Frequency Demodulation-Aided Condition Monitoring for Drivetrain Gearboxes

Authors

Dingguo Lu, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Wei Qiao, University of Nebraska–LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2013

Citation

D. Lu and W. Qiao, “Frequency demodulation-aided condition monitoring for drivetrain gearboxes,” in Proceedings of 2013 IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference and Expo (ITEC 2013), Detroit, MI, USA, June 16-19, 2013, pp. 1-6

Comments

Copyright 2013 Dingguo Lu and Wei Qiao

Abstract

Condition monitoring and fault diagnosis (CMFD) of drivetrain gearboxes has become a prominent challenge in assorted industries. Current-based diagnostic techniques have significant advantages over traditional vibration-based techniques in terms of accessibility, cost, implementation and reliability. This paper proposes a current-based, frequency demodulation-aided CMFD method for drivetrain gearboxes. A mathematical model is developed for a drivetrain consisting of a two-stage gearbox and a permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG), from which the characteristic frequencies of gearbox faults in the PMSG stator current are derived. An adaptive signal resampling method is proposed to convert the variable fault characteristic frequencies to constant values for the drivetrain running at variable speed conditions. A demodulation method, combining the Hilbert transform, a finite impulse response (FIR) differentiator, and a phase unwrapping algorithm, is developed to extract the instantaneous frequency (IF) patterns that are related to the faultinduced gearbox vibration. A fault detector is proposed for diagnosis of gearbox faults using statistical analysis on the extracted fault signatures. Experimental studies are carried out to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.