A new statistical modeling and detection method for rolling element bearing faults based on alpha-stable distribution

Due to limited information given by traditional local statistics, a new statistical modeling method for rolling element bearing fault signals is proposed based on alpha-stable distribution. In order to fully take advantages of complete information provided by alpha-stable distribution, this paper focuses on testing the validity of the proposed statistical model. A number of hypothetical test methods were applied to practical bearing fault vibration signals with different fault types and degrees. Through testing on the consistency of three alpha-stable parameter estimation methods, and the probability density function fitting level between fault signals and their corresponding hypothetical alpha-stable distributions, it can be concluded that such a non-Gaussian model is sufficient to thoroughly describe the statistical characteristics of bearing fault signals with impulsive behaviors, and consequently the alpha-stable hypothesis is verified. In the meantime, a new bearing fault detection method based on kurtogram and α parameter of the alpha-stable model is proposed, experimental results have shown that the proposed method has better performance on detecting incipient bearing faults than that based on the traditional kurtogram.