Energy distribution analysis regarding the crack size in a rotating shaft

Maintenance is critical to avoid catastrophic failures in rotating machinery, and the detection of cracks plays a critical role because they can originate failures with costly processes of reparation, especially in shafts. Vibration signals are widely used in machine monitoring and fault diagnostics. The most critical issue in machine monitoring is the suitable selection of the vibration parameters that represent the condition of the machine. Discrete Wavelet Transform, and one of its recursive forms, called Wavelet Packet Transform, provide a high potential for pattern extraction. Several factors must be selected and taken into account in the Wavelet Transform application such as the level of decomposition, the suitable mother wavelet, and the level basis or features. In this work, the dynamic response of a shaft with different levels of crack is studied. The evolution of energy of the vibration signals obtained from the rotating shaft and the frequencies where maximum increments of energy appear with the crack are analyzed. The results allow the conclusion that changes in energies computed by means of the Wavelet Packet Transform can be successfully used for crack detection

Energy distribution analysis regarding the crack size in a rotating shaft Articles