Vibration structural health monitoring (VHM) uses the vibration properties to evaluate many civil structures during the design steps, building steps and service life.The whole function, expressed by stiffness and frequencies of tensegrity structures are primarily related to the level of pre-stress. The present work investigates the possibilities to use this relation in designing, constructing and evaluating the tensegrity structures.One of the aims of the thesis was to improve the current models for resonance frequency simulation of tensegrities. This has been achieved by introducing the bending behaviour of all components, and by a one-way coupling between the axial force and the stiffness.The environmental temperature effects on vibration properties of tensegrity structures have been also  investigated. Changes in dynamic characteristics due to temperature variations were compared with the changes due to decreasing pre-tension in one of the cables. In general, it is shown that the change in structural frequencies coming from temperature changes could of several magnitude as those from damage.Coinciding natural frequencies and low stiffness are known issues of tensegrity structures. The former can be an obstacle in VHM, while the later normally limits their uses in real engineering applications. It has been shown that the optimum self-stress vector of tensegrity structures can be chosen such that their lowest natural frequency is high, and separated from others.The environmental temperature effects on vibration properties of tensegrity structures were revisited to find a solution such that the natural frequencies of the tensegrity structures are not strongly affected by the changes in the environmental temperature. An asymmetric self-stress vector can be chosen so that the criterion is fulfilled as well as possible. The level of pre-stress can also be regulated to achieve the solution. The last part of this thesis, services as a summary of the work. / <p>QC 20160429</p>

This thesis focuses on different methods to analyze power transmission systems with computer software to aid in detection of faulty or damaged systems. It is split into three sections. The first section involves utilizing finite element software to analyze gear stiffness and stresses. A quasi-static and dynamic analysis are done on two sets of fixed axis spur gears and a planetary gear system using ABAQUS to analyze the stress, strain and gear mesh stiffness variation. In the second section, the vibrational patterns produced by a simple bevel gear system are investigated by an experiment and by dynamic modeling in ADAMS. Using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) on the dynamic contact forces, a comprehensive frequency-domain analysis will reveal unique vibration spectra at distinct frequencies around the gear mesh frequencies, their super- and sub- harmonics, and their side-band modulations. ADAMS simulation results are then compared with the experimental results. Constraints, bearing resistant torques, and other key parameters are applied as closely as possible to real operating conditions. The third section looks closely at the dynamic contact forces of a practical two-stage planetary gear. Using the same FFT approach in the second section, a frequency-domain analysis will reveal distinct frequencies around both the first-stage and the second-stage gear mesh frequencies, and their harmonics. In addition, joint time-frequency analysis (JTFA) will be applied to damaged and undamaged planetary gear systems with transient start-up conditions to observe how the frequency contents of the contact force evolve over time.

Applications of vibration structural health monitoring (VHM) techniques are increasing rapidly. This is because of the advances in sensors and instrumentation during the last decades. VHM uses the vibration properties to evaluate many civil structures during the design steps, building steps and service life. The stiffness and frequencies of tensegrity structures are primarily related to the level of pre-stress. The present work investigates the possibilities to use this relation in designing, constructing and evaluating the tensegrity structures. The first part of the  present work studies the improvement of current models for resonance frequency simulation of tensegrities by introducing the bending behaviour of all components, and by a one-way coupling between the axial force and the stiffness. From this, both local and global vibration modes are obtained. The resonance frequencies are seen as non-linearly dependent on the pre-stress level in the structure, thereby giving a basis for diagnosis of structural conditions from measured frequencies. The new aspects of tensegrity simulations are shown for simple, plane structures but the basic methods are easily used also for more complex structures. In the second part, the environmental temperature effects on vibration properties of tensegrity structures have been investigated, considering primarily seasonal temperature differences (uniform temperature differences). Changes in dynamic characteristics due to temperature variations were compared with the changes due to decreasing pre-tension in one of the cables. In general, it is shown that the change in structural frequencies made by temperature changes could be equivalent to the change made by damage (slacking). Different combinations of materials used and boundary conditions are also investigated. These are shown to have a significant impact on the pre-stress level and the natural frequencies of the tensegrity structures when the environment temperature is changed. / Användandet av vibrationsbaserade hälsokontrollsmetoder (VHM) för strukturer ökar snabbt.Detta har möjliggjorts av utvecklingen inom  mätmetoder och mätutrus- tning under de senaste decennierna.Dessa metoder använder sig av de uppmätta eller simulerade vibrationsegenskaperna  underdesign-, uppbyggnads- och  nyttjandestadierna hos många slag av byggnadsverk. Styvheten och resonansfrekvenserna hos tensegritets-strukturer är i hög grad beroendepå den aktuella förspänningsnivån. Föreliggande arbete undersöker möjlig- heterna attanvända detta beroende i konstruktion, byggande och utvärdering av sådana strukturer. Den första delen av  föreliggande arbete studerar förbättringar av de vanligen användamodellerna för simulering av resonansfrekvenser hos tensegritetsstrukturergenom att införa de ingående komponenternas böjningsegenskaper, och genom att i enriktning koppla normalkraften till böjstyvheten. Genom detta kan såväl lokala som globalavibrationsmoder hittas. Resonansfrekvenserna ses därmed som icke-linjärt beroende avförspänningsnivån i strukturen. Detta ger därmed möjligheter att diagnosticera strukturenskondition från uppmätta frekvenser. De nya simuleringsmöjligheternademonstreras för enkla, plana strukturer, men de utvecklade metoderna kan också lättanpassas till mera komplexa fall. Den andra delen av arbetet undersöker hur strukturernas vibrationsegenskaper ärberoende på temperatureffekter i omgivningen. I första hand beaktas säsongsvisa (likformiga)temperaturvariationer. Förändringar i de dynamiska egenskaperna beroende påtemperaturförändringar jämfördes med dem som beror på en minskande förspänning hos någonav de ingående kablarna. I allmänhet gäller att förändringarna i resonansfrekvenser kanvara av samma storleksordning som de som beror på skador (minskad förspänning).Olika kombinationer av material, och olika upplagsförhållanden undersöktes.Dessa egenskaper visades ha en betydande effekt på förspänningsnivån, och därmed ocksåpå resonansfrekvenserna, hos tensegritets-strukturerna som utsätts för temperaturvariationer. / <p>QC 20140514</p>

The objective of this thesis is to develop vibration-based fault detection strategies for on-line condition monitoring of gear transmission systems. The study divides the thesis into three sections. First of all, the local stresses created by a root fatigue crack on a pinion spur gear are analyzed using a quasi-static finite element model and non-linear contact mechanics simulation. Backlash between gear teeth which is essential to provide better lubrication on tooth surfaces and to eliminate interference is included as a defect and a necessary part of transmission design. The second section is dedicated to fixed axis power trains. Torsional vibration is shown to cause teeth separation and double-sided impacts in unloaded and lightly loaded gearing drives. The transient and steady-state dynamic loading on teeth within a two stage crank-slider mechanism arising from backlash and geometric manufacturing errors is investigated by utilizing a non-linear multi-body dynamics software model. The multi-body model drastically reduces the computation time required by finite element methods to simulate realistic operation. The gears are considered rigid with elastic contact surfaces defined by a penalty based non-linear contact formulation. The third section examines a practical differential planetary transmission which combines two inputs and one output. Planetary gears with only backlash errors are compared to those containing both backlash and tooth defects under different kinematic and loading conditions. Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis shows the appearance of side band modulations and harmonics of the gear mesh frequency. A joint time-frequency analysis (JTFA) during start-up reveals the unique vibration patterns for fixed axis gear train and differential planetary gear, respectively, when the contact forces increase during acceleration.