Detection of Gear Failures in Helical Gears by Using Wavelet Transforms

Abstract

In this paper, the use of a Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) and its modified version (Scalogram) is proposed to detect a growing local fault in a two stage helical gearbox. A broken tooth was simulated as a local fault and small fault conditions were tested. The vibration signal was used to monitor the fault conditions. It is found that the Scalogram offers interesting and more easily interpretable results for the fault detection process. It displays the fault features more distinctively when compered to the amplitude and phase map of the CWT.