5055 – Advanced Bearing Vibration Analysis

Bearing Vibration Analysis is a specialized training program designed to take your understanding of vibration analysis to the next level, with a focus on mastering the diagnosis of bearing-related defects.

By blending theoretical foundations with real-life case studies, this condition monitoring course empowers maintenance professionals to detect, interpret, and prevent common and complex bearing failures that can lead to costly equipment breakdowns and unplanned downtimes.

Why Focus on Bearings?

Bearings are among the most critical components in rotating machinery. When they fail, they often cause severe damage to the surrounding equipment, interrupting operations and leading to expensive repairs.

Most of these failures, however, give off early warning signs, especially in the form of vibrations. With the right training and tools, vibration analysis can reveal these signs and help maintenance teams take corrective action before damage escalates.

That’s where this course comes in.

What You’ll Learn: In-Depth Course Content

This predictive maintenance training covers a broad spectrum of topics that are essential for understanding how to evaluate bearing health through vibration signals. It includes both theoretical instruction and applied case analysis to support participants in developing a structured and analytical approach to bearing diagnostics.

Key Course Modules:

• Overview of bearing types and their characteristics
  • Learn the differences between rolling element bearings, ball bearings, roller bearings, and more, and understand how their mechanical properties influence their vibration signatures.
• Understanding the principles of bearing deterioration
  • Gain insight into the physical and chemical processes that lead to bearing wear, pitting, spalling, and eventual failure.
• Diagnostic techniques for key failure indicators:
  • BPFO (Ball Pass Frequency Outer race): Detecting defects on the outer raceway.
  • BPFI (Ball Pass Frequency Inner race): Diagnosing faults on the inner raceway.
  • BSF (Ball Spin Frequency): Identifying issues related to the rolling elements themselves.
  • FTF (Fundamental Train Frequency): Recognizing cage-related defects that affect the overall bearing structure.
• Signs of poor lubrication
  • Understand how lubrication issues manifest in vibration data and learn to detect these early signs to prevent premature bearing wear.
• Detection of mechanical play
  • Discover how looseness and misalignment appear in the vibration spectrum and time waveform, and learn how to differentiate between various mechanical anomalies.
• Bearing analysis on low-speed shafts
  • Special techniques are required to detect faults in slow-rotating equipment. This module equips participants to recognize subtle yet critical vibrational cues in low-speed applications.
• Developing a structured diagnostic methodology
  • Participants will learn how to build a consistent process for analyzing vibration data, documenting findings, and planning corrective actions.

Who Should Attend This Training?

This course is designed specifically for professionals working in condition monitoring and predictive maintenance who want to enhance their expertise in bearing diagnostics.

It is ideal for:

• Maintenance technicians and supervisors seeking to refine their vibration analysis skills and contribute more effectively to asset reliability programs.
• Reliability and maintenance engineers who aim to deepen their technical understanding of rotating equipment failure modes.
• Maintenance managers and planners interested in reducing unplanned downtime and improving plant availability by integrating advanced diagnostic capabilities into maintenance planning.

Course Format: Theoretical + Practical Case Study Work

This training is primarily theoretical but includes extensive case study analysis to ensure practical application. Each participant will be asked to analyze various documented bearing failures using a vibration analysis software suite. Cases can be examined within the software or exported to standard formats like Word or PDF for deeper investigation and discussion.

Participants are expected to develop a clear historical understanding of each case, describe the vibrational symptoms, identify likely root causes, and propose appropriate actions based on diagnostic evidence.

Benefits: What You Can Expect to Gain

By the end of this course, participants will be equipped to:

• Recognize the vibrational signatures in bearing fault diagnosis with greater accuracy
  • Identify frequencies and patterns associated with early-stage and advanced bearing failures.
• Interpret data more confidently and efficiently
  • Leverage diagnostic tools more effectively, saving time and reducing misdiagnoses and helps with bearing failure analysis
• Predict and prevent bearing failures proactively
  • Understand failure progression and make informed decisions to extend asset life and reduce maintenance costs.
• Support asset reliability and operational efficiency
  • Contribute to a more robust reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) strategy by bringing actionable insights into maintenance decision-making processes.

This course ultimately strengthens the participant’s role in the reliability process, allowing them to make smarter maintenance decisions, improve equipment performance, and reduce overall maintenance costs.

Why Choose This Course?

With bearing failure being one of the leading causes of machinery downtime, advanced training in bearing vibration analysis is not just an asset, it’s a necessity for any plant focused on predictive maintenance and operational excellence. Whether you’re aiming to improve equipment reliability, reduce maintenance costs, or boost your team’s technical capabilities, this course provides the technical depth and practical expertise required to achieve those goals.