A Multi-Featured Factor Analysis and Dynamic Window Rectification Method for Remaining Useful Life Prognosis of Rolling Bearings

Abstract

Currently, the research on the predictions of remaining useful life (RUL) of rotating machinery mainly focuses on the process of health indicator (HI) construction and the determination of the first prediction time (FPT). In complex industrial environments, the influence of environmental factors such as noise may affect the accuracy of RUL predictions. Accurately estimating the remaining useful life of bearings plays a vital role in reducing costly unscheduled maintenance and increasing machine reliability. To overcome these problems, a health indicator construction and prediction method based on multi-featured factor analysis are proposed. Compared with the existing methods, the advantages of this method are the use of factor analysis, to mine hidden common factors from multiple features, and the construction of health indicators based on the maximization of variance contribution after rotation. A dynamic window rectification method is designed to reduce and weaken the stochastic fluctuations in the health indicators. The first prediction time was determined by the cumulative gradient change in the trajectory of the HI. A regression-based adaptive prediction model is used to learn the evolutionary trend of the HI and estimate the RUL of the bearings. The experimental results of two publicly available bearing datasets show the advantages of the method.

Keywords

• rolling bearings
• health indicator construction
• stochastic fluctuations
• remaining useful life
• degradation model