Selected Rolling Bearing Fault Diagnostic Methods in Wheel Embedded Permanent Magnet Brushless Direct Current Motors

Abstract

In recent years, the number of outer rotor permanent magnet brushless direct current (PM BLDC) motor drives has been intensively growing. Due to the specifics of drive operation, bearing faults are especially common, which results in motor stoppage. In a number of these types of motor applications, the monitoring and diagnostics of bearing conditions is relatively rare. This article presents the results of research aimed at searching for simple and simultaneously effective methods for assessing the condition of bearings that can be built into the drive control system. In the experimental research, four vibration signal processing methods were analysed with regards to the identification accuracy of fault symptoms in the geometric elements of bearings (characteristic frequencies). The results are presented for three cases of bearing faults and compared with a new bearing, they were obtained based on a vibration signal analysis using the classical fast Fourier transform (FFT), Fourier transform of signal absolute values, Fourier transform of an envelope signal obtained using the Hilbert transform, and the Fourier transform of a signal filtered with the Teager–Kaiser energy operator (TKEO).