1684 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 58, NO.

5, MAY 2011

Fault Detection of Linear Bearings in Brushless AC

Linear Motors by Vibration Analysis
Claudio Bianchini, Fabio Immovilli, Marco Cocconcelli, Riccardo Rubini, and Alberto Bellini

Abstract—Electric linear motors are spreading in industrial I. I NTRODUCTION

automation because they allow for direct drive applications with
very high dynamic performances, high reliability, and high flex-
ibility in trajectory generation. The moving part of the motor is
linked to the fixed part by means of linear bearings. As in many
E ARLY DIAGNOSIS of faults in electric machines is an
extensively investigated field for maintenance cost and
downtime savings [1]–[3]. Electric machines are extensively
other electric machines, bearings represent one of the most vul- employed in industry: Three-phase induction motors have been
nerable parts because they are prone to wear and contamination.
In the case of linear roller bearings, this issue is even more critical widely adopted, mainly because of their low price, rugged-
as the rail cannot be easily fully enclosed and protected from ness, simplicity of control, and reliability. Many reliability
environmental contamination, unlike the radial rotating bearing survey papers deal with failure statistics of electric machine
counterpart. This paper presents a diagnostic method based on subassemblies, focusing mainly on induction machines because
vibration analysis to identify which signature is related to a specific of their widespread use in industry [4]–[6]. A rough classifica-
fault.
tion identifies four classes: bearing faults, stator-related faults,
Index Terms—Bearings, fault detection, linear electric ma- rotor-related faults, and other faults (cooling, connection, and
chines, rough surface, signal processing, spectral analysis, wear. terminal boxes). Depending on the type and size of the machine,
bearing faults account for about 40% to about 90% from
N OMENCLATURE large to small machines. Advancement in magnet technologies,
Db Rolling element diameter. which allows operation at higher temperatures, and the decrease
Dc Mean diameter of the roller bearing (pitch diameter). in price of rare-earth magnets increased the market share of
β Contact angle of the rolling element. permanent-magnet (PM) motors in the manufacturing industry,
n Number of rolling elements in the bearing. where there is a strong demand for variable-speed operation,
l Central distance between two adjacent rolling high efficiency, and reliability [7]. In particular, in the industrial
elements. automation field, there is a pressing need for lower cycle
lc Length of the carriage contact area. times, precise positioning, and flexibility of operation; thus,
S Length of the recirculation path. an increasing number of applications employ PM machines
V Speed of the rolling element. in direct drive architectures. Direct drive stands for a direct
fr Rotating frequency of the shaft. coupling between the actuator and the load. This is extremely
fcage Cage fault characteristic frequency. demanding on the actuators: Both high range of speed and high
fouter Outer ring fault characteristic frequency. range of torque are required. The main advantage of direct drive
finner Inner ring fault characteristic frequency. connection is that it allows for the elimination of the kinematic
fball Rolling element fault characteristic frequency. chain between the actuator and the load. In this way, a number
frail Rail fault characteristic frequency. of advantages are accomplished: reduced friction losses, re-
fcarr Carriage fault characteristic frequency. duced backlash, increased reliability and compactness, reduced
Tburst Vibration time in the rolling element fault. costs, reduced mechanical resonances given by elasticity, and
Toff Pause time in the rolling element fault. accurate force control due to the reduced friction. Considering
Ton Vibration time in the rail fault. the linear PM electric machines, because of the inherently
t Time. open construction, linear rolling bearings are the most critical
μ Mean value. components in the machine and the one more prone to early
failure during operation [8].
Vibration signals are commonly used to detect the presence
of rotating bearing faults. In most situations, diagnostic meth-
ods based on the analysis of mechanical signals have proved
Manuscript received December 16, 2009; revised March 19, 2010 and their effectiveness [9]–[12]. Recently, the use of electric signals
June 17, 2010; accepted July 3, 2010. Date of publication December 10, 2010; has been investigated for the diagnosis of mechanical faults in
date of current version April 13, 2011.
The authors are with the Dipartimento di Scienze e Metodi dell’Ingegneria, electric machines [13]–[16].
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 42100 Reggio Emilia, Italy Extensive research has been conducted on the subject of
(e-mail: claudio.bianchini@unimore.it; fabio.immovilli@unimore.it; mechanical fault detection such as ball bearings, gearboxes, and
marco.cocconcelli@unimore.it; riccardo.rubini@unimore.it; alberto.bellini@
unimore.it). rotor imbalance/eccentricity [17]. Many fault detection tech-
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIE.2010.2098354 niques have been developed [18] and reviewed [19]–[22]. They

0278-0046/$26.00 © 2010 IEEE

BIANCHINI et al.: FAULT DETECTION OF LINEAR BEARINGS IN LINEAR MOTORS BY VIBRATION ANALYSIS 1685

Fig. 1. Linear roller bearing.

range from statistical [23]–[25] to frequency domain [26]–[28]

and time–frequency [29], [30] ones. A short presentation of the
most common signal processing techniques for fault detection
will be given in a dedicated section. Fig. 2. Ball bearing structure and physical parameters.
This paper investigates the use of vibration signals for linear
bearing fault detection (Fig. 1) in order to assess the feasibil- bearings are gaining popularity over traditional sliding-surface
ity of the approach in different situations encountered during bearings because of their low friction, low backlash, and ex-
operation. A kinematic model of the linear bearing has been treme stiffness. The analytical models presented hereafter, both
developed, and response to different fault localization has been for radial and linear roller bearings, are developed for localized
modeled. A test bed is realized that allows for the acquisition faults only.
of vibration signals on a machine with healthy or faulty linear
bearings. Signal processing techniques were applied to the A. Radial Roller Bearing Model
vibration signal and compared in order to assess which proce-
dure is best suited to the different types of bearing faults. The Rotating roller bearings consist of two concentric rings, outer
techniques assessed range from frequency ones (fast Fourier and inner, with balls or rollers between them (Fig. 2). The
transform (FT) (FFT) spectrum and envelope analysis) to scalar rolling elements are bound by a cage that ensures a uniform
ones (kurtosis and crest factor) and include time–frequency distance between them and prevents any contact. Bearing de-
techniques such as short-time FT (STFT). Bearing faults can be fects under normal operational conditions occur because of
roughly categorized into two classes on the basis of their con- material fatigue. Impact or impulsive forces which appear in
figuration: single-point defects and generalized roughness [31]. the vibration signal of the support are periodic in the case of
In order to compare diagnostic techniques based on vibration constant speed of the shaft.
signals, typical linear bearing faults are considered and ana- Faults in the inner raceway, outer raceway, or rolling ele-
lyzed, i.e., recirculation channel plugging, carriage localized ments will produce unique frequency components in the ma-
damage, rail localized damage, and rolling element localized chine vibrations and other measured signals. Characteristic
damage. fault frequencies can be computed from bearing geometry and
The contribution of this paper is the theoretical analysis of operating speed. This subject has been extensively investigated
the physical link between faults and vibration spectrum com- [28], [32], [33]. In the following, the analytic expressions of
ponents and the development of a kinematic model to predict the fault frequencies in the case of outer ring held stationary are
fault frequencies for localized faults on linear roller bearings. reported:
 
Whenever possible, experiments were conducted to evaluate the 1 Db cos β
model and verify the predicted fault frequencies. fcage = fr 1 − (1)
2 Dc
In Section II, the analytical fault models for linear bear-  
ings are developed for different faults, localized on a rolling n Db cos β
fouter = fr 1 − (2)
element, on the rail, and on the moving carriage. Examples 2 Dc
of the expected spectra and characteristic frequencies are also  
n Db cos β
detailed. Section III provides an overview of signal processing finner = fr 1 + (3)
2 Dc
techniques commonly used for bearing fault detection purposes.   2 
Section IV reports and evaluates the experimental results, Dc Db cos β
followed by conclusions. fball = fr 1 − . (4)
Db Dc

Referring to Fig. 2, Db stands for the ball diameter, Dc

II. B EARING M ODELS FOR V IBRATION S IGNAL
A NALYSIS FAULT D ETECTION
Both radial rotating and linear roller bearings are composed
of a static component and a moving one with interposed rolling
elements (usually in the shape of spheres or cylinders). With
this architecture, friction can be kept to a minimum because of
the rolling nature of the relative motion. Radial roller bearings
are the industry’s standard in rotating machines. Linear roller
stands for the pitch diameter, n stands for the number of rolling
elements, and β stands for the ball contact angle. For radial
bearings and linear roller bearings as well, the characteristic
fault frequency calculated with the kinematic model may be
slightly different from the measured ones because of slipping
of the rolling elements. Slipping may occur during change
of direction, sharp acceleration, or if the bearing runs with a
minimum or zero preload. This effect can be accounted for
1686
Fig. 3. Linear roller bearing cutaway view, showing the recirculation path.
Fig. 4. Simplified model of a linear bearing.
by multiplying the characteristic frequencies by a factor that
is lower than one [34].
B. Linear Roller Bearing Model
Linear roller bearings are similar to their radial counterpart in
the way they consist of a moving carriage and a stationary rail
with balls or rollers between them. Since the rail and carriage
have linear contact surfaces, suitable channels are bored in the
carriage body to permit rolling element recirculation (Fig. 3).
Unlike the rotating bearings, linear ones do not always have
a cage on the rolling elements. Common linear bearing faults,
from the most to the least frequent one, are as follows: recir-
culation channel plugging, rolling element localized damage,
carriage localized damage, and rail localized damage.
From an ideal point of view, a localized fault on the rolling
elements, on the guide, or on the slide unit can be easily
modeled.
As in the rotating-roller-bearing case, the characteristic fre-
quencies of the linear roller bearing faults can be computed on
the basis of the bearing geometry (Fig. 4) and the kinematic
behavior of the moving carriage. Linear roller bearings usually
do not have a cage, so the distance between the rolling ele-
ments can vary randomly. While this phenomenon introduces
random fluctuations of the time distribution of impacts, it has
been neglected in the following for the sake of simplicity.
Moreover, the effect was not evident in the experiments. A
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 58, NO. 5, MAY 2011
TABLE I
L INEAR ROLLER B EARING L OCALIZED
FAULT C HARACTERISTIC F REQUENCIES
Fig. 5. Expected time distribution of impacts for damage on the rolling
elements.
possible explanation is that, in a linear machine, due to practical
size limitations, the bearing track length and, consequently,
acquisition times are limited. Then, the random fluctuation of
the impact frequency is lower than the spectral resolution of the
experimental setup.
Referring to Fig. 4, three separate cases can be analytically
described, under the assumptions of constant-speed operation,
lack of slipping, and evenly spaced rolling elements. Table I
summarizes the results, where the carriage speed is equal to 2v
and the peripheral velocity of the rolling elements is v.
C. Fault on One Rolling Element
If the fault occurs on one rolling element, the defect will hit
the rail and then the carriage each time the damaged element
completes a rotation. The expected characteristic frequency of
the damage will be
2v
fball = (5)
πDb
where Db is the diameter of the rolling element. This damage
will appear only when the rolling element is loaded, which
means that the sphere is between the carriage and the rail.
When the sphere follows the recirculation path, it is unloaded;
therefore, no impacts occur, and no vibration is produced, as
shown in Fig. 5. The expected FFT spectrum is shown in Fig. 6.
Hence, during the movement, it is possible to detect bursts of
vibration with a period equal to
lc
Tburst = (6)
v
where lc is the length of the carriage raceway. Conversely,
no vibration occurs during the recirculation period, which is
equal to
S − lc
Toff = (7)
v
BIANCHINI et al.: FAULT DETECTION OF LINEAR BEARINGS IN LINEAR MOTORS BY VIBRATION ANALYSIS 1687

Fig. 6. Expected FFT spectrum of the vibration signal for damage on the Fig. 8. Expected FFT spectrum of the vibration signal for damage on the rail.
rolling elements.

Fig. 9. Expected time distribution of impacts for damage on the moving

Fig. 7. Expected time distribution of impacts for damage on the rail. carriage.

where S is the length of the path followed by the rolling

elements. While the sphere rotates, the impacts between the car-
riage and the rail are spatially different from the accelerometer;
thus, a modulation of the peak amplitude is expected.

D. Localized Fault on the Rail

If the fault occurs on the fixed rail, the expected characteristic
frequency of the damage will be
v
frail = (8)
l
where l is the distance between two adjacent rolling elements.
It is to be pointed out that the characteristic vibration fre-
quency will appear only when the carriage passes over the Fig. 10. Expected FFT spectrum of the vibration signal for damage on the
moving carriage.
affected area as shown in Fig. 7. The expected FFT spectrum
is shown in Fig. 8 Fig. 9. The expected FFT spectrum (Fig. 10) will ideally show
lc no modulations. The expected characteristic frequency of the
Ton = . (9) damage will be
2v
v
If multiple carriages are installed on the same rail, the signal fcarr = . (10)
l
shown in Fig. 7 will be repeated according to the number of
moving carriages and the distance between them.
F. Recirculation Channel Plugging
E. Localized Fault on the Moving Carriage
This kind of fault is usually caused by operation in a conta-
If the fault occurs on the moving carriage, the defect will be minated environment. Dirt is collected by the carriage during
continuously hit by the train of rolling elements, as shown in its movement along the rail. Eventually, the accumulated dirt
1688
will plug the channel, preventing the rolling elements from
recirculating. When this damage occurs, the rolling elements
are forced to stay in a fixed position relative to the carriage, and
then, slipping occurs.
In the aforementioned detailed condition, it is not possible to
model a characteristic frequency because no periodic impulses
are expected. This condition will be investigated empirically by
a healthy/faulty differential measurement approach.
III. S IGNAL P ROCESSING T ECHNIQUES FOR THE
D ETECTION OF ROLLING E LEMENT FAULTS
This section reports a short presentation of the most common
techniques used in signal processing for fault detection. Each
technique is well known in the literature [35]–[37]. Vibration
signals are processed to retrieve the signals of interest, i.e.,
the mechanical fault characteristic frequencies. Different tech-
niques were assessed and critically compared: from frequency-
domain ones (FFT spectrum and envelope analysis) to scalar
ones (kurtosis and crest factor), including time–frequency tech-
niques such as STFT and Welch periodogram. Due to the
mixed results obtained, only the most relevant and successful
ones were reported in the next section. The various techniques
applied will be briefly reviewed in the following.
A. Statistical Methods
Statistical scalar indicators are used to provide a single
parameter characterizing the health status of a mechanical
component. Usually, the monitored parameter is the vibration
signal, and the most used indicators are the root-mean-square
(rms) value of the vibration velocity, the crest factor, and the
kurtosis. The rms value of a discrete signal x is defined as
follows:
 delay of each spectral component, and it is computed as the
 +T
1 convolution between the input signal and the function 1/πt, as
rms [x(t)] = lim x(t)2 dt. (11)
T →∞ 2T −T
The rms is an indicator of the energy lost due to dissipative
phenomena such as damage on the bearing elements. The main
drawback is that the absolute value of the measurement is
not sufficient to make a diagnosis, but it is necessary to set a
threshold that depends on the specific application. An indicative
rms threshold is suggested in [38] and [39].
The crest factor is defined as the ratio between the maximum
peak and the rms of the vibration signal, as shown in
max [x(t)]
CrestF actor [x(t)] = . (12)
rms [x(t)]
This indicator states the significance of impulsive
phenomena–such as those correlated with an impact between
bearing elements–with respect to the rms value of the signal.
The main drawback is that, during damage progression, the
amplitude of the peaks associated with the damage decreases
in time while the rms increases, and then, the crest factor is no
longer reliable.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 58, NO. 5, MAY 2011
The kurtosis is the departure from the standard probability
distribution of a real-valued random variable. The definition of
kurtosis is shown in
μ4
kurtosis = 4 − 3 (13)
σ
where μ4 is the fourth moment about the mean and σ is
the standard deviation of the signal x(t). In the case of a
healthy bearing, white noise is expected with a normal Gaussian
distribution, while the presence of a fault introduces specific
components that depart from the normal distribution, thus in-
creasing the kurtosis value.
B. Frequency-Domain Analysis
In most cases, the presence of a damage introduces impacts
related to the motion of the system, e.g., a fault on the outer
race of a bearing generates impacts which are related to the
rotation of the shaft. If the motion of the system is periodic,
then the impacts are periodic too, and the frequency of a train
of impacts could be detected in the spectrum of the signal
[27], [40]. The analysis in the frequency domain is the most
important technique used so far in the literature. The spectrum
of the signal is computed by Fourier decomposition, whose
definition is reported in
T

+2
1
X(f ) = x(t) · e−i2πf t dt. (14)
T
− T2
Usually, the presence of a fault on a moving element mod-
ulates the amplitude of the vibration signal with a frequency
which is characteristic of the damage [41]. In that case, the
Hilbert transform is used to demodulate the vibration signal
[42]. The Hilbert transform of a signal applies a −(π/2) phase
shown in
+∞
x(u)
x̃(t) = du. (15)
π(t − u)
−∞
The Hilbert transform allows computing the analytical signal
which is a complex-valued function, where the real part is the
original signal and the imaginary part is the Hilbert transform
of the original signal
xa (t) = x(t) + ix̃(t) = A(t)eiφ(t) . (16)
The analytic representation is a generalization of the phasor
concept: While the latter is restricted to time-invariant ampli-
tude, phase, and frequency, the former allows for time-variable
parameters. The polar coordinates of the analytical signal con-
veniently separate the effects of amplitude modulation (AM)
[A(t) = |xa (t)|] and phase modulation [φ(t) = arg(xa (t))].
This particular representation is possible only if the signal
verifies the Bedrosian theorem [43], [44], usually imposed by
bandpass filtering.
BIANCHINI et al.: FAULT DETECTION OF LINEAR BEARINGS IN LINEAR MOTORS BY VIBRATION ANALYSIS
In the following, the envelope of the signal is not computed
via Hilbert transform but with an RC-like envelope detector:
The algorithm used finds all the local maxima and minima of
the input signal in the time domain, and it interpolates them
through two polynomial curves, i.e., one referring to the local
maxima and one referring to the local minima. The difference
between the upper and lower curves is the modulating signal,
exactly as it is done in a radio receiver, where an RC envelope
detector is used to extract the speech signal from an AM carrier.
C. Time–Frequency-Domain Analysis
In the presence of a nonstationary signal, transient impacts
may occur at unknown time intervals; thus, the resulting signal
is commonly nonperiodic [45]. In this case, the Fourier analysis
is no longer suitable since the periodicity is lost. When looking
at an FT of a signal, it is impossible to tell when a particular
event took place. To overcome this problem, the STFT was
introduced. The main idea is the application of a window to
the signal in order to filter a time interval of the signal [46]. The
subset of the original signal is then analyzed with the classic FT.
Then, the filtering and analysis steps are repeated, shifting the
window along the time axis. The resulting output is a 3-D plot
where the main axes are the following: the frequency, the time,
and the amplitude of the frequency components. Different types
of windows are available, like Hanning, Hamming, and Kaiser.
A further step in the analysis of nonstationary signals has
been the introduction of the wavelet transform. The wavelet
analysis is a sort of STFT with a variable-sized-region window.
In the wavelet analysis, the signal is no longer decomposed as
a sum of harmonics—as in the FT—but as a sum of specific
functions called mother wavelet, the characteristic size of which
could be changed [47], [48]
 composed of an ac brushless iron-core linear motor with 550-N
xa (t) = x, ψa,b  · ψa,b (t) db (17)
where
 
1 t−b
ψa,b (t) = √ ψ (18)
a a
and ψ(t) is one of the many possible mother wavelets, a defines
the scale, and b is a real number that defines the shift.
Wavelet analysis allows the use of long-term intervals,
where more precise low-frequency information is necessary,
and shorter regions in the case of high-frequency information
need [49].
D. Quefrency-Domain Analysis
The cepstrum analysis is a signal processing technique that
detects periodicities in the spectrum of the input signal [50],
[51]. It is usually used in areas such as speech and image
processing or with data that contain echoes or reverberation.
All the terminology is derived by reversing the first four letters
of the classic signal analysis terms (e.g., cepstrum–spectrum
or quefrency–frequency). There are four types of cepstrum:
the power cepstrum, the complex cepstrum, the real cepstrum,
1689
Fig. 11. AC brushless linear motor.
TABLE II
S YNCHRONOUS PM L INEAR M OTOR C OGGING F ORCE F REQUENCIES
and the phase cepstrum. Usually, the complex cepstrum is
preferable since it keeps information on the phase of the signal.
The complex cepstrum is defined as the inverse FT of the
logarithm of the FT of the signal
cc (τ ) = F −1 {log [X(f )]} (19)
where X(f ) is the FT of the input signal x(t).
The complex cepstrum is used to highlight the frequency
of a modulating signal since it generates lateral bands in the
spectrum; each of them is equally spaced in the frequency
domain.
IV. E XPERIMENTAL R ESULTS
The model presented has been validated with a test bench
nominal thrust force, 2405-N attraction force, and 24-mm pole
pitch (Fig. 11). The motor features two linear bearing rails with
two carriages for each rail (four carriages in total).
The employed linear bearing presents the following charac-
teristic dimensions: carriage length lc = 44 mm and distance
between rolling elements l ≈ db = 3.96 mm.
A three-axis piezoelectric shear accelerometer, i.e., PCB
Piezotronics model 356A01, was used to measure the vibration
signals, with a nominal sensitivity of 5 mV/g for each axis (X,
Y , and Z). The sampling frequency was 5000 Hz.
The sensor was placed with the X-axis parallel to the
direction of movement and the Z-axis perpendicular to the
floor plane. The sensor was bolted directly over the damaged
carriage.
The vibration frequency analysis was performed mainly in
the Y - and Z-directions. Cogging force harmonics (Table II)
were present in every acquisition. In particular, the X-direction
vibration signal was heavily affected by the cogging force and
the vibration caused by the motion.
The Z-axis was chosen as reference because it was least
affected by straightness assembly errors of the rails with ref-
erence to the frame of the motor. A first set of measurements
was taken in the case of healthy condition to characterize the
system at different carriage speeds (2v): 0.25, 0.5, and 1 m/s.
1690
Fig. 12. Microphotograph of the damage on the rolling element.
TABLE III
S INGLE -ROLLING -E LEMENT FAULT C HARACTERISTIC F REQUENCIES
Fig. 13. Experimental results. FFT analysis of the vibration signal along the
Z-axis (top) in healthy condition and (bottom) with a damage on a single rolling
element. The speed is 0.50 m/s.
A. Localized Fault on One Rolling Element
In order to perform this experiment, one rolling element
was damaged with a cutting tool as shown in Fig. 12. The
damage measures 1 mm in width and 3 mm in length with a
maximum depth of 0.3 mm. This damage does not affect the
rolling element recirculation or rolling capability.
Table III summarizes the characteristic fault frequencies for
different motor speeds.
Fig. 13 shows the FFT analysis for the vibration signal along
the Z-axis at 0.50 m/s. Since, at any time, there are 11 rolling
elements loaded simultaneously under the carriage, even on
a decibel spectrum, it is extremely difficult to recognize the
characteristic fault frequency because the load is shared by the
other undamaged rolling elements.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 58, NO. 5, MAY 2011
Fig. 14. Microphotograph of the damage on the carriage race.
TABLE IV
C ARRIAGE FAULT C HARACTERISTIC F REQUENCIES
B. Localized Fault on the Rail
Because of the limited supplies of rails, it was not possible
to sacrifice one of them to test the localized fault on the rail
or generalized roughness (abrasive wear). Moreover, the rail
surface is the hardest part of the linear bearing, and the di-
mension of the rail is many times bigger than the linear dimen-
sion of the inner race of the moving carriage. Therefore, the rail
is loaded for a limited time, while the moving carriage is loaded
continuously. As a consequence, the rail is the most reliable
part of the linear guide, and this case has not been investigated
experimentally.
C. Localized Fault on the Moving Carriage
In order to perform this experiment, the carriage race has
been machined with a carbide cutting tool as shown in Fig. 14.
The damage spans across the entire race and measures 2.5 mm
in width with a depth of 0.3 mm. This damage too does not
affect the rolling element recirculation or rolling capability. A
set of experiments was performed at different speeds with this
single defect on the carriage race.
Table IV summarizes the expected fault characteristic fre-
quencies for the single defect on the carriage race at various
operating speeds. Frequency calculation is based on the geo-
metric parameters of the actual linear bearing, applied to the
kinematic model presented earlier.
Figs. 15–17 show the comparison between the healthy and
faulty FFT spectra at different speeds of the motor for the
Z-axis. There is good agreement between the expected frequen-
cies calculated using the proposed analytical model and the
ones measured from the FFT spectra of the acquired signals.
Figs. 18–20 show the comparison of the healthy and faulty FFT
spectra of the enveloped Z-axis signal at different speeds.
Table V summarizes the experimental result for the different
tests, together with the amplitude variation of the fundamental
fault harmonic. As expected, the frequency of these harmonic
components will increase proportionally to the motor speed.
BIANCHINI et al.: FAULT DETECTION OF LINEAR BEARINGS IN LINEAR MOTORS BY VIBRATION ANALYSIS
Fig. 15. Experimental results. FFT spectrum of the vibration signal along the
Z-axis (top) in healthy condition and (bottom) with a single groove on the
carriage track. The speed is 0.25 m/s.
Fig. 16. Experimental results. FFT spectrum of the vibration signal along the
Z-axis (top) in healthy condition and (bottom) with a single groove on the
carriage track. The speed is 0.50 m/s.
Fig. 17. Experimental results. FFT spectrum of the vibration signal along the
Z-axis (top) in healthy condition and (bottom) with a single groove on the
carriage track. The speed is 1.00 m/s.
D. Recirculation Channel Plugging Fault
The recirculation channel plugging fault was recreated by
forcing a steel cylinder inside the recirculation channel, thus
preventing sphere recirculation in one of the four moving
carriages. Different experiments were performed at differ-
ent speeds, and the results were analyzed by FFT analysis.
Figs. 21–23 show the FFT spectrum at different speeds.
Simple FFT analysis of the vibration signal shows that it is
possible to identify a fault characteristic frequency that is pro-
portional to the motor speed. The fault frequency is identified
1691
Fig. 18. Experimental results. FFT envelope analysis of the vibration signal
along the Z-axis (top) in healthy condition and (bottom) with a single groove
on the carriage track. The speed is 0.25 m/s.
Fig. 19. Experimental results. FFT envelope analysis of the vibration signal
along the Z-axis (top) in healthy condition and (bottom) with a single groove
on the carriage track. The speed is 0.50 m/s.
Fig. 20. Experimental results. FFT envelope analysis of the vibration signal
along the Z-axis (top) in healthy condition and (bottom) with a single groove
on the carriage track. The speed is 1.00 m/s.
experimentally by differential comparison, but it is not easy to
relate this frequency to the simplified analytical model. This
is mainly because, during the recirculation channel plugging
fault, the assumption of zero slipping of the rolling elements
is no longer true. Furthermore, no periodicity is expected in
the signal but a random noise. Comparison between the spectra
in the healthy and faulty conditions shows an increased am-
plitude of the vibration signal. The highlighted frequencies are
similar to the carriage fault ones and also to the cogging force
harmonics. Incidentally, in these tests, those two frequencies
1692 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 58, NO. 5, MAY 2011
TABLE V
C ARRIAGE FAULT C HARACTERISTIC F REQUENCY A MPLITUDE IN THE C ASE OF H EALTHY AND FAULTY C ONDITIONS
Fig. 21. Experimental results. FFT spectrum of the vibration signal along the
Z-axis (top) in healthy condition and (bottom) with a recirculation channel
plugging fault. The speed is 0.25 m/s.
Fig. 22. Experimental results. FFT spectrum of the vibration signal along the
Z-axis (top) in healthy condition and (bottom) with a recirculation channel
plugging fault. The speed is 0.50 m/s.
are coincident. Comparing the spectra of the carriage-fault
case (Figs. 15–17) to the spectra of the recirculation channel
plugging fault (Figs. 21–23), it can be noted that there are no
high-order harmonics in the channel-plugging-fault case. As
Figs. 21–23 clearly show, in the faulty case, the low-frequency
component of the vibration signal (which should be generated
by the cogging force) is strongly attenuated. While this verifies
that the periodicity of the signal is lost, the attenuation could
also be used as a fault index. It has to be noted that the analysis
of vibration induced by the cogging force alone is too depen-
dent upon specific installation, mounting, and load condition
(particularly inertia) to act as a reliable fault index for in-field
real-world diagnostic applications. The recirculation channel
plugging fault dramatically increases the moving resistance,
and the rolling elements, which are unable to recirculate, are
tightly packed together, thus increasing the stiffness of the
system.
So far, the experimental differential approach seems to be the
most effective way to identify the fault characteristic frequency
for the recirculation channel plugging fault.
Fig. 23. Experimental results. FFT spectrum of the vibration signal along the
Z-axis (top) in healthy condition and (bottom) with a recirculation channel
plugging fault. The speed is 1.00 m/s.
V. C ONCLUSION
This paper deals with the fault diagnosis of linear roller
bearings applied to a brushless ac linear machine, specifically
employing vibration analysis. While diagnostic on rotating
machines is an extensively investigated field, little research has
been conducted into fault modeling and diagnosis of linear
roller bearings for linear PM machines. The key results of the
work are summarized as follows.
1) A kinematic model of the linear roller bearing has been
developed. Different linear bearing faults have been iden-
tified: fault on the rail, fault on the moving carriage,
fault on the rolling elements, and recirculation channel
plugging fault.
Except for the recirculation channel plugging fault, the
identified faults have been investigated using the pro-
posed kinematic model to determine distinctive vibration
fault signals and their spectra.
2) A set of experiments has been run on a dedicated test bed
to validate the analytical model and to identify reliable
fault signatures. The experimentally simulated faults are
as follows: fault on the moving carriage, fault on the
rolling elements, and recirculation channel plugging. Be-
cause of the limited supplies of rails, it was not possible to
test the localized fault on the rail or generalized roughness
(abrasive wear).
3) For each type of fault, different signal processing tech-
niques have been assessed to analyze the vibration signal
acquired during the experiments. Simple statistical scalar
indices, such as kurtosis and crest factor, proved to be
unreliable in detecting any of the modeled faults, partic-
ularly because of their sensitivity and erratic response to
different speeds of operation. The model of the moving
carriage fault has been experimentally validated. In this
case, given the periodicity of the signal, the FFT spectrum
BIANCHINI et al.: FAULT DETECTION OF LINEAR BEARINGS IN LINEAR MOTORS BY VIBRATION ANALYSIS
alone was enough to identify the fault characteristic fre-
quency. In the case of damage to one rolling element, the
vibration signal is characterized by trains of impulses,
the periodicity is lost, and the FFT spectrum alone is
not useful at finding the damage. Time–frequency signal
processing techniques should be used.
4) Various signal processing techniques were applied to the
vibration signal (STFT, Welch periodogram, cepstrum
analysis, and envelope analysis). Even the scalar quanti-
ties (crest factor and kurtosis) were not determinant in the
identification of the faulted bearing. The obtained results
proved that it is very hard to find a single characteristic
quantity that states the health condition of the bearing.
Indeed, the results obtained by the FFT alone and simple
envelope analysis were the most relevant ones, and then,
they were reported in this paper.
5) Since no kinematic model can be developed for the
recirculation channel plugging fault, the approach to fault
detection was purely experimental, by the differential
comparison method. Simple FFT analysis of the vibration
signal shows a distinct fault characteristic frequency,
which is proportional to the motor speed: Further in-
vestigation needs to be carried out to establish if this
fault frequency is characteristic of the particular machine
under test or can be brought back to a specific fault effect.
Also, the low-frequency component of the vibration sig-
nal (generated by the cogging force) appears strongly at-
tenuated in the fault case. Recirculation channel plugging
dramatically increases the moving resistance of the bear-
ing, and the rolling elements are tightly packed together,
thus increasing the stiffness of the system and causing the
observed attenuation. Analysis of the vibration induced
by the cogging force alone is too dependent upon specific
installation, mounting, and load conditions (particularly
inertia) to act as a reliable fault index for in-field real-
world diagnostic applications.
This is a topic that deserves further investigation, par-
ticularly for more common faults like recirculation chan-
nel plugging and generalized wear, as fault signatures
have been identified by the differential method but an
analytical model is not yet identified.
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Claudio Bianchini was born in Italy on
September 9, 1974. He received the M.S. degree
in management engineering, the S.B. degree in
mechatronic engineering, and the Ph.D. degree
from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia,
Reggio Emilia, Italy, in 2002, 2006, and 2010,
respectively.
During 2008, he was an Honorary Scholar at
the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is cur-
rently with the Dipartimento di Scienze e Metodi
dell’Ingegneria, University of Modena and Reggio
Emilia. He is the holder of one international patent. His research interests
include electric machines and drives and static power conversion for renewable
energy.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 58, NO. 5, MAY 2011
Fabio Immovilli was born in Italy on March 11,
1981. He received the M.S. degree in mechatronic
engineering from the University of Modena and
Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy, in 2006, where
he is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree in
mechatronic engineering.
In 2009, he was a Visiting Scholar at the Power
Electronics, Machines and Control Group, The Uni-
versity of Nottingham, Nottingham, U.K. He is the
holder of one international industrial patent. His re-
search interests include electric machine diagnostics,
power converters, machines for energy conversion from renewable energy
sources, and thermoacoustics.
Marco Cocconcelli was born in Italy on
November 9, 1977. He received the M.S. degree
in mechanical engineering and the Ph.D. degree in
applied mechanics from the University of Bologna,
Bologna, Italy, in 2003 and 2007, respectively.
In 2007, he joined the University of Modena
and Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy, as a Re-
search Fellow in applied mechanics, where he is
currently with the Dipartimento di Scienze e Metodi
dell’Ingegneria. He is the holder of one international
patent. His research interests include bearing diag-
nostics, kinematics and dynamics of planar mechanisms, and kinetic models in
gait analysis.
Dr. Cocconcelli is a member of the Italian Association of Theoretical and
Applied Mechanics (AIMETA), the International Institute of Acoustics and
Vibration, and the Italian Society of Clinical Movement Analysis (SIAMOC).
He is an Editorial Assistant for the International Journal of Theoretical and
Applied Mechanics MECCANICA.
Riccardo Rubini received the M.S. degree in me-
chanical engineering and the Ph.D. degree in applied
mechanics from the University of Bologna, Bologna,
Italy.
He was a Visiting Scholar at the Laboratoire
Heuristique et Diagnostic des Systèmes Complexes,
Université de Technologie de Compiègne, Com-
piègne, France. He is currently an Associate Profes-
sor of mechanics of machines with the University of
Modena and Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy. He
is the holder of one international patent. His research
interests are focused in the fields of machine dynamics and monitoring and
diagnostic techniques for mechanical components.
Dr. Rubini is a member of the Italian Association of Theoretical and
Applied Mechanics (AIMETA), the International Federation for the Promotion
of Mechanism and Machine Science (IFToMM) Italy, and the Italian Society of
Clinical Movement Analysis (SIAMOC).
Alberto Bellini received the M.S. degree in elec-
tronic engineering and the Ph.D. degree in computer
science and electronic engineering from the Univer-
sity of Bologna, Bologna, Italy, in 1994 and 1998,
respectively.
From 1999 to 2004, he was with the University
of Parma, Parma, Italy. During 2000, he was an
Honorary Scholar at the University of Wisconsin,
Madison. Since 2004, he has been with the Univer-
sity of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia,
Italy, where he is currently an Assistant Professor
of electric machines and drives. He is the author or coauthor of more than
80 papers and is the holder of three industrial patents. His research interests
include power electronics, signal processing for industrial applications, and
electric drive design and diagnosis.
Dr. Bellini is a member of the Italian Association of Converters, Electrical
Machines and Drives (CMAE). He serves as an Associate Editor of the IEEE
T RANSACTIONS ON I NDUSTRIAL E LECTRONICS. He was the recipient of the
First Prize Paper Award from the Electric Machines Committee of the IEEE
Industry Applications Society in 2001.