Proportional Selection Scheme: A Frequency Band Division Tool for Rolling Element Bearing Diagnostics

The cyclic spectral coherence analysis has been proved to be a useful tool to reveal the hidden periodic or repetitive patterns, and how to determine an optimal demodulation band is crucial for characterizing the fault characteristic of the rolling element bearing (REB). Thus, a proportional selection scheme based on a bottom-up strategy is proposed in this study, which can determine an optimal demodulation band and realize bearing fault feature extraction under the conditions of poor frequency resolution and a lower signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). First, compared with conventional frequency division structures, such as the 1/3-binary tree structure, the finer frequency band groups with the same bandwidth in each division level can be obtained automatically and strictly under poor frequency resolution conditions. Second, the richness of the REB fault information of each divided frequency band can be evaluated by the improved diagnostic feature indicator under a lower SNR condition. By using the scheme, the fault characteristic of the REB can be exposed. The efficacy of the proposed scheme is supported by simulations and experiments under some tough conditions

I. Introduction

As The support of a rotating shaft, rolling element bearing (REB) has been widely used in rotating machinery. Based on an IEEE motor reliability study for large motors above 200 hp [1], REB faults are the most significant single cause of motor failure (41) [2]. Thus, the condition monitoring and fault diagnosis of the REB is essential to avoid a catastrophic accident and economic loss [3], [4].