A damage severity assessment method for bearings with rolling element damage

Through analyzing a vibration signal, a damage severity assessment method was studied for bearings with rolling element damage. Firstly, several parameters were determined to reflect the damage severity and their describing ability were examined with tests. On this basis, based on the root-mean-square (RMS) value, a damage severity assessment method was proposed to refine the damage assessment of rolling element. By extracting the vibration characteristics of different fault severity specimens, the standard curve to evaluate the damage severity of bearings with rolling element damage was established with fitting of a cubic spline currve, as the damage severity assessment standard. The validity and accuracy of the proposed method were verified with tests. The obtained data showed that when the damage severity is divided into normal, minor damage, and serious damage three intervals, the method is able to assess the damage severity of a NJ312 rolling bearing.