Balancing is an integral part in the manufacture of a rotor.  At each stage in the balancing process, customers and quality control systems require documentation of a rotor’s residual unbalance.  In addition, the performance of the balancing machine itself must also be tested and documented.  In recognition of this growing requirement, both the SAE and ISO have established protocols for balancing machine performance testing.

Complete information about these standards can be found in SAE ARP’s 4048, 4050, 4162 and 5323 as well as ISO 2953. Both standards provide information regarding the steps necessary to conduct the test, the charts that must be completed, and the tabular data necessary to plot the data.      

A typical ISO or SAE test requires the operator to traverse trial weights about the circumference of the proving rotor, accurately record the unbalance data for each weight location, precisely plot each data point, interpret the results and generate a final report. When conducted manually, it can take an operator more than a day to collect the data and plot the information for just a single direction of rotation.

Schenck’s new Perform Software© provides a user-friendly environment for the operator to record, store and report the information obtained during an SAE or ISO performance test. Perform Software can also significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to conduct the test. Tests that once took more than a day can be conducted in as little as four to five hours using Perform Software.

A database of Schenck machine specifications (and a variety of others) allow the operator to configure the test based on the machine being tested. All machines are classified based on SAE and ISO standards. While conducting the test, Perform automatically plots the entered data, interprets the results and generates a report.  The operator is free to focus on placing the weights and recording the unbalance data.  To further assist the operator, Perform prompts the operator through each step in the testing of the balancing machine.

Perform includes the following features: