Bearing life prediction method based on novel health indicators and improved similarity curve matching

Abstract To tackle the issues of low accuracy in similarity curve matching and the challenges in measuring the similarity of degraded curve segments in rolling bearing life prediction methods, we propose a novel bearing remaining useful life (RUL) prediction method utilizing new health indicators (HIs) and improved similarity curve matching techniques. Initially, time and frequency domain features are extracted from the bearing vibration signals. Subsequently, the multi-dimensional features are meticulously screened using monotonicity, Spearman’s correlation, and uncertainty metrics to construct the HI and the HI library for the bearing. Subsequently, the support vector data description combined with the PID search algorithm is employed to ascertain the initial prediction time of the bearing and to construct the corresponding HI library. Following this, both global and local feature capture are conducted using dual dynamic time warping (DDTW) in conjunction with a sliding window to predict the remaining service life of rolling bearings. The proposed method is validated on the PHM2012 and XJTU-SY datasets and benchmarked against the latest research. The results demonstrate that our method significantly enhances the prediction accuracy of the RUL of bearings, underscoring the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed approach.