Feature Extraction Techniques of Non-Stationary Signals for Fault Diagnosis in Machinery Systems

Previously, fault diagnosis of fixed or steady state mechanical failures (e.g., pumps in nuclear power plant turbines, engines or other key equipment) applied spectrum analysis (e.g., fast Fourier transform, FFT) to extract the frequency features as the basis for identifying the causes of failure types. However, mechanical equipment for increasingly instant speed variations (e.g., wind turbine transmissions or the mechanical arms used in 3C assemblies, etc.) mostly generate non-stationary signals, and the signal features must be averaged with analysis time which makes it difficult to identify the causes of failures. This study proposes a time frequency order spectrum method combining the short-time Fourier transform (STFT) and speed frequency order method to capture the order features of non-stationary signals. Such signal features do not change with speed, and are thus effective in identifying faults in mechanical components under non-stationary conditions. In this study, back propagation neural networks (BPNN) and time frequency order spectrum methods were used to verify faults diagnosis and obtained superior diagnosis results in non-stationary signals of gear-rotor systems.

Construction of Wind Turbine Bearing Vibration Monitoring and Performance Assessment System

This study is primary to develop relevant techniques for the bearing of wind turbine, such as the intelligent monitoring system, the performance assessment, future trend prediction and possible fault classification etc. The main technique of system monitoring and diagnosis is divided into three algorithms, such as the performance assessment, performance prediction and fault diagnosis, respectively. Among them, the Logistic Regression (LR) is adopted to assess the bearing performance condition, the Autoregressive Moving Average (ARMA) is adopted to predict the future variation trend of bearing, and the Support Vector Machine (SVM) is adopted to classify and diagnose the possible fault of bearing. Through testing, this intelligent monitoring system can achieve real-time vibration monitoring, current performance assessment, future performance trend prediction and possible fault classification for the bearing of wind turbine. The monitor and analysis data and knowledge not only can be used as the basis of predictive maintenance, but also can be stored in the database for follow-up off-line analysis and used as the reference for improvement of operation parameter and wind turbine system design.

Ontogenetic resource use and trophic dynamics of endangered juvenile Tachypleus tridentatus among diversified nursery habitats in the northern Beibu Gulf,China

Horseshoe crabs,the most well-known example of“living fossils”,are iconic and ecologically important macroinvertebrates in coastal and estuarine ecosystems.Their blood is a crucial resource for manufacturing Limulus or Tachypleus amebocyte lysate to detect bacterial endotoxins or fungal contamination in drug and medical devices.An enhanced understanding of their ecological roles and trophic interactions in the food webs is fundamental to facilitate resource management for the declining populations in Asia.Foraging information of the Asian species,however,is mainly derived from preliminary,scattered reports from a limited number of study locations.In this study,resource utilization,trophic niche dynamics,and trophic interaction of the juvenile tri-spine horseshoe crab,Tachypleus tridentatus(instars 1–12,approximately 0.5–8 years old)across ontogeny was assessed in diversified nursery habitats along the northern Beibu Gulf,China,using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes.Our results suggest that:(i)T.tridentatus are ecological generalists given the vast range of carbon isotopic values and trophic niche width estimates exhibited between multiple instar groups;(ii)juvenile T.tridentatus across most habitat types predominantly assimilated energy from a variety of basal production sources in the food web,but primarily depended on sedimentary organic matter and seagrass resource pools;(iii)ontogenetic shifts in juvenile dietary proportions were evident,with decreased reliance on sedimentary organic matter,coupled with increased reliance on benthic macroinvertebrate grazers,detritivores,and omnivores with age;and(iv)nearly all juvenile instars occupied similar trophic positions in the food web with slight shifts in trophic position present with increasing size.Our findings indicate that resource availability and ontogenetic diet shifts strongly influence horseshoe crab trophic dynamics,and age should be accounted when formulating habitat conservation measures based on resource use for Asian horseshoe crabs.