Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Gearboxes and bearings are the most widely used rotating components in many mechanical systems such as helicopters, wind turbines, and vehicles. Reliable and uninterrupted operation of these rotating components is crucial for the safety and availability of engineering systems. However, due to high workload, harsh operating conditions, or inevitable fatigue, gearboxes and bearings will degrade with time and faults may develop. If the faults cannot be detected early, the equipment's health will continue to degrade, perhaps causing heavy economic loss or even catastrophe. Effective condition monitoring techniques allow for properly scheduled shutdowns to prevent catastrophic failure and consequently result in a safer operation and higher maintenance cost reduction. However, many challenges have yet to be addressed in order to develop effective condition monitoring techniques especially for gearboxes and bearings working under varying speed and/or load conditions. This research program aims to develop advanced condition monitoring techniques for gearboxes and bearings in order to increase system safety and availability and reduce maintenance costs. Research will be conducted to achieve three objectives: (1) development of advanced dynamic models for gearboxes and bearings to reveal gears' and bearings' degradation mechanism and fault characteristics, (2) development of effective early fault detection and diagnosis techniques for gearboxes and bearings working under time-varying operating conditions, and (3) development of effective remaining useful life estimation techniques by integrating physical models and condition monitoring data. The proposed research will contribute to the scientific innovation and methodological advancement of condition monitoring, and develop models, methods, and tools for effective fault detection, diagnosis, and prediction of gearbox and bearing systems. The results to be generated have excellent potential for applications in the design and operation of modern engineering systems such as helicopters, wind turbines, and vehicles. The results of this research can be applied in industrial settings to benefit Canadian industries directly. Highly qualified personnel trained under this program will gain the theoretical and practical expertise necessary to promote and advance superior machine condition monitoring in Canada.