Parametric simulator of cyclic and non-cyclic impulsive vibration signals for diagnostic research applications

Abstract

In recent years cyclostationary analysis of vibration signals is considered to be one of the most potent approaches for diagnostics of machines with rotating components. However, it is a subject of an extensive research towards extending its robustness due to its significant inefficiency in the presence of non-cyclic impulsive components in measured data. This problem is especially visible in datasets measured on machines such as ore crushers, where the high-energy impacts are a natural phenomenon. Unfortunately, due to practical inaccessibility, real-life datasets necessary to properly study this problem are extremely difficult to obtain. To address this issue, the authors propose an easy to use simulator of impulsive components. It covers both cyclic components that can describe various types of fault signatures, and non-cyclic ones that can represent impacts occurring naturally due to the nature of machine operation. Simulated signals have been compared with real ones to ensure a high similarity degree, which in turn guarantees a relatively high level of realism.