Bearing defect detection using on-board accelerometer measurements

Vibration signatures of defective roller bearings on railroad freight cars were analyzed in an effort to develop an algorithm for detecting bearing defects. The effort is part of a project to develop an on-board condition monitoring system for freight trains. The Office of Research and Development of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is sponsoring the project. The measurements were made at the Transportation Technology Center (TTC) in Pueblo, CO on July 26-29, 1999 during the Phase III Field Test of the Improved Wayside Freight Car Roller Bearing Inspection Research Program sponsored by FRA and the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Wheel sets with specific roller bearing defects were installed on a test train consisting of 8 freight cars designed to simulate revenue service. The consist also contained nondefective roller bearings. Accelerometers were installed on the inboard side of the bearing adapters to measure the vibration signatures during the test. Signatures of both defective and nondefective bearings were recorded. The data were recorded on Sony Digital Audio Tape (DAT) Recorders sampling at a rate of 48 K samples per second. We used both ordinary and envelope spectral analysis to analyze the data in an effort to detect features that could be related to known defects. The spectra of nondefective bearings show no remarkable features at bearing defect frequencies. In general, the ordinary spectra of defective bearings do not exhibit remarkable features at the bearing defect frequencies. In contrast, the envelope spectra of defective bearings contain a number of highly resolved spectral lines at these frequencies. In several cases the spectral lines could be related to specific bearing defects. Based on the analysis performed to date, the envelope spectrum technique provides a promising method for detecting defects in freight car roller bearings using an onboard condition monitoring system.