Diagnosis of rotor bearings using logical analysis of data

Purpose ‐ The purpose of this paper is to test the applicability and the performance of an approach called logical analysis of data (LAD) on the detection of faults in rotating machinery using vibration signals. Design/methodology/approach ‐ LAD is a supervised learning data mining technique that relies on finding patterns in a binary database to generate decision functions. The hypothesis is that a LAD-based decision model can be used as an effective tool for automatic detection of faults in rolling element bearings. A novel Multiple Integer Linear Programming approach is used to generate patterns for the LAD decision model. Frequency and time-based features are extracted from rotor bearing vibration signals and are pre-processed to be suitable for use with LAD. Findings ‐ The results show good classification accuracy with both time and frequency features. Practical implications ‐ The diagnostic tool implemented in the form of software in a production or operations maintenance environment can be very helpful to maintenance experts as it reveals the patterns that lead to the diagnosis in interpretable terms which facilitates efforts to understand the reasons behind the components' failure. Originality/value ‐ The proposed modifications to the LAD-based decision model which is being tested for the first time in the field of fault detection in rotating machinery lead to improved accuracy results in addition to the added value of result interpretability due to this distinctive property of LAD.