Investigation of gear pitting defect using vibration characteristics in a single-stage gearbox

Gearboxes are the important components in process industries such as cement, food processing and rubber. Pitting is the removal of the material in certain part of gear by the
application of repeated stresses. Tooth pitting and surface failure occur due to excessive stress conditions. When a number of pits join together, a larger pit is formed, referred as a spall, which may lead to tooth breakage. The early detection and diagnosis of excessive wear tooth pitting and spalling in gear transmission systems are becoming significant concerns in high-speed, large power applications. The early detection of pitting in gears
is important from condition monitoring point of view, which is still to be addressed by an experimental approach. In this study, vibration characteristics of a single-stage spur
gearbox with pitting as seeded faults are investigated.