Pitting detection in worm gearboxes with vibration analysis

Diagnostics of worm gearboxes are challenged by lack of research in this field; vibration analysis is rarely employed for the condition evaluation of worm gears due to the inherent challenges involved. However, these gears are commonly used in many applications such as escalators, mills and conveyors and significant cost may arise from their maintenance. This paper aims to apply various vibration analysis techniques to identify faults within worm gearboxes. The conditions of three different worm gearboxes were assessed. Various vibration signal analysis techniques including FM4*, and spectral kurtosis and enveloping were employed to identify the presence of defects within the worm gearboxes. The analysis techniques applied were able to present fault features which indicated high levels of scratching-induced vibration, confirming profile damage (pitting) of Gearbox A worm wheel teeth. Among the employed techniques; FM4* shows high response to the worm gears pitting. In addition the results show sensitivity to the direction of vibration measurement.

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