Simulating gear and bearing interactions in the presence of faults: Part II: Simulation of the vibrations produced by extended bearing faults

Abstract

This paper presents a combined dynamic model for gears and bearings, in which an extended fault in the inner/outer race of rolling element bearings can be studied in the presence of gear interaction. A combined gear/bearing model has been made to obtain a better understanding of the interaction of the two components. The essentials of the gear/bearing model and the results of simulating the vibration of localized faults in rolling element bearings in a gearbox environment have been discussed and illustrated in the first part of this paper (part I). The simulation model has now been modified to model extended faults of the type that do not necessarily produce high frequency impact responses, but do modulate the gearmesh signals. The paper compares the simulated and actual signals from the gear/bearing test rig for inner and outer race extended faults, and in particular demonstrates that they react similarly to existing diagnostic techniques.