Artificial neural networks and genetic algorithm for bearing fault detection

A study is presented to compare the performance of three types of artificial neural network (ANN), namely, multi layer perceptron (MLP), radial basis function (RBF) network and probabilistic neural network (PNN), for bearing fault detection. Features are extracted from time domain vibration signals, without and with preprocessing, of a rotating machine with normal and defective bearings. The extracted features are used as inputs to all three ANN classifiers: MLP, RBF and PNN for two- class (normal or fault) recognition. Genetic algorithms (GAs) have been used to select the characteristic parameters of the classifiers and the input features. For each trial, the ANNs are trained with a subset of the experimental data for known machine conditions. The ANNs are tested using the remaining set of data. The procedure is illustrated using the experimental vibration data of a rotating machine. The roles of different vibration signals and preprocessing techniques are investigated. The results show the effectiveness of the features and the classifiers in detection of machine condition.