In wind turbine (WT) planetary gearbox system, the characteristics of incipient faults are difficult to recognize with increasing friction under a lack of lubrication condition. To this end, a translational-torsional coupled nonlinear tribodynamic model considering local faults is developed. A fitted time-varying transfer function is obtained using an impact experiment excited by a planet gear with a missing tooth and is further used to represent the modulation effect caused by the carrier. Using the proposed analytical model, the vibration response and modulation mechanism of the resultant signal under the coupling effect of tooth root crack and sliding friction are investigated. It is demonstrated that specific sidebands are greatly excited and the spectrum structure becomes extremely complex after the introduction of friction. Based on these results, sideband indicators are obtained to monitor the lubrication state and detect incipient faults. The experimental results based on an in-house WT drivetrain testbench are in good agreement with the simulation results.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.