A Cross-Modal Multi-Layer Feature Fusion Meta-Learning Approach for Fault Diagnosis Under Class-Imbalanced Conditions

In practical applications, intelligent diagnostic methods for actuator-integrated gearboxes in industrial driving systems encounter challenges such as the scarcity of fault samples and variable operating conditions, which undermine diagnostic accuracy. This paper introduces a multi-layer feature fusion meta-learning (MLFFML) approach to address fault diagnosis problems in cross-condition scenarios with class imbalance. First, meta-training is performed to develop a mature fault diagnosis model on the source domain, obtaining cross-domain meta-knowledge; subsequently, meta-testing is conducted on the target domain, extracting meta-features from limited fault samples and abundant healthy samples to rapidly adjust model parameters. For data augmentation, this paper proposes a frequency-domain weighted mixing (FWM) method that preserves the physical plausibility of signals while enhancing sample diversity. Regarding the feature extractor, this paper integrates shallow and deep features by replacing the first layer of the feature extraction module with a dual-stream wavelet convolution block (DWCB), which transforms actuator vibration or acoustic signals into the time-frequency space to flexibly capture fault characteristics and fuses information from both amplitude and phase aspects; following the convolutional network, an encoder layer of the Transformer network is incorporated, containing multi-head self-attention mechanisms and feedforward neural networks to comprehensively consider dependencies among different channel features, thereby achieving a larger receptive field compared to other methods for actuation system monitoring. Furthermore, this paper experimentally investigates cross-modal scenarios where vibration signals exist in the source domain while only acoustic signals are available in the target domain, specifically validating the approach on industrial actuator assemblies.