Understanding Phase Measurements

Don DaviesAugust 6, 2013 signal processing, tutorials 2 Comments

When performing frequency analysis of vibration data for any application the resultant spectrum has both
amplitude and phase components, therefore the phase component represents half of the information available
and can provide a valuable insight into the causes of the vibration and possible methods for reducing it.

Phase is a measure of the relative timing between two signals. The phase angle (measured in degrees or
radians) is the difference between a measurement point and a reference point in terms of a fraction of a cycle
for the frequency being measured. At the specific frequency a single cycle will have a phase angle range of
360 degrees (or radians). The phase angle is defined as the position of the maximum peak in the signal
relative to the reference point.

For rotating machinery in particular, phase is an important measurement and can be used for fault detection,
balancing and many other diagnostics. In these applications the phase measurement needs to be referenced to a
particular position within the rotation cycle for the machine usually by a dedicated tachometer or phase
reference signal. This is can be provided by a proximity transducer looking at either a keyway slot or raised
part of the shaft or by an optical transducer with a reflective strip on the shaft to produce a once per
revolution excursion. This signal can then be used as the reference point for all subsequent data capture and
analysis for the vibration transducers associated with that shaft.

A typical example is shown below. In this example, we have two transducers on a rotating shaft. The
transducer on the front face is measuring the motion of the shaft whilst the transducer on the rear face is
looking at a keyway.

Figure 1: The transducer on the front face of the shaft is measuring the movement of the shaft as it rotates
Assume the shaft has a heavy spot, this creates an imbalance and causes the shafts centre of mass to move
away from the geometric centre. For this simple example the subsequent vibration signature will be sinusoidal
and have a maximum amplitude as the heavy spot passes the transducer. The transducer on the rear face is
looking at a keyway and will be used as the phase reference signal.

*Note, in practical applications this signal will not be as clean as that shown and may contain ringing and
glitches. Good quality conditioning of this signal will be required to provide the clean sharp signal required as
a phase reference.
The following diagram shows the vibration signal and the associated phase reference for this example.

Figure 2: Vibration signal and the associated phase reference

Here we have a sine-wave together with its associated tachometer signal. The falling edge of the tachometer is
co-incident with the sine-wave passing through 0 in the positive direction these points are highlighted as the
phase reference points. Also highlighted is the maximum amplitude in the signal. We can see from this that
there are two possible phase angle measurements dependent on whether we consider the peak to be either
leading or lagging behind the reference position.

*Remember that on the graph time is increasing along the X-axis and so a point which is further to right on
the graph occurs later in time and so lags behind the reference. A point which is further to the left occurs
earlier in time and so leads the reference point.
In this example the maximum peak occurs at of a cycle or 90 degrees after (or cycle and 270 degrees
before) the reference point. Therefore the phase angle in this case can be expressed as either 90 degrees lag or
270 degrees lead.

*Remember also that phase angles are cycling and so +90 degrees is the same as -270 degrees and +270
degrees is the same as -90 degrees.
Therefore the possible phase angles for this example are:

Phase Lag Phase Lead

+90 degrees 270 degrees

-270 degrees -90 degrees
Lets look at how the Prosig DATS software represents phase by performing an FFT analysis on the example
signal above. The following graphs (Figure 3) show the resultant complex spectrum and the equivalent
modulus and phase representation.

Figure 3: Complex spectrum & equivalent modulus/phase

The phase measurement produced by DATS is a value of 270 degrees . This shows that DATS is using the
Phase Lead measurement definition.

*DATS provides the option of calculating phase over the range to or here we chose to , had we
chosen then the result would have been -90 degrees.

Another valuable display when dealing with complex frequency data is the Nyquist, sometimes called Vector
or Polar display. This display is formed by extracting the real and imaginary (or modulus and phase)
components for a particular frequency and displaying the real part as the X-axis and imaginary part as the Y-
axis. This gives a display similar to that shown in Figure 4 below.
 Figure 4: In this display the magnitude of the vibration vector is represented by the distance from the orgin
and the phase by its angular position on the diagram.

The point highlighted is the same point shown on the modulus and phase diagram above i.e. Ampitude 1.0 and
phase 270 degrees.
Note using this convention for drawing nyquist diagrams then 0 degree phase is always at the 3 oclock
position. Some people prefer the 0 degree phase position to be a the 12 oclock position, this is achieved by
displaying the real part as the Y-axis and the imaginary are X.

The labelling of the phase position on the nyquist diagram depends on the phase angle definition being
employed. The following are possible representations of the same vector position.
 Figure 5

Nyquist displays are most commonly used in rotating machinery analysis where the complex components for
an individual frequency or harmonic component of the rotational speed is extracted from successive data
capture sequences, typically at different speed for a runup or rundown event.
 Figure 6

The graph above is taken from a PROTOR system and represents the variation in the 1st order vector
component for two signals from a steam turbine decelerating in speed from its running speed (3000 RPM) to
stopped. The point highlighted is the vector position at high speed.
Nyquist diagrams readily show the amplitude and phase response for vibration harmonics for a rotating
machine as it passes through critical speeds, these appears as loops in the vector plot as shown above.

In conclusion, the phase component of a complex frequency spectra contains valuable information and
shouldnt be ignored. When using phase you need to be aware of the reference signal being used and the phase
angle definition being employed by the measurement system. Accuracy and stability of the phase measurement
is dependent on the quality of the phase reference signal transducer and its target together with any signal
conditioning used to identify phase reference points.

It is important to understand the phase readings being presented by a measurement system. As an example
phase is an important measurement when attempting to balance a rotating machine. Referring to the example
shown above where a heavy spot has been identified on shaft, maybe due to uneven mass distribution or
damage or loss of a turbine blade, ideally the placement of an appropriate balance weight will be on the
opposite side of the shaft to the heavy spot. That is, at a phase angle that is 180 degrees from the measured
peak vibration phase angle. Incorrect interpretation of the phase angle will result in the balance weight being
placed at the incorrect position, possibly resulting in an increase in vibration and not the desired decrease.