Gear fault identification based on Hilbert–Huang transform and SOM neural network

Gear vibration signals always display non-stationary behavior. HHT (Hilbert–Huang transform) is a method for adaptive analysis of non-linear and non-stationary signals, but it can only distinguish conspicuous faults. SOM (self-organizing feature map) neural network is a network learning with no instructors which has self-adaptive and self-learning features and can compensate for the disadvantage of HHT. This paper proposed a new gear fault identification method based on HHT and SOM neural network. Firstly, the frequency families of gear vibration signals were separated effectively by EMD (empirical mode decomposition). Then Hilbert spectrum and Hilbert marginal spectrum were obtained by Hilbert transform of IMFs (intrinsic mode functions). The amplitude changes of gear vibration signals along with time and frequency had been displayed respectively. After HHT, the energy percentage of the first six IMFs were chosen as input vectors of SOM neural network for fault classification. The analysis results showed that the fault features of these signals can be accurately extracted and distinguished with the proposed approach.

► A new gear fault identification method based on HHT and SOM is proposed.
► The frequency families of gear vibration signals are separated effectively by EMD.
► The amplitude distribution of vibration signals are reflected by Hilbert spectrum.
► SOM neural network has a good effect in fault classification and identification.
► The fault features of gears can be accurately distinguished by HHT and SOM.