Two-step vibration-based machine learning model for the fault detection and diagnosis in rotating machine and its blind application

A robust and reliable condition monitoring and fault diagnosis system is crucial for an efficient operation of industries. Because of the advances in technologies over the past few decades, there is an increased interest in developing intelligent systems to perform tasks that traditionally rely on knowledge, experience and expertise of an individual. It is known that unexpected breakdowns have wide implications in production processes. Thus, it is vital to be able to know the machine condition and detect at the earliest possible stage the defects when they occur. Aiming at an industrial application, in this study, a two-step approach is proposed for the fault detection and diagnosis of rotor-related faults. The implemented algorithm is a pattern recognition supervised artificial neural network, which through information extracted from vibration signals allows one to identify the health status of the machine. In the first step, the model identifies whether the machine is healthy or faulty. This is important information for any industry to operate the machines. Once the machine condition (healthy or faulty) is known and if it is faulty, then only faulty machine parameters are used in the second step to know the specific fault. The model is initially based on existing experimental data, and then, it is further validated with mathematically generated data. The proposed two-step approach model and the trained framework are applied blindly at a different machine speed, where the dynamics of machine is expected to be different. The excellent results obtained suggest this approach as a possibility for industrial application.