System and method for monitoring the condition of a drive train
First Claim
Patent Images
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 frequency and a summation of squares of amplitude of the signal representative of vibration;
wherein the processing unit is programmed to establish a plurality of dynamic energy indexes, each dynamic energy index corresponding to a vibration energy in a frequency band;
wherein the summation of squares of the amplitude of the signal representative of vibration is computed over a defined frequency band;
a power sensor operable to provide a signal representative of output power of a generator coupled to the gearbox, to the processing unit to enable the processing unit to normalize the plurality of dynamic energy indexes based on the generator output power.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A gearbox condition monitoring system includes 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.
34 Citations
28 Claims
-
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 frequency and a summation of squares of amplitude of the signal representative of vibration;
wherein the processing unit is programmed to establish a plurality of dynamic energy indexes, each dynamic energy index corresponding to a vibration energy in a frequency band;
wherein the summation of squares of the amplitude of the signal representative of vibration is computed over a defined frequency band;a power sensor operable to provide a signal representative of output power of a generator coupled to the gearbox, to the processing unit to enable the processing unit to normalize the plurality of dynamic energy indexes based on the generator output power. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
-
-
6. A gearbox monitoring system, comprising:
-
at least one vibration sensor coupleable to a system comprising a gear assembly having at least one gear set, wherein the at least one vibration sensor is operable to generate a signal representative of gear 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 gear vibrations and the processing unit is operable to produce a signal when the dynamic energy index exceeds a reference value; wherein the gear assembly comprises a plurality of gear sets, and wherein the processing unit is operable to establish a plurality of dynamic energy indexes, each dynamic energy index corresponding to a specific frequency band of the gear vibrations;
wherein each specific frequency band of the gear vibrations corresponds to a range of vibrations produced by a specific gear set in the plurality of gear sets;a power sensor operable to provide a signal representative of output power of a generator coupled to a gearbox of the gear assembly, to the processing unit to enable the processing unit to normalize the plurality of dynamic energy indexes based on the generator output power. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A system, comprising:
-
a plurality of gear sets; 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 at least one or more of the plurality of gear sets; and a processing unit coupled to the at least one vibration sensor, wherein the processing unit is operable to establish a plurality of dynamic energy indexes of the signal representative of vibration of the at least one or more of the plurality of gear sets, each of the plurality of dynamic energy indexes corresponding to a specific frequency band of vibrations;
wherein each dynamic energy index comprises a summation of the squares of the amplitude of vibrations over the specific frequency band of vibrations corresponding to each dynamic energy index;
wherein the processing unit is operable to identify a specific gear set within the plurality of gear sets as a location of a fault based on the plurality of dynamic energy indexes;a power sensor coupled to the processing unit and operable to provide a signal representative of output power of a generator drivingly coupled to the plurality of gear sets, wherein the processing unit is operable to normalize the plurality of dynamic energy indexes based on the output power of the generator drivingly coupled to the plurality of gear sets. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A wind turbine comprising:
-
a rotor; a generator operable to generate power; a gear assembly comprising a plurality of gear sets and plurality of bearings to support the gear sets provided between the rotor and the generator; and a gear assembly monitoring system comprising; at least one vibration sensor operable to provide a signal representative of vibrations of the gear assembly; 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 gear assembly, each of the plurality of dynamic energy indexes corresponding to the vibration energy in a frequency band;
wherein each dynamic energy index comprises a summation of the squares of the amplitude of vibrations over the specific frequency band of vibrations corresponding to each dynamic energy index;
wherein the processing unit is operable to identify a specific gear set within the plurality of the gear sets as a location of a fault based on the plurality of dynamic energy indexes;a power sensor coupled to the processing unit and operable to provide a signal representative of output power of the generator drivingly coupled to the plurality of gear sets, wherein the processing unit is operable to normalize the plurality of dynamic energy indexes based on the output power of the generator drivingly coupled to the plurality of gear sets. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. A method of identifying an abnormal vibration in a gear system, comprising:
-
detecting gear vibrations with at least one vibration sensor operable to generate a signal representative of the detected gear vibrations; processing the signal representative of the detected vibrations of gears and bearings to compute at least one energy index; normalizing the at least one energy index;
wherein normalizing comprises normalizing the at least one energy index is based on output power of a generator coupled to the gear system;comparing the at least one normalized energy index to a reference value to establish if gear vibrations are normal or abnormal; and outputting an alarm to a user if the gear vibrations are abnormal; wherein processing the signal comprises computing the at least one energy index by a summation of the squares of the amplitude of the gear vibrations within a defined frequency band. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having a computer program to enable a processor-based device to monitor the operating condition of a gear system, the computer program comprising:
-
programming instructions stored in the non-transitory computer-readable 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 the non-transitory computer-readable 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;
each dynamic energy index corresponding to a specific frequency band of the gear vibrations;
wherein each specific frequency band of the gear vibrations corresponds to a range of vibrations produced by a specific gear set in the plurality of gear sets; andprogramming instructions stored in the non-transitory computer-readable medium;
wherein the programming instructions generate a warning to a user when the abnormal vibration is identified in the gear system;programming instructions stored in the non-transitory computer-readable medium, wherein the programming instructions enable a power sensor operable to provide a signal representative of output power of a generator coupled to the gearbox, to the processor-based device to enable the processor-based device to normalize the plurality of dynamic energy indexes based on the generator output power; wherein each dynamic energy index is based on a summation of squares of amplitude of the signal representative of gear system vibration for a frequency band corresponding to each dynamic energy index.
-
Specification