Analysis of coupling fault correlation and nonlinear vibration of multi-stage gear transmission system

Abstract

In the multistage gear transmission system, when multiple faults are coupled, the faults with weak signals are often hidden and hard to identify. Multi-fault coupling may also cause new coupling fault characteristics, such as new peaks or side bands in the spectrum. These characteristics are likely to contain fault information. Studying the sources of frequency components in coupled fault signals will help to decouple the signals and dig out the correlation characteristics between faults. The coupling fault of fixed-axis gear crack and planetary gear tooth broken was studied in this paper. The nonlinear dynamic model of the multi-stage gear transmission system was used for simulation, and the fault frequency characteristics of the system varying with the excitation frequency were obtained. The short-time Fourier transform (STFT) and waterfall plot analysis were applied to the experimental signals to separate the fault features. By comparing the theoretical and experimental signals, we found the natural frequency of the system, the side frequency characteristics of single fault and coupling fault, and the cause of new peaks. This study has a guiding significance for the separation and identification of coupling faults of the multi-stage gear transmission system.