An Impulse Response Driven Approach for Optimizing Bearing Enveloping Diagnostics

摘要

Vibration-based bearing health algorithms are designed to detect impulses in accelerometer data generated by incipient faultsrnon the bearing elements. These fault impulses are modified by the natural vibration response of the gearboxes and sensors.rnThe purpose of this study is to investigate how modal characteristics affect bearing health assessment algorithms so that theyrncan be set up objectively, prior to gearbox failure, based on known gearbox properties. The quality of fault forcing functionrnimpulses is examined as well as the fault period based on actual bearing geometries. The approach used is both experimentalrnand analytical, allowing for several parameters to be studied independently so that their relative impact on health assessmentrncan be demonstrated. The authors have found that the enveloping health assessment technique is best suited for bearings withrngeometries and speeds that produce a maximum fault frequency. The method presented can be used for predicting the relativerneffectiveness of the enveloping technique for future installations of vibration based health monitoring systems.