Simulative and Experimental Investigation of Vibration Transfer Path at Gearboxes

Condition monitoring systems are widely used in gearboxes. Gears are one of the most crucial components for power transmission. Hence, the optimal sensor positions for condition monitoring of gears should be investigated to maximize reliability and to minimize costs. This work aims to analyze measured signals from rotating sensors at gears and compare them to signals from housing sensors to find the suitable positions for condition monitoring of the gears. Additionally, the rotational speed and external torque influences on the signal quality have been investigated. These are compared with a simulation model, which considers the vibration excitation from the gear mesh and bearings. The results show that the rotational speed affects the amplitude of the excitation. On this basis, we also investigate the amplitudes of the excitation frequencies of interest. The ratio of the amplitudes of these frequencies related to the mean values of the measurement signals is called the peak-to-mean ratio (PMR), and this PMR corresponds to the speed which is of interest for automatic fault detection in the gearboxes. Additionally, the simulation results show that the intensity of the vibration with the gear mesh frequency hardly reduces during transmission through the tapered roller bearings.