating machinery
- ML-driven acoustic classification distinguishes bearing degradation, misalignment, imbalance, and lubrication failure
- Automated CMMS work order generation from real-time anomaly detection data
Field evidence
Related monitoring contexts.
Define the monitoring boundary
Start with the asset, failure mode and required coverage.
These inputs determine the sensing layout more reliably than choosing an instrument first.