Repeatability assessment of FBG-based strain measurements for bearing fault diagnostics
Rolling element bearings are essential to rotating machinery, yet failures remain a leading cause of downtime and maintenance. Traditional electromechanical sensor-based methods for rotating machinery and bearing diagnostics often suffer from signal attenuation, poor fault localization, and suscepti...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | JPhys Photonics |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7647/adec29 |
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| author | Sidney Goossens Panagiotis Mantas Damilare Samuel Ojo Octavian Axinte Alexandre Mauricio Konstantinos Gryllias Francis Berghmans |
| author_facet | Sidney Goossens Panagiotis Mantas Damilare Samuel Ojo Octavian Axinte Alexandre Mauricio Konstantinos Gryllias Francis Berghmans |
| author_sort | Sidney Goossens |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Rolling element bearings are essential to rotating machinery, yet failures remain a leading cause of downtime and maintenance. Traditional electromechanical sensor-based methods for rotating machinery and bearing diagnostics often suffer from signal attenuation, poor fault localization, and susceptibility to electromagnetic interference (EMI). Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors instead offer a compact, EMI-immune alternative capable of capturing localized strain at the fault site. However, the repeatability of the diagnostics capabilities under realistic conditions remains largely unexplored. In this work, we introduce a non-invasive, repeatable adhesive-based installation method for integrating FBG sensors directly onto bearing raceways. We evaluate the robustness of this approach using healthy and artificially damaged bearings, comparing strain signals from multiple sensor and bearing re-installations. Key fault indicators, such as ball pass frequency outer and Inner, are analyzed across test cases. Results show that while damage-induced features are detectable, substantial variability arises due to installation conditions, particularly on the rotating inner race. Strain signals from sensors in the load zone exhibited the lowest uncertainty and best fault discrimination. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of repeatable, direct FBG-based bearing diagnostics and underscore the need for tailored metrics to maximize detection reliability in real-world applications. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-209def1839b941eca0ced8f2386587da |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2515-7647 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JPhys Photonics |
| spelling | doaj-art-209def1839b941eca0ced8f2386587da2025-08-20T03:09:44ZengIOP PublishingJPhys Photonics2515-76472025-01-017303502310.1088/2515-7647/adec29Repeatability assessment of FBG-based strain measurements for bearing fault diagnosticsSidney Goossens0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3371-8647Panagiotis Mantas1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8642-563XDamilare Samuel Ojo2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3346-0508Octavian Axinte3Alexandre Mauricio4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9327-5625Konstantinos Gryllias5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8703-8938Francis Berghmans6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0822-233XBrussels Photonics (B-PHOT), Vrije Univerisiteit Brussel , Brussels, Belgium; BP&M, FlandersMake@VUB , Brussels, BelgiumLMSD Division Mecha(tro)nic System Dynamics , KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; MPRO, FlandersMake@KULeuven , Leuven, BelgiumBrussels Photonics (B-PHOT), Vrije Univerisiteit Brussel , Brussels, Belgium; BP&M, FlandersMake@VUB , Brussels, BelgiumBrussels Photonics (B-PHOT), Vrije Univerisiteit Brussel , Brussels, Belgium; BP&M, FlandersMake@VUB , Brussels, BelgiumLMSD Division Mecha(tro)nic System Dynamics , KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; MPRO, FlandersMake@KULeuven , Leuven, BelgiumLMSD Division Mecha(tro)nic System Dynamics , KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; MPRO, FlandersMake@KULeuven , Leuven, BelgiumBrussels Photonics (B-PHOT), Vrije Univerisiteit Brussel , Brussels, Belgium; BP&M, FlandersMake@VUB , Brussels, BelgiumRolling element bearings are essential to rotating machinery, yet failures remain a leading cause of downtime and maintenance. Traditional electromechanical sensor-based methods for rotating machinery and bearing diagnostics often suffer from signal attenuation, poor fault localization, and susceptibility to electromagnetic interference (EMI). Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors instead offer a compact, EMI-immune alternative capable of capturing localized strain at the fault site. However, the repeatability of the diagnostics capabilities under realistic conditions remains largely unexplored. In this work, we introduce a non-invasive, repeatable adhesive-based installation method for integrating FBG sensors directly onto bearing raceways. We evaluate the robustness of this approach using healthy and artificially damaged bearings, comparing strain signals from multiple sensor and bearing re-installations. Key fault indicators, such as ball pass frequency outer and Inner, are analyzed across test cases. Results show that while damage-induced features are detectable, substantial variability arises due to installation conditions, particularly on the rotating inner race. Strain signals from sensors in the load zone exhibited the lowest uncertainty and best fault discrimination. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of repeatable, direct FBG-based bearing diagnostics and underscore the need for tailored metrics to maximize detection reliability in real-world applications.https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7647/adec29fiber Bragg grating (FBG)fiber optic rotary joint (FORJ)condition monitoringbearing |
| spellingShingle | Sidney Goossens Panagiotis Mantas Damilare Samuel Ojo Octavian Axinte Alexandre Mauricio Konstantinos Gryllias Francis Berghmans Repeatability assessment of FBG-based strain measurements for bearing fault diagnostics JPhys Photonics fiber Bragg grating (FBG) fiber optic rotary joint (FORJ) condition monitoring bearing |
| title | Repeatability assessment of FBG-based strain measurements for bearing fault diagnostics |
| title_full | Repeatability assessment of FBG-based strain measurements for bearing fault diagnostics |
| title_fullStr | Repeatability assessment of FBG-based strain measurements for bearing fault diagnostics |
| title_full_unstemmed | Repeatability assessment of FBG-based strain measurements for bearing fault diagnostics |
| title_short | Repeatability assessment of FBG-based strain measurements for bearing fault diagnostics |
| title_sort | repeatability assessment of fbg based strain measurements for bearing fault diagnostics |
| topic | fiber Bragg grating (FBG) fiber optic rotary joint (FORJ) condition monitoring bearing |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7647/adec29 |
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