Optimal sinusoidal modelling of gear mesh vibration signals for gear diagnosis and prognosis

In this paper, the synchronous signal average of gear mesh vibration signals is modelled with the multiple modulated sinusoidal representations. The signal model parameters are optimised against the measured signal averages by using the batch learning of the least squares technique. With the optimal signal model, all components of a gear mesh vibration signal, including the amplitude modulations, the phase modulations and the impulse vibration component induced by gear tooth cracking, are identified and analysed with insight of the gear tooth crack development and propagation. In particular, the energy distribution of the impulse vibration signal, extracted from the optimal signal model, provides sufficient information for monitoring and diagnosing the evolution of the tooth cracking process, leading to the prognosis of gear tooth cracking. The new methodologies for gear mesh signal modelling and the diagnosis of the gear tooth fault development and propagation are validated with a set of rig test data, which has shown excellent performance. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.