Gear Fault Detection Effectiveness as Applied to Tooth Surface Pitting Fatigue Damage

A study was performed to evaluate fault detection effectiveness as applied to gear tooth pitting fatigue damage. Vibration and oil-debris monitoring (ODM) data were gathered from 24 sets of spur pinion and face gears run during a previous endurance evaluation study. Three common condition indicators (RMS, FM4, and NA4) were deduced from the time-averaged vibration data and used with the ODM to evaluate their performance for gear fault detection. The NA4 parameter showed to be a very good condition indicator for the detection of gear tooth surface pitting failures. The FM4 and RMS parameters performed average to below average in detection of gear tooth surface pitting failures. The ODM sensor was successful in detecting a significant amount of debris from all the gear tooth pitting fatigue failures. Excluding outliers, the average cumulative mass at the end of a test was 40 mg.