Fault detection and prediction with application to rotating machinery

In this thesis, the detection and prediction of faults in rotating machinery is undertaken and presented in two papers. In the first paper, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), a well known data-driven dimension reduction technique, is applied to data for normal operation and four fault conditions from a one-half horsepower centrifugal water pump. Fault isolation in this scheme is done by observing the location of the data points in the Principal Component domain, and the time to failure (TTF) is calculated by applying statistical regression on the resulting PC scores. The application of the proposed scheme demonstrated that PCA was able to detect and isolate all four faults. Additionally, the TTF calculation for the impeller failure was found to yield satisfactory results. On the other hand, in the second paper, the fault detection and failure prediction are done by using a model based approach which utilizes a nonlinear observer consisting of an online approximator in discrete-time (OLAD) and a robust adaptive term. Once a fault has been detected, both the OLAD and the robust adaptive term are initiated and the OLAD then utilizes its update law to learn the unknown dynamics of the encountered fault. While in similar applications it is common to use neural networks to be used for the OLAD, in this paper an Artificial Immune System (AIS) is used for the OLAD. The proposed approach was verified through implementation on data from an axial piston pump. The scheme was able to satisfactorily detect and learn both an incipient piston wear fault and an abrupt sensor failure --Abstract, page iv

Developing Leading and Lagging Indicators to Enhance Equipment Reliability in a Lean System

With increasing complexity in equipment, the failure rates are becoming a critical metric due to the unplanned maintenance in a production environment. Unplanned maintenance in manufacturing process is created issues with downtimes and decreasing the reliability of equipment. Failures in equipment have resulted in the loss of revenue to organizations encouraging maintenance practitioners to analyze ways to change unplanned to planned maintenance. Efficient failure prediction models are being developed to learn about the failures in advance. With this information, failures predicted can reduce the downtimes in the system and improve the throughput. The goal of this thesis is to predict failure in centrifugal pumps using various machine learning models like random forest, stochastic gradient boosting, and extreme gradient boosting. For accurate prediction, historical sensor measurements were modified into leading and lagging indicators which explained the failure patterns in the equipment were developed. The best subset of indicators was selected by filtering using random forest and utilized in the developed model. Finally, the models give a probability of failure before the failure occurs. Appropriate evaluation metrics were used to obtain the accurate model. The proposed methodology was illustrated with two case studies: first, to the centrifugal pump asset performance data provided by Meridium, Inc. and second, the data collected from aircraft turbine engine provided in the NASA prognostics data repository. The automated methodology was shown to develop and identify appropriate failure leading and lagging indicators in both cases and facilitate machine learning model development

Current based condition monitoring of electromechanical systems. Model-free drive system current monitoring: faults detection and diagnosis through statistical features extraction and support vector machines classification.

A non-invasive, on-line method for detection of mechanical (rotor, bearings eccentricity) and stator winding faults in a 3-phase induction motors from observation of motor line current supply input. The main aim is to avoid the consequence of unexpected failure of critical equipment which results in extended process shutdown, costly machinery repair, and health and safety problems. This thesis looks into the possibility of utilizing machine learning techniques in the field of condition monitoring of electromechanical systems. Induction motors are chosen as an example for such application. Electrical motors play a vital role in our everyday life. Induction motors are kept in operation through monitoring its condition in a continuous manner in order to minimise their off times. The author proposes a model free sensor-less monitoring system, where the only monitored signal is the input to the induction motor. The thesis considers different methods available in literature for condition monitoring of induction motors and adopts a simple solution that is based on monitoring of the motor current. The method proposed use the feature extraction and Support Vector Machines (SVM) to set the limits for healthy and faulty data based on the statistical methods. After an extensive overview of the related literature and studies, the motor which is the virtual sensor in the drive system is analysed by considering its construction and principle of operation. The mathematical model of the motor is used for analysing the system. This is followed by laboratory testing of healthy motors and comparing their output signals with those of the same motors after being intentionally failed, concluding with the development of a full monitoring system. Finally, a monitoring system is proposed that can detect the presence of a fault in the monitored machine and diagnose the fault type and severityMinistry of Higher Education, Libya; Switchgear & Instruments Ltd