System and method for monitoring the condition of a drive train
First Claim
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1. A gearbox monitoring system, comprising:
- at least one vibration sensor coupleable to a gearbox housing a plurality of gear sets, wherein the at least one vibration sensor is operable to generate a signal representative of gearbox vibration; and
a processing unit operable to identify a specific gear set within the plurality of gear sets as a location of a fault based on amplitude and frequency of the signal representative of vibration.
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Abstract
A gearbox condition monitoring system comprises at least one vibration sensor located on a gearbox casing. A processing unit is coupled to the vibration sensor and is configured to receive signals representative of the detected vibrations from the vibration sensor. The processing unit may be operable to process the signals representative of detected vibrations of gears and bearings and to compute at least one dynamic energy index or location of fault.
40 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A gearbox monitoring system, comprising:
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at least one vibration sensor coupleable to a gearbox housing a plurality of gear sets, wherein the at least one vibration sensor is operable to generate a signal representative of gearbox vibration; and
a processing unit operable to identify a specific gear set within the plurality of gear sets as a location of a fault based on amplitude and frequency of the signal representative of vibration. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A gearbox monitoring system, comprising:
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at least one vibration sensor coupleable to a gearbox housing at least one gear set, wherein the at least one vibration sensor is operable to generate a signal representative of gearbox vibration; and
a processing unit coupled to the at least one vibration sensor, wherein the processing unit is operable to establish a dynamic energy index over a defined frequency band of the gearbox vibrations and the processing unit is operable to produce a signal when the dynamic energy index exceeds a reference value. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A gearbox system, comprising:
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a gearbox housing;
a plurality of gear sets disposed within the gearbox housing;
a plurality of bearings operable to support the plurality of gear sets;
at least one vibration sensor operable to provide a signal representative of vibration of the gearbox; and
a processing unit coupled to the at least one sensor, wherein the processing unit is operable to establish a plurality of dynamic energy indexes of the signal representative of vibration of the gearbox, each of the plurality of dynamic energy indexes corresponding to a specific frequency band of vibrations. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A wind turbine comprising:
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a rotor;
a generator operable to generate power;
a gearbox provided between the rotor and the generator; and
a gearbox monitoring system comprising;
at least one vibration sensor operable to provide a signal representative of vibrations of the gearbox; and
a processing unit coupled to the at least one sensor;
wherein the processing unit is operable to establish a plurality of dynamic energy indexes of the signal representative of vibrations of the gearbox, each of the plurality of dynamic energy indexes corresponding to the vibration energy in a frequency band. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A method of identifying an abnormal vibration in a gear system, comprising:
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detecting gearbox vibrations with at least one vibration sensor operable to generate a signal representative of the detected gearbox vibrations;
processing the signal representative of the detected vibrations of gears and bearings to compute at least one dynamic energy index;
normalizing the at least one dynamic energy index; and
comparing the at least one normalized dynamic energy index to a reference value to establish if gearbox vibrations are normal or abnormal. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A computer program to enable a processor-based device to monitor the operating condition of a gear system, the computer program comprising:
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programming instructions stored in a tangible medium, wherein the programming instructions enable the processor-based device to compute a dynamic energy index for each of a plurality of frequency bands of a signal representative of vibrations produced by the gear system;
programming instructions stored in a tangible medium that enable the processor-based device to identify a specific gear set in the gear system that is producing an abnormal vibration based on the plurality of dynamic energy indexes. - View Dependent Claims (38)
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Specification