Dynamic instability induced by the initiation and development of mechanical faults in a rotary element is known to have a large negative impact on the reliability and operation safety of an entire system. This type of nonlinear system response is generally perturbed by shock impulses of extremely short time scale and amplitude. Thus difficulty presents itself in identifying and isolating features indicative of the presence and progression of faults possibly leading to mechanical deterioration. The perturbed and deteriorated states of a bearing-shaft system subjected to the actions of various types of commonly seen mechanical faults are investigated using the Numerical Hilbert Transform. The presented approach characterizes and realizes temporal events of both short and long time scales as instantaneous frequencies in the joint time-frequency domain. Examples are given to demonstrate the feasibility of applying the approach to the characterization of various deteriorating bearing states and the identification of parameters associated with several failure modes.

Traditional transducer-based techniques for Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) are limited by fixed frequency-bandwidth for generation and sensing, and thus provide unsatisfactory resolution for certain types of material defects. Thermo-Acousto-Photonic NDE (TAP-NDE) is a proven alternative that is non-invasive and non-contact, and suited for real-time applications. This paper focuses on employing TAP-NDE to examine the presence of microcracks and fissures in multi-layered composites. Tests were performed on layered composite panels of specific epoxyresin composition and constant thickness to identify localized delaminations formed by subjecting the specimen to cryogenic cycling. Interrogation of the undamaged specimen using laser-generated broadband surface waves revealed a standard reference knowledge base, as seen in the instantaneous frequency-time domain. Tests were repeated after each specimen was subjected to a set number of cycles of liquid nitrogen cycling, which caused damages at the micron scale in the bulk material. Analyses showed changes in the time of wave arrival and absence of prominent high frequency components. Wave velocity and dispersion characteristics of the cycled specimen were altered. Thus, the specimen, on cryogenic cycling, was found to undergo a decrease in stiffness, which is speculatively the result of micro-voids, fissures or delaminations between layers. Hence, when combining with the basic notion of instantaneous frequency, TAP-NDE acts as an effective broadband generation and sensing technique, demonstrating feasibility and greater versatility for inspecting layered composites as against contemporary narrowband techniques.

Dynamical instability induced by the initiation and advancement of mechanical faults in rotary elements is detrimental to the reliability and operation safety of the entire system. The inherent nonlinearity associated with bifurcation presents itself as difficulties in identifying and isolating features indicative of the presence and progression of faults that could lead to eventual mechanical deterioration. The perturbed and deteriorated states of a bearing-shaft system subjected to the actions of two types of commonly seen mechanical faults, namely, rotor speed and imbalance, are investigated using the basic notion of instantaneous frequency. The presented approach realizes temporal events of both short and long time scales as instantaneous frequencies in the joint time-frequency domain and thus effectively uncouples the harmonic components resulted from the coupling of multitude faults. Examples are given to demonstrate the feasibility of applying the approach to the characterization of various deteriorating bearing states and the identification of parameters associated with various modes of instability and chaotic response.