De-noising of wayside acoustic signal from train bearings based on variable digital filtering

In the wayside Acoustic Defective Bearing Detector (ADBD) system, the recorded signal usually includes both the sound from train bearings and the other disturbance sources. The fact of heavy noise corruption and the Doppler Effect of multi-source acoustic signals would badly reduce the effectiveness of online defect detection of the ADBD system. In order to extract useful information from the multi-source signal with Doppler Effect, this paper proposes an effective de-noising method based on the variable digital filter (VDF) for the ADBD system. Specifically, the ridge extraction based on Short-Time Fourier Transform (STFT) is applied to estimate the instantaneous frequencies (IFs), with which the fitting IF curves based on the Morse theory of theoretical acoustics could be achieved by using the nonlinear curve-fitting so that the parameters of the initial position of the acoustic sources could be calculated. By the aid of these parameters, the IFs according to the target train bearing could be then extracted. After that, the FIR variable digital filters could be designed with all the IFs which match the Morse theory with Doppler Shift so that the noise from the other parts could be effectively restrained after filtering the original signal. The effectiveness of this method is verified by means of a simulation with multi-frequency signals and applications to diagnosis of train roller bearing defects. Results indicate that the proposed method is effective.     

Covalently Attached Liquids: Instant Omniphobic Surfaces with Unprecedented Repellency

Recent strategies to prepare “omniphobic” surfaces have demonstrated that minimizing contact angle hysteresis (CAH) is the key criterion for effectiveness. CAH is affected by chemistry and topography defects at the molecular and higher levels, thus most surfaces exhibit significant CAH. Preparative methods for stable coatings on smooth substrates with negligible CAH (<2°) for a broad range of liquids have not been reported. In this work, we describe a simple and rapid procedure to prepare omniphobic surfaces that are stable under pressure and durable at elevated temperatures. Consistent with theory, they exhibit sliding angles that decrease with liquid surface tension. Slippery omniphobic covalently attached liquid (SOCAL) surfaces are obtained through acid‐catalyzed graft polycondensation of dimethyldimethoxysilane. The smooth, stable, and temperature‐resistant coatings show extremely low CAH (≤1°) and low sliding angles for liquids that span surface tensions from 78.2 to 18.4 mN m^?1.     

Optimal replacement and allocation of multi‐state elements in k‐within‐m‐from‐r/n sliding window systems

This paper proposes a new model that generalizes the linear sliding window system to the case of multiple failures. The considered k ‐within‐ m ‐from‐ r / n sliding window system consists of n linearly ordered multi‐state elements and fails if at least k groups out of m consecutive groups of r consecutive multi‐state elements have cumulative performance lower than the demand W . A reliability evaluation algorithm is suggested for the proposed system. In order to increase the system availability, maintenance actions can be performed, and the elements can be optimally allocated. A joint element allocation and maintenance optimization model is formulated with the objective of minimizing the total maintenance cost subjected to the pre‐specified system availability requirement. Basic procedures of genetic algorithms are adapted to solve the optimization problem. Numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the applications. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Roller bearing acoustic signature extraction by wavelet packet transform,applications in fault detection and size estimation

Continuous online monitoring of rotating machines is necessary to assess real-time health conditions so as to enable early detection of operation problems and thus reduce the possibility of downtime. Rolling element bearings are crucial parts of many machines and there has been an increasing demand to find effective and reliable health monitoring technique and advanced signal processing to detect and diagnose the size and location of incipient defects. Condition monitoring of rolling element bearings, comprises four main stages which are, statistical analysis, fault diagnostics, defect size calculation, and prognostics. In this paper the effect of defect size, operating speed, and loading conditions on statistical parameters of acoustic emission (AE) signals, using design of experiment method (DOE), have been investigated to select the most sensitive parameters for diagnosing incipient faults and defect growth on rolling element bearings. A modified and effective signal processing algorithm is designed to diagnose localized defects on rolling element bearings components under different operating speeds, loadings, and defect sizes. The algorithm is based on optimizing the ratio of Kurtosis and Shannon entropy to obtain the optimal band pass filter utilizing wavelet packet transform (WPT) and envelope detection. Results show the superiority of the developed algorithm and its effectiveness in extracting bearing characteristic frequencies from the raw acoustic emission signals masked by background noise under different operating conditions. To experimentally measure the defect size on rolling element bearings using acoustic emission technique, the proposed method along with spectrum of squared Hilbert transform are performed under different rotating speeds, loading conditions, and defect sizes to measure the time difference between the double AE impulses. Measurement results show the power of the proposed method for experimentally measuring size of different fault shapes using acoustic emission signals.     

Fractional‐order switching type control law design for adaptive sliding mode technique of 3D fractional‐order nonlinear systems

In this article, an adaptive sliding mode technique based on a fractional‐order (FO) switching type control law is designed to guarantee robust stability for a class of uncertain three‐dimensional FO nonlinear systems with external disturbance. A novel FO switching type control law is proposed to ensure the existence of the sliding motion in finite time. Appropriate adaptive laws are shown to tackle the uncertainty and external disturbance. The calculation formula of the reaching time is analyzed and computed. The reachability analysis is visualized to show how to obtain a shorter reaching time. A stability criteria of the FO sliding mode dynamics is derived based on indirect approach to Lyapunov stability. Effectiveness of the proposed control scheme is illustrated through numerical simulations. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 21: 363–373, 2016     

H∞ stochastic synchronization for master–slave semi‐Markovian switching system via sliding mode control

In this article, synchronization problem of master–slave system with phase‐type semi‐Markovian switching is investigated via sliding mode control scheme. By utilizing a supplementary variable technique and a plant transformation, the master–slave semi‐Markovian switching system can be equivalently expressed as its associated Markovian switching system. Then an integral sliding surface is constructed to guarantee stochastic synchronization of master–slave semi‐Markovian switching system, and the suitable controller is synthesized to ensure that the trajectory of the closed‐loop error system can be driven onto the prescribed sliding mode surface. Finally, numerical simulations are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed sliding‐mode design scheme. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 21: 430–441, 2016     

RBF‐based discrete sliding mode control for robust tracking of uncertain time‐delay systems with input nonlinearity

In this article, a control scheme combining radial basis function neural network and discrete sliding mode control method is proposed for robust tracking and model following of uncertain time‐delay systems with input nonlinearity. The proposed robust tracking controller guarantees the stability of overall closed‐loop system and achieves zero‐tracking error in the presence of input nonlinearity, time‐delays, time‐varying parameter uncertainties, and external disturbances. The salient features of the proposed controller include no requirement of a priori knowledge of the upper bound of uncertainties and the elimination of chattering phenomenon and reaching phase. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 21: 194–201, 2016     

Control of non‐integer‐order dynamical systems using sliding mode scheme

This article deals with the problem of control of canonical non‐integer‐order dynamical systems. We design a simple dynamical fractional‐order integral sliding manifold with desired stability and convergence properties. The main feature of the proposed dynamical sliding surface is transferring the sign function in the control input to the first derivative of the control signal. Therefore, the resulted control input is smooth and without any discontinuity. So, the harmful chattering, which is an inherent characteristic of the traditional sliding modes, is avoided. We use the fractional Lyapunov stability theory to derive a sliding control law to force the system trajectories to reach the sliding manifold and remain on it forever. A nonsmooth positive definite function is applied to prove the existence of the sliding motion in a given finite time. Some computer simulations are presented to show the efficient performance of the proposed chattering‐free fractional‐order sliding mode controller. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 21: 224–233, 2016     

Wear behavior of Palmyra palm leaf stalk fiber (PPLSF) reinforced polyester composites

The effect of alkali treatment and fiber length on the wear performance of the Palmyra palm leaf stalk fiber (PPLSF)–polyester composites and the possibilities for using PPLSF in wear resistance applications were explored at different speeds and normal loads for constant sliding distance using pin on disk wear tester as per the ASTM G99 standard. Unsaturated polyester was used as matrix, and composites were prepared by molding in an open mold and pouring the resin. It was observed that wear loss and coefficient of friction reduced due to reinforcement of PPLSF. Reinforcing alkali-treated PPLSF in the matrix has further reduced the wear loss and coefficient of friction. At high speed and high load condition considered in this study shows that the wear loss and coefficient of friction were reduced by 64 and 22%, respectively, for alkali-treated fiber composites compared with untreated fiber composites. The effect of fiber length on the wear performance was also evaluated and optimal set of parameters that would result in minimum wear loss and coefficient of friction was determined by design of experimental method using Taguchi’s orthogonal array. The surface morphology of the composites after wear tests was examined using scanning electron microscopy to analyze the mechanism of wear.     

基于滑动峭度相关性准则的局部特征尺度分解分量筛选方法

轴承故障振动信号具有非平稳、非线性特征,且可视为多个调幅-调频分量的叠加,单分量的包络蕴含了轴承的故障特征。局部特征尺度分解可将振动信号准确分解为多个内禀尺度分量之和,某些分量能清晰反映轴承的运行状态,根据包络谱可进行故障诊断。为了准确筛选有用分量,提出了基于滑动峭度相关性准则的分量筛选方法。首先,对信号进行局部特征尺度分解,得到若干个内禀尺度分量;然后,对分量和原始信号分别计算滑动峭度,生成时间序列;最后,依据分量滑动峭度序列与原始信号滑动峭度序列的互相关系数筛选有用分量。通过轴承内圈故障数据分析发现：有用分量与非有用分量之间的滑动峭度互相关系数比互相关系数差异明显,区分度更大,有益于分量的分类、筛选。