Helical Gearbox Defect Detection with Machine Learning Using Regular Mesh Components and Sidebands

Abstract

The current paper presents helical gearbox defect detection models built from raw vibration signals measured using a triaxial accelerometer. Gear faults, such as localized pitting, localized wear on helical pinion tooth flanks, and low lubricant level, are under observation for three rotating velocities of the actuator and three load levels at the speed reducer output. The emphasis is on the strong connection between the gear faults and the fundamental meshing frequency GMF, its harmonics, and the sidebands found in the vibration spectrum as an effect of the amplitude modulation (AM) and phase modulation (PM). Several sets of features representing powers on selected frequency bands or/and associated peak amplitudes from the vibration spectrum, and also, for comparison, time-domain and frequency-domain statistical feature sets, are proposed as predictors in the defect detection task. The best performing detection model, with a testing accuracy of 99.73%, is based on SVM (Support Vector Machine) with a cubic kernel, and the features used are the band powers associated with six GMF harmonics and two sideband pairs for all three accelerometer axes, regardless of the rotation velocities and the load levels.