Transmission path phase compensation for gear monitoring under fluctuating load conditions

Vibration can be monitored under fluctuating load conditions if provision is made for taking into account the fluctuation in machine speed, the response amplitude modulation caused by the change in input force, and the amplitude and phase effects on the measured response from the transmission path. Methodologies have been developed to compensate for the effects of fluctuating speed and amplitude modulation. However, this article investigates the effect of the transmission path phase. This is discussed in terms of the effect this phase has on synchronous averaging. A new approach is presented to resolve the influence that the transmission path phase has on synchronous averaging. The approach is used for the experimental data measured on a helical gear test rig. A significant improvement in the rate of convergence was obtained by adopting the new approach which compensates for the phase shifting in the measured structural response. This contrasts with conventional synchronous averaging with order tracking which does not compensate for structural response phase shifting.