Inspecting mechanical equipment of any kind quickly separates qualified thermographers from those who are unqualified. Good mechanical inspections first and foremost require in-depth knowledge and skilled use of both your thermal imager and image processing software. However, this alone may not be enough. Without a solid grounding in the basics of heat transfer—and how that relates to the mechanical asset being inspected—there is little hope of success.

ISO 18434-1:2008, Condition Monitoring and Diagnostics of Machines Thermography-Part 1: General Procedures

Additionally, one must have a solid knowledge of how the machine operates normally as well as an understanding of the heat-related failure mechanisms and where they may occur. Thermal imaging, of course, is also just one of several tools that are typically employed. There exists another standard that gives guidelines for inspecting both electrical and mechanical equipment. The ASTME1934 (available at the link). Along with these two standards, ISO has a standard for qualification of personnel applying thermal imaging technology on mechanical assets. The ISO IS 9712. All of the referenced standards can be purchased at the links provided.

Is all this investment worthwhile? While the returns on thermal inspections that are well done can be immense, work that is poorly executed will only drain your maintenance budget and prevent you from achieving optimum reliability. Of all the applications of thermography, those involved with mechanical systems require a long-term commitment.

Thermography leads the condition monitoring technologies, which also include vibration, acoustic emission, and lubrication analysis, along with significant discussions of how to establish a condition based monitoring (CBM) program and the requirements for personnel qualification, training and certification.

As the standards also indicate, training is vital to success. Are you ready to roll up your sleeves and expand your program to cover mechanical inspections? If so, consider infrared training with The Snell Group this year!