Vibration Caused by Abnormalities in the Hoist Head Pulley: Precise Identification and Efficient Repair via the Zhongyun Platform

In cement production lines, bucket elevators serve as a critical component for vertical material conveyance. Recently, a cement enterprise experienced abnormal operation of an elevator due to slippage of the head pulley. Prior to the failure, the Zhongyun Technology Intelligent Operations and Maintenance Platform detected continuous speed exceedances—an early warning signal—and promptly assisted the company in quickly identifying a fluid coupling keyway issue, enabling timely replacement and repair and thereby ensuring stable operation of the conveying system.

I. Continuous exceedance of speed limits triggers early warnings from the platform.

On March 27, 2026, the platform detected that the vibration velocity at the horizontal measurement point on the free end of the head sheave of the hoist continuously exceeded the safety threshold, triggering an alarm and initiating continuous monitoring. The alarm message clearly indicates the specific equipment measurement point, the magnitude of the exceedance, and the corresponding time stamp, alerting to the risk of “head sheave failure” and providing the operations and maintenance team with a clear guidance for corrective action.

II. Diagnostic Recommendations Point to the Head Pulley and Drive Equipment

Based on the equipment’s operating characteristics, the diagnostic team determined that the anomaly is related to the head pulley or transmission components and recommended that the enterprise promptly shut down the equipment to inspect the head pulley, belts, and connection conditions, thereby preventing the issue from escalating and disrupting production.

III. On-site Verification and Efficient Repair

On the day of the shutdown for inspection, the enterprise discovered that the head sheave of the hoist had slipped, causing an emergency stop, and that the fluid coupling had suffered a keyway failure. The platform’s diagnostic conclusion was highly consistent with the actual situation.

IV. Core Value: Providing Reliable Assurance for Cement Industry Conveying Equipment

The successful resolution of the hoist head pulley slip fault this time underscores the unique value of Zhongyun Technology’s intelligent operations and maintenance platform in the management of conveying equipment in the cement industry:

Full Coverage: The monitoring scope has been extended from motors and gear reducers to drive components such as head pulleys and fluid couplings, eliminating monitoring blind spots in critical links and ensuring that every conveyor unit is fully protected.

Early intervention: Detect sustained speed-over-limit signals before the equipment is forced to shut down, issue advance warnings of head-wheel abnormalities, provide the operations and maintenance team with critical response time, and prevent sudden unplanned outages.

Precision Diagnosis: Replacing empirical judgment with data to accurately pinpoint the hidden fault of “fluid-coupling key seizure,” thereby enhancing maintenance efficiency and reducing downtime.

Zhongyun Technology will continue to iteratively enhance its AI diagnostic algorithms and sensor technologies, delivering end-to-end intelligent operations and maintenance solutions that provide “precise early warning, efficient response, and robust reliability” for industries such as building materials and cement. These solutions will help enterprises achieve digitalization in equipment management and intelligence in O&M decision-making.