SKF Condition Monitoring

How to Bump Test with the

Microlog
What is a Bump Test?
A bump test (also called a hammer test)
determines the natural frequencies of a machine or
a structure. The idea behind the test is that if an
object is impacted or bumped, the objects natural
or resonant frequencies are excited. If a spectrum
is taken while the object is vibrating due to the
impact, spectral peaks result pinpointing the objects
natural frequencies. A Microlog analyzer can be
used to capture this vibration response and to
display a spectrum showing the resonant or natural
frequencies.

Perform a Bump Test

To perform a bump test with your Microlog, attach
an accelerometer to the test object (machine case
or structure), set up Microlog to obtain the response
data, impact (bump or hit) the object and analyze
the data collected.

Single Channel Microlog

Input Setup
From the Analyzer menu, select Input Setup
(Figure 1).

In the Input Setup screen, the important fields to

set are Type: Acceleration (if you are using an
accelerometer dont integrate the signal) and Full
Scale: 10.

NOTE: If an overload occurs during data collection,

increase the full scale setting with the up
arrow key.

Application Note
CM3010

Two-Channel Microlog
Input Setup
From the 4:Analyzer menu, select 2:Input Setup
(Figure 2).
In the Input Setup screen, the important fields to
set are Type: Acceleration (if you are using an
accelerometer dont integrate the signal) and Full
Scale: 10.
NOTE: If an overload occurs during data
collection, increase the full scale setting
with the up arrow key.

Single-Channel Microlog
Spectrum Setup
From the Analyzer menu, select Spectrum
Setup to display the screen of Figure 3.
The important fields to set in Spectrum Setup
are Average Type: Pk Hold, Average Mode:
Cont., and Window:Uniform. The peak hold
averaging technique will hold the highest
amplitude value for each frequency line.
Continuous averaging will allow updating of the
captured signal as required.

Two-Channel Microlog
Measment Setup
From the 4:Analyzer menu, select 3:Measment
Setup to display the screen of Figure 4.

Figure 1. The Input Setup Screen.

Figure 3. The Spectrum Setup Screen.

Figure 2. The Input Setup Screen.

Figure 4. The Measment Setup Screen.

"How to Bump
Test with the
Microlog"

Figure 5. The Display Setup Screen.

Figure 6. The Trigger Setup Screen.

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USA
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The important fields to set in Measment Setup are

Average Type: Pk Hold, Average Mode: Cont.,
and Window:Uniform. The peak hold averaging
technique will hold the highest amplitude value for
each frequency line. Continuous averaging will
allow updating of the captured signal as required.

Single-Channel Microlog
Display Setup
From the Analyzer menu, select Display Setup
(Figure 5).
A Display Setup with dual display of magnitude
and time allows you to clearly see the results of the
test and spot a bad impact or bump.

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Single-Channel Microlog
Trigger Setup

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Telephone (+65) 861-6922
FAX (+65) 861-3044

The Trigger Setup menu is very important. To

capture and process the spectrum of a bump, you
need to trigger your Microlog to take data only at the
bump. Set Trigger Mode: Trigger to make the
Microlog trigger, or take data, only when a positive
going input signal reaches 20% of full scale.

From the Analyzer menu, select Trigger Setup

(Figure 6).

Set Trigger Delay: -50 milliseconds which sets the

pre-trigger sample data to zero prior to the bump.

Two-Channel Microlog
Trigger Setup
From the 4:Analyzer menu, select 5:Trigger Setup
(Figure 7).

CM3010 (Revised 4-97)

Copyright 1997 by
SKF Condition Monitoring, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Trigger Setup menu is very important. To

capture and process the spectrum of a bump, you
need to trigger your Microlog to take data only at the
bump. Set Trigger Mode: Trigger to make the
Microlog trigger, or take data, only when a positive
going input signal reaches 20% of full scale.
Set Trigger Delay: -50 milliseconds which sets the
pre-trigger sample data to zero prior to the bump.

Figure 7. The Trigger Setup Screen.

Figure 8. Time Waveform of Impact Response.

RESULTING SPECTRUM

TIME WAVEFORM

Figure 9. Time Waveform and Resulting Spectrum.

Natural frequencies can be quite high (thousands of

cpm), consequently the time waveform captured will
look densely packed. This is all right and the
DISPLAY EXPAND key can be used to spread out
this signal if you choose.
When you impact a machine, you cause the
transducer to produce an electrical transient
analogous to the machines vibration response.
When you use the input transducer as a trigger you
will get a No Trigger message during the time you
are not impacting (bumping) the machine. This is
obviously most of the time and is OK.
When you impact the machine sufficiently, you
reach your defined trigger level and the No Trigger
message disappears for a few seconds and a time
waveform and spectrum is displayed (Figure 9).
Depending on your maximum frequency, this can
take a minute or two. Be patient.
The time waveform should begin at the 50 ms delay
point and should appear exponentially decaying.
Use the DISPLY EXPAND key if you need to. Next,
check the resulting spectrum of this time sample
and note the possible natural frequencies. Repeat
the bump test three or four times to make sure that
these peaks are consistent and are indeed the
natural frequencies of the system.
The above data can be saved in the Microlog using
the Save key and uploaded to PRISM2 as a
NonRoute POINT. In PRISM2 the time waveform
can be uploaded for later analysis.