Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Planetary gearboxes are widely used in Canada's oil sands industry. They are also used in helicopters, heavy-duty trucks, and other large-scale machinery. Unscheduled outages of planetary gearboxes have major economic consequences. On-line assessment of the health condition of planetary gearboxes will generate significant cost savings for these industries. This project represents a collaborative research effort between the University of Alberta and Syncrude Research Centre. Its objective is to develop methods for detection of early faults that may develop in key components of planetary gearboxes. A planetary gearbox test rig will be set up. Sacrificial components of the gearbox will be machined to mimic common damage modes experienced in field operations. Data and signals to be collected from the test rig may include output torque, rotational speed, bearing temperature, acoustic signals, and multi-axis vibration signals. The collected data will be analyzed with statistical methods and advanced signal processing techniques. Models will be constructed to reflect the relationship between the damage status and the collected data and certain parameters extracted from the data. The results to be developed from this project will be used in on-line condition based operation and maintenance of planetary gearboxes to prevent unexpected breakdowns. They will benefit companies using planetary gearboxes and as a result the Canadian economy. They will also enrich the world knowledge base on gearboxes. Highly qualified personnel will be trained for the Canadian industry.