Fault diagnosis using signal processing and deep learning-based image pattern recognition

Abstract The vibration signal is a typical non-stationary signal, making it challenging to use traditional time-frequency analysis techniques for fault diagnosis. Therefore, this work investigates the processing of vibration signals and proposes a deep learning method based on processed signals for the fault diagnosis of ball bearings. In this work, the fault diagnosis is formulated as an image classification problem and solved with deep learning networks. The intrinsic mode functions (IMFs), converted from the vibration signals in the time domain, are then transformed into symmetrized dot pattern (SDP) images. In order to increase classification accuracy, the SDP parameters in this study are chosen by optimizing image similarity. The feasibility and accuracy of the proposed approach are examined experimentally.