Bearings Health Monitoring Based on Frequency-Domain Vibration Signals Analysis

Abstract

Rotating machine health monitoring is critical for system safety, cost savings, and increased reliability. The need for a simple and accurate fault diagnosis method has led to the development of various monitoring techniques. They incorporate vibration, motor’s current signature, and acoustic emission signals analysis in condition monitoring. So, based on using vibration signal analysis, a test rig was built for bearing fault identification. The test rig replicates and investigates various bearing problems, such as those found in the inner and outer races. An accelerometer, type ADXL335, was interfaced to a data acquisition device (DAQ USB-6215) for collecting vibration signals under various operating circumstances. In addition, a load cell was embedded with the test rig, interfaced with a digital panel meter, and used for recording the applied load on the bearings. The time-domain signal analysis technique was used after acquiring vibration signals at various bearing health states. Then, the time-domain signal was converted to the frequency domain using the fast Fourier transform, and the result was analyzed to investigate the generated fault frequencies. Finally, the obtained frequencies were compared with the theoretical values extracted from the theoretical equations, and the method proved its effectiveness in detecting the fault generated.