Statistical fault diagnosis based on vibration analysis for gear test-bench under non-stationary conditions of speed and load

In this paper the authors are dealing with the detection of different mechanical faults (unbalance and misalignment) under a wide range of working conditions of speed and load. The conditions tested in a test bench are similar to the ones that can be found in different kinds of machines like for example wind turbines. The authors demonstrate how to take advantage of the information on vibrations from the mechanical system under study in a wide range of load and speed conditions. Using such information the prognosis and detection of faults is faster and more reliable than the one obtained from an analysis over a restricted range of working conditions (e.g. nominal). (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.