Fractal Geometry and its Application to Vibration Faults Diagnosis for Rotating Machinery

The vibration waves and shaft center orbits, which contain rich information about the failure of rotating machinery, have fractal characteristics. Studying their fractal characteristics may help to know the working conditions or even the failure trends of the rotating machinery. In this paper, the fundamental conceptions and properties of fractal geometry are discussed. The definitions of fractal dimension are described. The fractal characteristics of vibration waves and orbits are studied. The SVA and SGA Algorithm are introduced to compute the fractal dimensions of the vibration waves and the orbits. The method is then used to abstract vibration failure symptoms of rotating machinery. Some applications of fractal dimension in rotating machinery fault diagnosis are discussed.