Development of an Advanced Diagnostic System for Automotive Mechanical Transmissions

Abstract

Automotive transmission is one of the most important parts of any vehicle powertrain system, and in order to achieve reliable operation, effective health monitoring must be used. Predictive health monitoring (PHM) systems are currently gaining in popularity due to their effectiveness in reducing maintenance costs; however, reliable monitoring techniques are required such as the analysis of vibration, acoustic emissions and oil debris. In this paper, different monitoring techniques and their features are studied in order to develop an advanced monitoring system able to track the condition of an operating transmission system, classify faults, and detect the onset of failure. The study presents an online PHM system utilising autoregressive (AR) parametric algorithms, time and frequency analysis based on wireless transmission of vibration data. The online monitoring algorithm can support CBM and PHM of automotive multistage manual transmissions. The design, operation and validation of the online system are described and demonstrated. The results of the experimental test prove the system's capability and support the recent trend of using CBM and PHM strategies.