Ball Waviness Meter

A Ball Waviness Meter measures the roundness and waviness of balls used in ball bearings. It does this by using a specially designed spindle to rotate a ball at several hundred rpm while detecting the vibration speed with a contact sensor and displaying the waviness and roundness on the screen of a Synchro Wave Analyzer.

Employing advanced technology and precise measurement techniques, it provides manufacturers with crucial data to ensure the quality, reliability, and performance of bearings in diverse industrial applications. By meticulously analyzing the surface characteristics of individual balls, the ball wavimeter plays a pivotal role in maintaining stringent quality standards and optimizing the efficiency of machinery and mechanical systems.

With the arbor attached to the end of the spindle rotating at constant speed, the pusher presses the ball against the arbor. The ball begins to rotate together with the arbor and spindle. Applying the minimum force needed, the probe of the velocity sensor is pressed against the surface of the rotating ball in the direction perpendicular to the axis of rotation. The probe is displaced by the arbor vibrations and by the spindle, combined with the surface waviness of the ball. The probe’s displacement is detected as a voltage signal proportional to vibration velocity, based on which roundness and waviness are calculated.

• High-precision measurement: Practical measurement accuracy of 10 nm
• Dedicated compact speed sensor with flat characteristics (10 times greater sensitivity than laser Doppler vibrometer) originally developed and manufactured by Sugawara
• Speedy measurement: Real-time measurement (time required for race setting: 30 sec or less)
• It is possible to choose between two different drive units, so measurements can be performed over a wide range of ball sizes, including miniature ball bearings (0.3–60 mm)
• Dedicated Pusher for stable measurement
  Replaceable Arbor for the measurement of rings of different sizes.
• Measurements can be made in a total of 15 different units, including nmWcla, nmPC, nm, and nm/rad
• Measurement results can be displayed on the analyzer in various ways, such as numerical values in the L, M, and H bands, polar graphs, spectral plots, and vibration waveforms
• The equipment can record and play back up to 30 seconds of vibration noise, allowing quality control to be performed based on the raw vibration waveforms
• Recording data, measurement data, measurement conditions, and screen copies can be saved to a USB memory
• Hard copies of the screen display can be made using an optional USB thermal printer