A novel method for vibration signal transmission and attenuation analysis in complex planetary gearboxes

Planetary gearboxes play a crucial role in altering rotary speed and transmitting power in large machines like wind turbines and sophisticated vehicles. There are many nonlinear interfaces, such as splines, bearings, and gear pairs, in planetary gearboxes, and the resulting vibration signal transmission and attenuation mechanisms are still unknown. In this study, a novel method for quantitatively analyzing the transmission and attenuation of vibration signals is proposed. A multibody dynamic model of the planetary gearbox considering nonlinear gear meshing is presented and experimentally validated. To avoid the interference of foundation vibration on the transmission of the fault signal, the fault impact factor (FIF) is used to describe the intensity of the failure, which aligns well with the experimental signals. Based on the FIF, the vibration signal attenuation of nonlinear interfaces such as splines, bearings, and gear meshing interfaces is quantitatively evaluated. To clarify the transfer paths of fault vibration signals inside the gearbox, the transfer path area method (TPAM) based on FIF is proposed. According to the simulated results, the primary transfer paths of fault vibration signals within the gearbox have been identified, which is of great help in understanding the transmission and attenuation of vibration signals in planetary gearboxes.