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a,*
, A. Choudhury
a
ITMME Centre, Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Regional Engineering College, Silchar 788010, India
Received 5 May 1999; received in revised form 1 September 1999; accepted 12 October 1999
Abstract
A review of vibration and acoustic measurement methods for the detection of defects in rolling element bearings is presented in
this paper. Detection of both localized and distributed categories of defect has been considered. An explanation for the vibration
and noise generation in bearings is given. Vibration measurement in both time and frequency domains along with signal processing
techniques such as the high-frequency resonance technique have been covered. Other acoustic measurement techniques such as
sound pressure, sound intensity and acoustic emission have been reviewed. Recent trends in research on the detection of defects
in bearings, such as the wavelet transform method and automated data processing, have also been included. 2000 Elsevier Science
Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Rolling element bearings; Bearing defects; Condition monitoring; Vibrations; Acoustics
1. Introduction
Rolling element bearings find widespread domestic
and industrial applications. Proper functioning of these
appliances depends, to a great extent, on the smooth and
quiet running of the bearings. In industrial applications,
these bearings are considered as critical mechanical
components and a defect in such a bearing, unless
detected in time, causes malfunction and may even lead
to catastrophic failure of the machinery. Defects in bearings may arise during use or during the manufacturing
process. Therefore detection of these defects is important
for condition monitoring as well as quality inspection of
bearings. Different methods are used for detection and
diagnosis of bearing defects; they may be broadly classified as vibration and acoustic measurements, temperature
measurements and wear debris analysis. Among these,
vibration measurements are the most widely used. Several techniques have been applied to measure the
vibration and acoustic responses from defective bearings; i.e., vibration measurements in time and frequency
0301-679X/99/$ - see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 3 0 1 - 6 7 9 X ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 7 7 - 8
470
Mx
xnP(x) dx n1, 2, 3, , m,
(1)
where P(x) is the probability density function of instantaneous amplitude x. The first and second moments are
well known, being the mean value and the variance,
respectively. The third moment normalized with respect
to the cube of standard deviation is known as the coefficient of skewness. The fourth moment, normalized
with respect to the fourth power of standard deviation,
(xx)4P(x) dx
kurtosis, b2
s4
(2)
471
normalized shock value is a measure of the bearing condition. Shock pulse meters are simple to use so that semiskilled personnel can operate them. They give a single
value indicating the condition of the bearing straightaway, without the need for elaborate data interpretation
as required in some other methods.
The shock pulse method has gained wide industrial
acceptance and has been reported to be successful in the
detection of rolling element bearing defects
[3,5,34,39,43]. Some investigators [31,44,45] have
reported that the method could not effectively detect
defects at low speeds. However, Butler [43] has reported
success of the shock pulse method in the detection of
defects in low-speed spherical roller bearings in a paper
production line. An on-line bearing condition monitoring
technique based on the shock pulse method has been
suggested by Morando [46].
3.2. Frequency-domain approach
Frequency-domain or spectral analysis of the vibration
signal is perhaps the most widely used approach of bearing defect detection. The advent of modern fast Fourier
transform (FFT) analysers has made the job of obtaining
narrowband spectra easier and more efficient. Both lowand high-frequency ranges of the vibration spectrum are
of interest in assessing the condition of the bearing.
The interaction of defects in rolling element bearings
produces pulses of very short duration whenever the
defect strikes or is struck owing to the rotational motion
of the system. These pulses excite the natural frequencies of bearing elements and housing structures,
resulting in an increase in the vibrational energy at these
high frequencies. The resonant frequencies of the individual bearing elements can be calculated theoretically
[1,47,48].
It is difficult to estimate how these resonances are
affected on assembly into a full bearing and mounting
in a housing. However, it is indicated [24] that resonances are not altered significantly. These natural frequencies are usually more than 5 kHz [1]. Therefore,
monitoring the increase in the level of vibrations in the
high-frequency range of the spectrum is an effective
method of predicting the condition of rolling element
bearings and has been used successfully by several
investigators [3,21,23,24,26]. Catlin [49] has indicated
that the natural frequency for which the wavelength
closely matches the pulse length, is most strongly
excited. Several parameters such as arithmetic mean,
geometric mean and correlation have been suggested
[50,51] to quantify the differences in spectra for good
bearings and damaged bearings.
Each bearing element has a characteristic rotational
frequency. With a defect on a particular bearing element,
an increase in vibrational energy at this elements
rotational frequency may occur. These characteristic
472
defect frequencies can be calculated from kinematic considerations; i.e., the geometry of the bearing and its
rotational speed [1,23,26,40,52,53]. For a bearing with
a stationary outer race, these frequencies are given by
the following expressions:
cage frequency, wc
ws
d
1 cos a ,
2
D
(3)
Dws
d2
1 2 cos2 a ,
2d
D
(4)
Zws
d
1 cos a ,
2d
D
(5)
Zws
d
1 cos a
2
D
(6)
and
rolling element defect frequency, wre2wb
d2
D
ws 1 2 cos a2 ,
d
D
(7)
Fig. 1.
A typical spectrum obtained from a rolling element bearing with an inner race defect.
Fig. 2.
473
474
developed taking only certain areas of the vibration spectrum and using a back-propagation network.
475
476
Fig. 3.
7. Conclusions
From a review of studies on vibration and acoustic
measurement techniques for the detection of defects in
rolling element bearings, it is seen that the emphasis is
on vibration measurement methods. Although literature
is available for the detection of both localized and distributed defects, the former has drawn the attention of a
greater number of researchers. Vibration in the time
domain can be measured through parameters such as
overall RMS level, crest factor, probability density and
kurtosis. Among these, kurtosis is the most effective.
The shock pulse method has also gained wide industrial acceptance.
Vibration measurement in the frequency domain has
the advantage that it can detect the location of the defect.
However, the direct vibration spectrum from a defective
bearing may not indicate the defect at the initial stage.
Some signal processing techniques are, therefore, used.
The high-frequency resonance technique is the most
popular of these and has been successfully applied by
several researchers. For this technique, the procedure of
signal processing is well established and a good explanation of the resultant demodulated spectrum is also
available. The method has a disadvantage that advanced
damage is difficult to detect by this method. In recent
years, the wavelet transform method has been suggested
to extract very weak signals for which Fourier transform
becomes ineffective.
Very few studies have been carried out on acoustic
noise measurements for the detection of bearing defects.
Measurements of both sound pressure and sound intensity have been used for this purpose. The sound intensity
477
478
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