Design and Fabrication of a Gear Box Motor Current Analysis System

Abstract

To achieve reliable and cost effective diagnosis, Motor current signature analysis is used to investigate the use of an induction motor as a transducer to indicate the faults in multistage gearbox via analyzing supply parameters such as phase current and instantaneous power.
In gearboxes, load fluctuations on the gearbox and gear defects are two major sources of vibration. Further at times, measurement of vibration in the gearbox is not easy because of the inaccessibility in mounting the vibration transducers. This analysis system can be used for measuring the characteristics for a perfectly working gearbox and use the data as a standard for measuring faults and defects in other gearboxes. The objective of this paper is to design and fabricate a gearbox motor current analysis system at different gear operations for a constant load. Steady load conditions on the gearbox are tested for current signatures during different gear operations.
The motor current analysis system can be used further to specify mainly faults in the gear, misalignment of meshed gears, and loss of contact of the gears.