Analysis of nonlinear vibration-interaction using higher order spectra to diagnose aerospace system faults

For efficient maintenance of a diverse fleet of aging air- and rotorcraft, effective condition based maintenance (CBM) must be established based on rotating components monitored vibration signals. Traditional linear spectral analysis techniques of the vibration signals, based on auto-power spectrum, are used as common tools of rotating components diagnoses. Unfortunately, linear spectral analysis techniques are of limited value when various spectral components interact with one another due to nonlinear or parametric process. In such a case, higher order spectral (HOS) techniques are recommended to accurately and completely characterize the vibration signals. Since the nonlinearities result in new spectral components being formed with coherency in phase, the detection of such phase coherence may be carried out with the aid of higher order spectra. In this paper, we use the bispectrum as a higher order spectral analysis tool to investigate nonlinear wave-wave interaction in vibration signals. Accelerometer data has been collected from baseline tests of accelerated conditioning in tail rotor drive-train components of an AH-64 helicopter drive-train research test bed simulating drive-train conditions. Through bispectrum analysis, we compare the harmonics interaction patterns contained in vibration signals from different physical setting of helicopter drive train and compare that with classical power spectral density plots. The analysis advances the development of higher order statistics and two dimensional frequency health indicators in order to qualify health conditions in mechanical systems.