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M. Tech. (Department of Metallurgical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology), Vaal University of Technology. / To meet the ever-increasing demand for maintenance of gear systems, industrial companies have traditionally depended on the shutdown of the machines before processing the fault diagnosis. Nowadays, online monitoring has proven to be effective in terms of machine state analysis and fault prediction. However, the application of such a technique in the analysis of combined multiple nonlinear faults is still a subject of research. The vibration signature of a coexisting nonlinear crack and pit in two-stage gear system is unknown, it can be regarded as one of the most difficult problems to extract and diagnose. Additionally, incorporating both a crack and a pit into numerical models is a time-consuming process that demands a breadth of mechanical understanding. Diagnostics of faulty gears, on the other hand, can be performed in the time and frequency domain or in the Time-Frequency domain, depending on the complexity of the vibration. Non-linear and non-stationary phenomena (Features) occur when repeated pitting and cracking faults occur, reducing the reliability of standard signal processing methods (Gear displacement and Fast Fourier Transform). This thesis solves each of these shortcomings by developing an eight-degree-of-freedom (DOF) gear model with a breathing crack and multiple pitted gear teeth. The identified spur-gear model enabled the investigation of the crack and pitting signatures and their effect on the ensuing vibrations independently of the action of other system components. Additionally, when pitting and cracking coexist, the study was conducted to determine the influence of such a failure on the transmission system. Theoretical results indicated that the presence of pitting and crack in the tooth of the gear resulted in a decrease in mesh stiffness. Additionally, the influence of the breathing pitting and crack results in material fatigue, which results in the generation of a random term in the vibration signal. To corroborate the acquired results, several experimental tests on a spur-gear test rig with a defined pit and crack size range were undertaken under a variety of conditions. In comparison to the presented methodologies, theoretical and experimental results indicate that 3D Frequency-RPM analysis is the most sensitive and resilient method for the early detection and identification of pit and crack faults. Furthermore, when crack or pit faults are studied individually, the STFT analysis yields interesting results. The feature analysis revealed that, when using the Time-Frequency technique, the crack and pit combination in a two-stage gear system is a priori more efficient than the other options.

Due to their large torque-speed ratio and transmission efficiency, planetary gears are widely used in the automotive industry. However, high amplitude vibrations remain their critical weakness, which limits their usage especially when new strict noise legislations come into action. A new approach to handle the instability problems of planetary gears encountered in real industrial context is presented in this work. First, the dynamic response of a planetary gear failing to pass the noise regulations is theoretically investigated through an analytical model. The equations of motion were solved using the Spectral Iterative Method. The observed experimental results correlated well with those from the developed model. In order to limit the resonance phenomena, impacts of different macro and micro-geometry modifications were analytically investigated: quadratic teeth profile, different planets positioning, different number of teeth and number of planets. Optimum modifications were retrieved and are expected to be tested experimentally on a test bench and on the truck. Finally, the analytical model’s limits and sensitivity to different parameters were investigated in order to certify its reliability, and suggestions for improvements were presented.