Assessment of the technical condition of lift guides using a magnetic field

Abstract

Abstract The systems that monitor individual components of machines and devices are under constant development. The ability to detect damages at an early stage allows failures to be prevented, so any uncontrolled downtime can be predicted in a controlled manner. Continuous monitoring of technical condition is an activity that also helps to reduce the losses due to equipment failures. However, not all areas can be monitored continuously. Such areas include lift guides where wear and tear can occur naturally, i.e. through abrasion of the material layer due to interaction with moving guide shoes or after emergency braking. Emergency braking causes local damages to the guide through plastic deformation of its surface resulting from indentation of the knurled roller of the brake. Such places are cleaned mechanically, which results in local reduction of the cross-sectional area. In such a case, it is difficult to continuously assess the technical condition of guides due to the prevailing operating conditions. Therefore, a concept of a head enabling assessment of the technical condition of guides at every stage of their operation has been developed. This article presents the novel concept of a magnetic head used for assessing the technical condition of lift guide rails that are the running track of lifting equipment. The initial tests were performed on the original test setup. The concept of the developed measuring head was verified for correct operation on specially prepared flat bars with holes. The results obtained in the form of laboratory tests proved that the proposed measuring head concept can be applied to the measurements under real conditions.