Development of prognostic concepts and tools

Diagnostic and prognostic tools have been developed in a three year project Prognos - Prognostics for Industrial Machinery Availability. Industrial cases selected on the basis of the strategic needs of the industrial partners in the Prognos-project formed the basis of the work carried out by the research organisations. A general schematic description of prognostic concepts made in the project assists in figuring out the different areas of existing methods, available data and possible further development needs in any specific cases considered. The results of the research and development in the Prognos project include methods, tools and knowledge covering many areas and technologies including tools from maintenance planning to component level monitoring, diagnostics and prognostics and 3D visualisation of respective data. A conceptual software tool was developed for prognostics, as well as tools for combining monitoring and process data, and for feature extraction. Vibration based method for adaptive grease lubrication was developed. The results also include methods and techniques required for remote diagnostics of electrical motors as well as diagnostics of quality control systems of paper machines. An on-line method for monitoring coating wear under erosive environment was also developed. The results have been published in a number of publications, the total number being in excess of 90. This includes 7 M.Sc. theses, one doctoral thesis, and 5 international journal articles, 31 international conference papers, 11 national journal articles, 24 national conference papers and a number of other publications. This article presents a short summary of the project, together with a general description of the prognostic concept, main results and industrial benefits.