Gear fault diagnosis using the general linear chirplet transform with vibration and acoustic measurements

Abstract

This work is aimed to develop a parameterized time–frequency analysis method combined with vibration and acoustic measurements for gear fault diagnosis. To achieve this aim, the work introduces the combined use of the residual method and general linear chirplet transform using acoustic and vibration measurements from a single stage spur gearbox. Experimental works were undertaken on a developed gearbox test rig. It was found from experiments that despite acoustic measurements were heavily corrupted by measurement noise, the use of the combined general linear chirplet transform method provided more accurate fault severity assessment compared to other commonly used diagnostic methods: continuous wavelet transform and pseudo Wigner–Ville distribution methods. The combined general linear chirplet transform method allows an accurate determination of the angular location of gear fault and a better representation of sidebands associated with the severity level of gear fault. The results demonstrate the potential of using non-contact acoustic measurement using the combined general linear chirplet transform method as an alternative sensing method for gear condition monitoring applications.