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Condition Monitoring by Means of Vibration and Sound Measurements

Conference Paper · June 2013

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 The Tenth International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Machinery Failure Prevention Technologies

Condition monitoring by means of vibration and sound

measurements

Jouni Laurila and Sulo Lahdelma

Mechatronics and Machine Diagnostics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical
Engineering, P.O. Box 4200, FI-90014 University of Oulu, Finland
E-mail: jouni.laurila@oulu.fi, sulo.lahdelma@oulu.fi

Abstract

Reliable machine condition monitoring and the early detection of faults play an im-
portant role in asset management. Information on the condition of machines in a
clear, simple form is very valuable for the maintenance and management personnel
of the company. This kind of information can be obtained by combining features of
vibration signals and the desired number of features from other physical measure-
ments into a dimensionless MIT index. The resulting value gives us information on
the condition of the machine. The inverse of MIT index is called the SOL health
index. This paper presents the results of investigations concerning the detection
of many simultaneous faults using vibration and sound measurements. The signals
measured have been processed using real order derivation, and effective features
have been calculated from these signals. Based on these features, MIT indices have
been calculated, which reliably shows if there are problems with the condition of the
machine.

Keywords: condition monitoring, vibration analysis, real order derivatives, frac-

tional derivatives, lp norms, MIT and SOL indices

1. Introduction

The use of machine condition monitoring in an effective, reliable way is even more
important than before in order to sustain and improve the competitiveness of com-
panies. Consequently, companies also have many new needs for monitoring the
condition and operation of machines. In this field, several different measurement
and analysis methods are used. However, it is important that information on the
condition of machines is as simple and reliable as possible. In addition, the aim is to
implement condition monitoring by means of economical methods and with as few
sensors as possible.

In general, vibration measurements provide a good and reliable basis for detecting
of many different machine faults. In many cases displacement and velocity measure-
ments are good ways of detecting e.g. unbalance or misalignment and evaluating
 The Tenth International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Machinery Failure Prevention Technologies

their severity (1,2) . Bearing faults can be detected more efficiently with acceleration
signals, for example. The use of higher, real or complex order derivatives is usually a
more sensitive solution to many faults. These advanced signal processing techniques
could be similarly used for both vibration and sound signals. Therefore, real order
derivatives were utilised in this study, and effective features were calculated from
these signals. With the help of them, it is possible to find highly sensitive indicators
for different fault situations.

The use of sound measurements in machine condition monitoring is not very com-
mon. It is known that the normal functioning of the machine always results in both
sound and vibration. For example, an axially loaded bearing will always generate
vibrations (3) . It is probable that when the condition of the machine changes, the
vibration and sound caused by the machine also change considerably. Although
vibration measurements are a good, reliable method for condition monitoring, it
is also possible to obtain information on changes in the condition of the machine
on the basis of sound. Although the topic has not been very widely studied, many
studies have been published on it, for example in (3,4) . Based on sound measurement,
methods have been developed for monitoring machine tool wearing (3) and internal
combustion engine fuel injection (5) .

A major problem in the analysis of sound measurements is often background noise.

On the other hand, the advantages with sound-based measurements are very low-
priced measuring devices and non-contact measurement, which may simplify the
implementation of measurements in many situations. Based on sound measurements,
it could be possible to develop methods that can be used at least in general machine
condition monitoring. If necessary, more detailed fault diagnosis could be performed
separately by means of other portable measuring systems.

In this investigation, different faults, such as unbalance, coupling misalignment,

bearing cage fault, the absence of lubrication in a ball bearing and their combi-
nations, are studied using a test rig. Vibration and sound measurements were per-
formed using accelerometers and a sound level meter. Feature extraction was carried
out using real order derivatives and weighted lp norms. Based on these features, di-
mensionless vibration indices have been calculated by combining features to MIT
and SOL indices.

2. Test rig

A test rig (Figure 1), which consists of an electric motor and a belt transmission
between two shafts, has been used here in order to obtain information on different
faults. The test rig was originally built by PIM Bt. and was later modified in the
Mechatronics and Machine Diagnostics Laboratory in Oulu. It is a convertible small
device with a 0.18 kW AC motor. The motor and the driven shaft are coupled by
means of a claw clutch with a four-tooth elastic element (spider). More information
on the test rig can be found in (6,7) , where the same test rig has been used.

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 The Tenth International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Machinery Failure Prevention Technologies

Figure 1. Test rig

The measurements were carried out using eight accelerometers, a tachometer and a
sound level meter simultaneously. The accelerometer types are Wilcoxon Research
726 and IMI 621B51. The first of them has a frequency range (±3 dB) up to 15 kHz
and the second one up to 20 kHz. The integrating sound level meter is Brüel&Kjær
Type 2239A with a linearly weighted AC output. The frequency range (±2 dB) of
the microphone in the sound level meter is from 8 Hz to 16 kHz. The accelerometers
were screwed directly into the bearing housing in the radial direction, while a glued
mounting pad was used in the axial direction. Each of the four bearing housings
was measured using a horizontal sensor, and vertical and axial sensors were used on
bearings 1 and 3 (Figure 1). The sound level meter was placed on the right-hand
side of the machine close to the belt transmission.

The measurements were performed in the LabVIEW environment by means of three

analog input modules (NI 9233) and a four-slot USB chassis (NI cDAQ-9174), which
confirm simultaneous measurements from all the channels. Each combination of a
sensor, cable and measurement channel was calibrated. The sample rate was 50 kHz
and the time period for continuous data collection was 80 seconds in each case.

The tests were carried out with 16 different rotational frequencies between 4 −
23.5 Hz, and the following 13 states were executed:
• initial state
• rotor unbalance mass 5.5 g, 11 g and 16.5 g
• coupling misalignment 0.20 mm, 0.35 mm and 0.50 mm
• rotor unbalance mass 5.5 g and coupling misalignment 0.35 mm
• rotor unbalance mass 11 g and coupling misalignment 0.35 mm
• rotor unbalance mass 5.5 g and coupling misalignment 0.20 mm
• no lubrication in bearing
• no lubrication in bearing and no cage
• rotor unbalance mass 11 g, coupling misalignment 0.35 mm and no lubrication
in bearing and no cage.

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 The Tenth International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Machinery Failure Prevention Technologies

In this paper, only 6 different rotational frequencies in each fault state were inves-
tigated. In the initial state, the condition of the machine was quite good and the
other states could be compared with the measurements of this state. Rotor unbal-
ance was generated by a mass of 5.5 g, 11 g or 16.5 g in the disk close to the coupling.
In these cases the unbalances (ui = mi r) were 276 gmm, 552 gmm and 828 gmm,
respectively. Coupling misalignment was induced by moving the motor in the hor-
izontal direction, and both vertical and angular alignment was kept constant. The
measurements were performed by means of two dial gauges. Three different cases
where rotor unbalance and coupling misalignment occur simultaneously were also
performed before the grease in bearing 3 was washed away. After that three fault
states were measured, and finally all the faults occurred simultaneously. More in-
formation on the testing arrangement can be found in earlier studies by Lahdelma
et al. (6) .

3. Signal processing methods

This paper utilises the derivation of acceleration and sound signals and weighted
lp norms, for the purposes of improving sensitivity, so that the order of derivative
and the order of norm can be a real number instead of an integer. In addition,
dimensionless vibration indices are calculated for combining two or more different
features into a single, powerful multi-purpose feature.

3.1 Order of derivation

Fault detection depends essentially on the order of derivative. Faults that mainly
induce low frequency vibrations, such as unbalance or a bent shaft, can be detected
successfully using signals whose order of derivative is low. Displacement or velocity
signals were usually used in these cases. Acceleration measurements are needed for
the early detection of faults, such as bearing faults, which induce vibration in the
high frequency band. Sensitivity can often be improved considerably by means of
higher order derivatives, especially in fault cases where impacts or friction occur.
For all fault types it is probable that the best sensitivity cannot be reached only
with a signal whose order of derivative is an integer. The use of real order derivatives
enables more sensitive indicators to be found for different cases of fault detection (8,9) .

The most efficient way of derivating signal x(t) is a procedure where three main
steps are performed in the frequency domain. At first a fast Fourier transform
(FFT) is used for the signal x(t) in order to obtain the complex components {Xk },
k = 0, 1, 2, ..., (N − 1). The corresponding components of the derivative x(α) (t) are
calculated with the formula

Xαk = (iωk )α Xk . (1)

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 The Tenth International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Machinery Failure Prevention Technologies

The signal x(α) (t), where the order of derivation is α ∈ R, can be obtained by using
the inverse Fourier transform FFT -1 for the sequence {Xαk }, k = 0, 1, 2, ..., (N − 1).

For the sinusoidal signal x = X sin ωt the real order derivative is

dα x π
α
= ω α X sin(ωt + α ) = Xα sin(ωt + φα ), (2)
dt 2

where α ∈ R is the order of derivation, the amplitude Xα = ω α X and the change of

the phase angle φα = α π2 . (8,9)

3.2 Weighted lp norms

Let X be a vector space and a ∈ R. The norm satisfies the following axioms (10) :

(N1) ∥x∥ ≥ 0 ∀x ∈ X, ∥x∥ = 0 if and only if x = θ,

(N2) ∥x + y∥ ≤ ∥x∥ + ∥y∥ ∀x, y ∈ X (triangle inequality),

(N3) ∥ax∥ =| a | ∥x∥ ∀a ∈ R and ∀x ∈ X.

The norm is clearly an abstraction of our usual concept of length (10) .

Let p ∈ R and 1 ≤ p < ∞. The space lp consists of all the sequences of scalars
{x1 , x2 , ...} = x for which
∞
∑
|xi |p < ∞. (3)
i=1

The norm in lp is defined by

∞
∑ 1
∥x∥p = ( |xi |p ) p (4)
i=1

and is also called the classical lp norm. Next, we examine the generalisation of the
classical lp norm in the form

∞
∑ 1
∥x∥p,w = ( wi |xi |p ) p , (5)
i=1

where wi (i = 1, 2, ...) are weight factors (11,12) . If wi = 1 ∀i, then the question is of
a classical lp norm.
1
If all the weight factors are equal to N
, we obtain from (5) the norm

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 The Tenth International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Machinery Failure Prevention Technologies

1∑ N
1 1 1
∥x∥p, 1 = ( |xi |p ) p = ( ) p ∥x∥p . (6)
N N i=1 N

We suppose that the integer N ∈ [1, ∞). The space ¯lp consist of all the sequences of
scalars {ξ1 = √
x1
p
N
x2
, ξ2 = √
p
N
xN
, ..., ξN = √
p
N
} = x̄ for which the sum

∑
N ∑
N
xi p 1 ∑N
|ξi | = | √
p
p
| = |xi |p < ∞. (7)
i=1 i=1 N N i=1

Analogous to (4) we can define the ¯lp norm by

∑
N
1 1∑ N
1
∥x̄∥p = ( |ξi |p ) p = ( |xi |p ) p = ∥x∥p, 1 . (8)
i=1 N i=1 N

We can call the norm ∥x̄∥p = ∥x∥p, 1 as 1

N
weighted lp norm.
N

3.3 Dimensionless vibration indices

In reference (13) , Lahdelma introduced the measurement index MIT for rating the
condition of machinery. Dimensionless vibration indices can be combined in a mea-
surement index

τ 1∑ n
∥x(αi ) ∥pi
M IT pα11,p,α12,...,p
,...,αn =
n
bαi , (9)
n i=1 (∥x(αi ) ∥pi )0

where the norms ∥x(αi ) ∥pi are obtained from the signals x(αi ) , i = 1, ..., n. The
index zero denotes the reference value when the machine is in good condition and
bαi represents a weight factor. This factor allows the rating of individual faults.
∑
The sum ni=1 bαi = n. Further investigations can be found in (8,14) , where a more
generalised form of (9) has been introduced. The inverse of the MIT index is called
the SOL health index. It provides a clear indication of the condition of the machine:
high values indicate a good condition and a small values poor condition (2,9) . Other
measurement parameters, such as temperature, can also be used in the MIT and
SOL indices in order to obtain more information on the condition of the machine (9) .

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 The Tenth International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Machinery Failure Prevention Technologies

4. Analysis of vibration signals

Vibration signals from all the eight accelerometers in the test rig and six different
rotational frequencies in each fault state were investigated in this paper. Some of
these signals have been studied earlier by authors et al. (6) in which the signals and
spectra under different fault states have been presented more accurately. Here, the
signals were examined mostly based on advanced feature calculation. The time signal
with a sample length of 4 s was used in the calculation of features. Signal processing,
such as derivation and filtering, was performed in the frequency domain and an ideal
filter was used. To avoid unwanted distortion caused by signal processing in the
analysed signals, 18 % of the samples were removed from both the ends of the signal
before analysis. The frequency range in all the cases was from 3 Hz to 10 kHz.

In a complex fault situation, where more than one fault occurs simultaneously in
the machine, various features are usually needed. The location of the measurement
point and its direction often play an important role in the early detection of a specific
fault. To find the best measurement points and sensitivity for the detection of each
fault type in different states, the signals and spectra were analysed comprehensively
and the number of time domain features was calculated. The values of peak, root-
mean-square (rms), crest factor, kurtosis and ¯lp norms, when p = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, ..., 8
and α = 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, ..., 10.0 were calculated from all the signals analysed. The
various fault states were compared using relative features, which were calculated
by dividing the features by the corresponding value, which was measured from the
machine when it was in good condition. This method provided a lot of information
on changes in vibration when the condition of the machine changes.

The detection of unbalance in different unbalance rates depends on the rotating

frequency of the machine, the location of the measurement point, and direction.
In this machine, a critical speed is 11.6 Hz, which is the rotating frequency where
unbalance can also be detected most easily. Figure 2 shows relative ¯lp norms from
the horizontal accelerometer of bearing 1 (ACC1) when the unbalance mass was
5.5 g and 11 g, and the rotational frequency was 11.6 Hz. In the case of Figure 2 a),
the unbalance mass is only 5.5 g, but the value of the best feature in this case is 10.7
times higher than the corresponding value in the initial state. When the amount
of unbalance mass was doubled to 11 g (Figure 2 b), the most sensitive feature is
almost doubled, too. In this case and also with other rotational frequencies and the
rates of unbalance, the best sensitivity can be obtained when α and p are low, i.e.
α = 0...0.8 and p = 0.2.

Using the ¯l0.2 norms we can obtain slightly better sensitivity as compared with
conventional features. Figure 2 b) shows, that the relative change of feature ∥x(0) ∥0.2
is 19.0, when the corresponding relative peak value of the displacement signal is 10.8
and the relative rms value is 16.0. The finding shows that ¯lp norms also with p < 1
are useful in some fault cases. In the test rig, unbalance can be detected reliably
using these features when the rotating frequency is between 8 and 16 Hz. When the
rotational frequency is lower or higher, the detection of unbalance becomes more

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 The Tenth International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Machinery Failure Prevention Technologies

difficult. The best measurement point is on bearing 1 (Figure 1) in the horizontal

direction, though unbalance can also be detected quite well from the other horizontal
measurement points.

(a) (b)

Figure 2. Relative change of the l̄p norms when the unbalance mass is
5.5 g (a) and 11 g (b). The frequency range is 3 – 10000 Hz

Figure 3 shows relative ¯lp norms from bearing 1 (ACC1) when the coupling mis-
alignment was 0.35 mm and 0.50 mm and the rotational frequency was 8 Hz. Both
graphs clearly show that the best sensitivity can be obtained when α is between
3.2 and 3.8 and p is greater than 5. For all p, the relative change is very small
when a small order of derivatives is used. For example, in the case of Figure 3 a)
the relative change of ¯l5 norm of velocity signal is 1, the corresponding value for
acceleration is 3 and for x(3.4) it is 20. In this case, the relative change also decreases
strongly when α exceeds four. However, sensitivity is good even with α is 6. The
sensitivity of the ¯lp norm is the best when p is from 5 to 8. The vibration caused
by misalignment is clearly the strongest in the bearing housing next to the coupling
and in the horizontal direction.
(a) (b)

Figure 3. Relative change of the l̄p norms when coupling misalignment

is 0.35 mm (a) and 0.50 mm (b). The frequency range is 3 – 10000 Hz

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 The Tenth International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Machinery Failure Prevention Technologies

When two faults occur simultaneously, it is good if we can extract from the signal the
features that indicate the types of the faults. The relative ¯lp norms of two different
cases where rotor unbalance and coupling misalignment occur simultaneously at
rotational frequency 8 Hz are shown in Figure 4. The measurements are from bearing
1 (ACC1) from the cases where both unbalance and misalignment are in the smallest
(Figure 4 a) and in the medium rates (Figure 4 b). The results of this and the other
combinations of these two faults are very logical. By studying the features that are
sensitive to unbalance, we can evaluate its severity. The graphs in Figure 4 show
that the relative change of feature ∥x(0) ∥0.2 is 1.6, when the unbalance mass is 5.5 g
and 3.4 when the unbalance mass is 11 g. These values correspond to cases where the
same unbalance appears independently at rotational frequency 8 Hz. Respectively,
the values that are linked with the rate of misalignment are almost equal in the
cases where misalignment occurs independently or simultaneously with unbalance.
For example, the relative change of feature ∥x(3.4) ∥5 is 20 in Figure 3 a) and 23
in Figure 4 b). These results show that at this test rig unbalance only has minor
influence on misalignment or vice versa.

(a) (b)

Figure 4. Relative change of the l̄p norms in the cases ‘unbalance mass
5.5 g and misalignment 0.20 mm’ (a) and ‘unbalance mass 11 g and
misalignment 0.35 mm’ (b). The frequency range is 3 – 10000 Hz

In one of the cases studied, bearing 3 was run completely without lubrication. In
that situation the features of the bearing were up to 3000 times higher than in an
initial state. The fault could be seen very clearly in all the measuring points, and also
in the furthest measurement point the values were about 120 times higher than in
the initial state. Also in this fault state derivation improves sensitivity significantly.
In the faulty bearing, the relative change of acceleration x(2) p is 100, the relative
(3) (4)
change of jerk xp is 1000 and the relative change of napse xp is 2300. The best
sensitivity in this bearing and the measuring point is achieved when α = 5...7 and
p = 7...8. The peak value is usually the most sensitive feature for this fault type,
but a very good sensitivity is also obtained with the ¯lp norm, when p and α are
greater than 3.

The machine was also studied in a state in which there was no cage on bearing 3

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 The Tenth International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Machinery Failure Prevention Technologies

when the bearing had two faults: the absence of lubrication and the absence of
the cage. In that situation, the bearing ran more smoothly as a result of increased
bearing clearance and smaller friction forces. This fault could be seen best in the
faulty bearing in the horizontal direction. The best sensitivity was achieved when
(4)
α = 4 and p = 8 or with xpeak . Figure 5 shows relative ¯lp norms from bearing 1 and
3 in the case of no lubrication and no cage when rotational frequency was 8 Hz. In
bearing 1, the relative change is at its best, 11.5, when α = 4...6 and p is low. Based
on the measurements, it can be concluded that bearing faults of this type can be
detected from all the measurement points in the test rig, but clearly the strongest
vibrations are in the bearing in which the fault occurs. It is easy to locate and
evaluate the severity of such bearing faults on the basis of vibration measurements.

(a) (b)

Figure 5. Relative change of the l̄p norms in the case ‘no lubrication in
the bearing and no cage’ from bearing 1 (a) and from bearing 3 (b).
The frequency range is 3 – 10000 Hz

Figure 6 shows the fault state where all the faults occurs simultaneously. The
relative ¯lp norms are shown from the horizontal measurement of bearings 1, 3 and 4
when the rotational frequency is 8 Hz. In the graph in Figure 6 a) from bearing 1,
the effects of unbalance and misalignment are still clearly visible, as they occur
independently. The bearing faults increase relative changes especially at the small
values of p when α ≥ 2 in this measurement point. The values of ∥x(6) ∥0.2 , for
example, are approximately four times greater in this case, due to the fault in
bearing 3, as compared with a case where all the bearings are in good condition.
Also the features of bearing 3 (Figure 6 b) show a strong increase due to unbalance
and misalignment. When the values of the relative ¯lp norms are compared with a
case where only bearing fault occurs (Figure 5 b), the values are even tripled. In
this measurement point, the increase of α and p improves sensitivity considerably
but on the other hand also the sensitivity of the peak value is approximately in the
same range as the sensitivity of ∥x(10) ∥8 .

The graph in Figure 6 c) shows that bearing faults also cause clear changes in the
features measured from bearing 4, when p is low. In this case, the best sensitivity
for detecting misalignment and bearing faults is obtained with the same derivation

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 The Tenth International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Machinery Failure Prevention Technologies

order, which is approximately 3.4, but the misalignment can see at best with high
values of p and the bearing faults with low values of p. This can be seen as a ridge
in Figure 6 c), when α = 3.2...3.6. In addition, the vibrations related to the bearing
fault increase the values of relative change also the other values of p, when α ≥ 3.
The changes caused by unbalance are the same in this measurement point as in the
other cases where unbalance occurs.
(a) (b)

(c)

Figure 6. Relative change of the l̄p norms in case ‘rotor unbalance mass
11 g, coupling misalignment 0.35 mm and no lubrication in bearing and
no cage’ from bearing 1 (a), from bearing 3 (b) and from bearing 4 (c).
The frequency range is 3 – 10000 Hz

The examination of vibration signals shows that all the studied faults, if they appear
independently or simultaneously, could be detected on the basis of vibration mea-
surements. In this machine, which is quite small, the vibrations caused by different
faults are transferred quite well in the structure. That is why the faults can be
detected on measurement points that are further away. However, for the locating of
faults, more accurate measurements are may needed. It is easier to detect rotor un-
balance using small values of α and the best sensitivity is obtained with the ¯lp norm
when the value of p is small. The coupling misalignment of a claw clutch is best de-
tected from the measurement points that are next to the coupling, though this fault
is also clearly visible from a distance, particularly at higher degrees of misalignment.

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 The Tenth International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Machinery Failure Prevention Technologies

The best sensitivity for detecting coupling misalignment is when α = 3.2...3.8 and
p ≥ 5. For detecting the bearing faults studied in this paper, the best sensitivity
is usually achieved with α ≥ 3.4 and the high values of p. Compared with the
commonly used velocity and acceleration measurements, these features offer much
higher sensitivity.

5. Analysis of sound signals

Sound measurements were performed in all the same fault states simultaneously with
vibration measurements, but only one sound level meter was used. It was placed on
the right-hand side of the machine (Figure 1) close to the belt transmission and the
bearings 2 and 3. Sound signals (U) were recorded using the linearly weighted AC
output of the meter, and measurement equipment and settings were the same as in
the vibration measurements. Sound signals were processed and calculated using the
same methods as in the case of acceleration signals. The frequency range was in all
cases from 3 Hz to 10 kHz.

In general, based on studies on this test rig and measurement arrangement, it is

better to use quite a low rotational frequency of the machine when sound signals are
analysed. When the rotational frequency increases, the noise caused by the normal
running of the machine also increases, which complicates the detection of changes
caused by faults in the sound signals. Figure 7 shows the relative ¯lp norms of sound
signals in cases of rotor unbalance (a) and coupling misalignment (b) and in the case
where they occur simultaneously (c), when the rotational frequency was 8 Hz. The
relative values were calculated by dividing the features by the corresponding sound
signal value, which was measured from the machine when it was in good condition.

The graphs in Figure 7 show that these faults cause clear changes in signals. The
most sensitive feature in both the cases reaches with the ¯lp norm, when the derivative
of the sound signal is between 1.2 and 1.8 and p is large. Therefore, the peak value,
which is ¯lp norm with p = ∞, is the most sensitive feature. In the case where
the unbalance mass is 11 g, the relative change of ∥U (1.4) ∥8 is 3.3 (Figure 7 a) and
the relative change of peak value ∥U (1.6) ∥∞ is 4.5. In the case in graph Figure 7 b),
where misalignment is 0.35 mm, the values are 4.1 and 5.3, respectively. However, in
the case where both the faults occur simultaneously (Figure 7 c), the corresponding
values are slightly smaller. The relative change of ∥U (1.4) ∥8 is 2.8 and the relative
change of ∥U (1.8) ∥∞ is 3.4. The results are almost consistent with the other fault
cases, where unbalance and misalignment occur independently or simultaneously.
In consequence, it can be concluded that it is not easy to state on the basis of
sound measurements in this arrangement whether the features of the sound signal
are caused by unbalance or misalignment.

The bearing fault types studied in this paper also cause strong growth in the levels
of sound signals. Figure 8 shows how the sensitivity of ¯lp norms changes in the case
of absence of lubrication in bearing 3 (Figure 8 a) and in the case of no lubrication

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 The Tenth International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Machinery Failure Prevention Technologies

and no cage in bearing 3 (Figure 8 b). The rotational frequency is 8 Hz also in

these cases. We can see that the changes are very considerable, especially in the
case of Figure 8 a). The derivation of the sound signal increases relative change
considerably and at best it is 29, when α = 8 and p = 8. For example, when the
relative change of the ¯l4 norm of the raw sound signal is 8, it is almost tripled to
value 23 when the signal was derivated once.

(a) (b)

(c)

Figure 7. Relative change of the l̄p norms of sound signals in the cases
of rotor unbalance mass 11 g (a), coupling misalignment 0.35 mm (b)
and their combination (c). The frequency range is 3 – 10000 Hz

In the case where the bearing cage was removed from bearing 3, the running of the
machine could be more smoothly compared with the previous case despite the fact
that there is no lubrication in the bearing. In the detection of this fault the best
sensitivity is obtained when the order of derivative is 0.4 (Figure 8 b). The relative
change of the raw sound signal is between 7 and 8, when ¯lp norms or peak values are
used. The derivation of this signal using the order of derivatives 0.2 to 0.6 improves
sensitivity about 1.5 times. The most sensitive feature in this case is ∥U (0.4) ∥0.2 , but
also the rms value ∥U (0.4) ∥2 of the same signal has good sensitivity. The relative
changes of these features are 11.5 and 11.0, respectively.

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 The Tenth International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Machinery Failure Prevention Technologies

(a) (b)

Figure 8. Relative change of the l̄p norms of sound signals in the cases
‘no lubrication in bearing 3’ (a) and ‘no lubrication and no cage in
bearing 3’ (b). The frequency range is 3 – 10000 Hz

Figure 9 shows the relative ¯lp norms of sound signals in the case where all the studied
faults occur simultaneously and the rotational frequency is 8 Hz. From the graph in
Figure 9 we can see the features that are mainly caused by unbalance or misalignment
and the other that come up as a result of bearing faults. As said before (Figure 7),
the most sensitive feature in the cases of unbalance and misalignment can be achieved
with the ¯lp norm, when the derivative of the sound signal is between 1.2 and 1.8 and
p is large. The graph in Figure 9 shows a local top on the feature ∥U (1.6) ∥8 , in which
the relative change is 4.7. The best relative change of the corresponding peak value
∥U (1.8) ∥∞ is 5.3. These values are in the same order as the values in Figure 7, where
the relative changes of the ¯lp norms for unbalance and misalignment are presented.

Figure 9. Relative change of the l̄p norms of sound signals in the case
‘rotor unbalance mass 11 g, coupling misalignment 0.35 mm and no
lubrication in bearing 3 and no cage’. The frequency range is
3 – 10000 Hz

The graph in Figure 9 also shows a ridge, which appears on the line where the order
of derivative is about 0.4 and p changes. This shape is very similar but the values

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are clearly smaller than in Figure 8 b). In the case of Figure 9, where all the faults
studied occur simultaneously, the relative change value of the most sensitive feature
∥U (0.4) ∥0.2 is 7.3.

Studying the sound signals shows that it is possible to detect different kinds of faults
on the basis of sound signals. The derivation of the signal increases sensitivity
significantly in all the fault types studied. In these cases the best results can be
achieved using a positive order of derivatives in the range 0.4 to 2. When the ¯lp norms
of these signals are used, different faults cause about two to thirty-fold increase in
the values as compared with the corresponding values in the good condition state.
However, the accurate identification of the type of fault based on sound signals could
be challenging in multi-fault states.

6. Dimensionless vibration indices

Dimensionless vibration indices are a simple, reliable indicator, which can be used
to determine whether the machine is in good or poor condition. The relative norms
and other relative features that were discussed above could be used as the terms of
the MIT index (Eq. (9)). Figure 10 shows the values of the MIT index of vibration
signals, when the parameters of the index are: n = 3, τ = 4s, α1 = 0, α2 = 3.4,
α3 = 4, p1 = 0.2, p2 = 8, p3 = ∞ and bα1 = bα2 = bα3 = 1. The first two terms of the
index were measured from bearing 1 and the last from bearing 3 in the horizontal
direction. These three terms were selected on the basis of their good sensitivity to
different faults.

Figure 10. The values of MIT indices based on vibration signals at

different fault states

Figure 10 shows that MIT index changes very logically when the fault state varies.
For example, when the unbalance mass grows from 5.5 g to 11 g and to 16.5 g, the
values of the index are 3.3, 4.1 and 5.3, respectively. Otherwise, the index is 4.1
in the case of unbalance mass 11 g, 9.1 in case of misalignment 0.35 mm, and 18.5
when these faults occur simultaneously. The MIT index is high, 45.2, in the case of

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 The Tenth International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Machinery Failure Prevention Technologies

no lubrication and no cage, because this fault is quite severe. However, when all the
faults occur simultaneously, the MIT index is much higher. Based on these results,
we can conclude that the MIT index based on vibration signals is a very effective,
yet simple indicator, which indicates whether the machine is in good condition or
not. If the severity of the different faults is not equal, a weight of the different terms
in the MIT index can be changed easily with coefficients bαi .

The SOL health index, which is an inverse of the MIT index, shows whether the
condition of the machine has weakened. The SOL index is one when the machine
is in very good condition, and if the condition becomes weaker, the SOL index also
decreases. Figure 11 shows the calculated SOL indices for vibration and the sound
signals for the various fault cases. The SOL index for vibration signals is inverse
of MIT index shown in Figure 10. The SOL index for sound signals is based on
the features ∥U (0.4) ∥0.2 , ∥U (0.4) ∥8 and ∥U (1.8) ∥∞ . The SOL index based on vibration
measurements illustrates clearly the health of the machine. Also the SOL index
of the sound signals clearly indicates that in all the fault states, the health of the
machine has deteriorated and is the weakest in the bearing fault cases and in the
case where all the faults occur simultaneously.

Figure 11. The values of SOL indices of vibration and sound signals at
different fault states

The MIT and SOL indices are good indicators for simple, effective condition monitoring.
By using one of these, only one number is needed to decide whether the machine
is in good or poor condition. If more accurate information on the type, location
or severity of the fault is needed, the specific parts of the index can be examined.
As shown in this study, the MIT and SOL index can also be used in complex fault
situations and multi-fault states. The customization of the parameters of the indices
could prove a very sensitive index in different situations. However, the use of these
indices requires that the state of the machine in good condition is known, because
a reference value is needed.

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 The Tenth International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Machinery Failure Prevention Technologies

7. Conclusions

The use of vibration and sound signals in the condition monitoring of a multi-
fault machine was investigated in this paper. Different faults, such as unbalance,
the coupling misalignment of a claw clutch, a bearing cage fault, the absence of
lubrication in a ball bearing and their combinations, were generated on a test rig,
and vibration and sound measurements were performed using accelerometers and a
sound level meter. The signals measured were processed using real order derivation,
and weighted lp norms were calculated from these signals. Based on these features,
MIT and SOL indices were calculated.

The study showed that all the faults studied could be detected at an early stage
on the basis of vibration measurements when the ¯lp norms and suitable real order
derived signals were used. At least in the compact machine, the machine can be
monitored with only one sensor or a few sensors, which still allows one to conclude
the type and severity of the faults. Rotor unbalance can be detected best when
signals with low α and ¯lp norms with low p are used. The best sensitivity for
detecting the misalignment of the claw clutch can be obtained when α = 3.2...3.8
and p ≥ 5. For detecting the bearing faults, which are studied in this study, the best
sensitivity can usually be achieved with α ≥ 3.4 and large values of p. Compared
with the commonly used velocity and acceleration measurements, these features offer
much higher sensitivity.

The study showed that with the help of sound signals, it is also possible to detect
different kinds of faults. The derivation of the signal increases sensitivity signifi-
cantly in all the fault types studied. In these cases, the best results can be achieved
using a positive order of derivatives in the range 0.4 to 2. Using the ¯lp norms of
these signals, different faults cause about two to thirty-fold increase in the values
as compared with the corresponding values in the good condition state. However,
the accurate identification of the type of fault on the basis of sound signals could be
challenging. In addition, background noise complicates the analysis of sound signals.

The condition of the machine could monitored reliably and simply by means of MIT
or SOL indices. These can be created on the basis of the desired number of mea-
surement parameters from vibration, sound, temperature or other measurements.
This study showed that the MIT or SOL index based on vibration signals is a very
effective, yet simple indicator that indicates whether the machine is in good or poor
condition. By combining three different relative features ∥x(αi ) ∥pi , which were calcu-
lated from the acceleration signal, an index is obtained that can be used effectively
for detecting all the faults studied. If more accurate information on the type or
severity of the fault is needed, the specific parts of the index can be examined.

The study also showed that MIT or SOL indices can be created on the basis of sound
signals. The indices indicate whether the health of the machine has deteriorated.
According to the results obtained in this study, the use of real order derivatives can
improve the sensitivity of sound measurements considerably. The measurements
provide a lot of information on the condition of the machine with the help of simple,

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inexpensive non-contacting sensors. Sound measurements could be a cost-effective

method to obtain an overview of machinery health.

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