Mechanism and Machine Theory 167 (2022) 104428

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Mechanism and Machine Theory

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mechmt

A mathematical model of vibration signal for multistage wind

turbine gearboxes with transmission path effect analysis
Yanyan Nie a, b, Fangyi Li a, b, *, Liming Wang a, b, *, Jianfeng Li a, b, Mingshuai Sun a, b,
Mengyao Wang a, b, Jianyong Li a, b
a
Key Laboratory of High Efficiency and Clean Mechanical Manufacture, Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong
University, Jinan 250061, China
b
National Demonstration Center for Experimental Mechanical Engineering Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The sensor-perceived vibration signals of multistage wind turbine gearboxes have more complex
Mathematical model frequency features than that of single-stage gearboxes since there are more meshing vibration
Vibration signal sources and more complicated transmission paths inside them, which lead to difficulties in
Multistage wind turbine gearbox
condition monitoring and fault diagnosis. Aiming to understand the vibration frequency features
Transmission path
Frequency features
of multistage wind turbine gearboxes, a mathematical vibration model of healthy wind turbine
gearboxes is developed and the spectral structure of the model is deduced by adopting Fourier
series analysis. In the vibration model, the time-varying transmission paths from all the meshing
vibration sources to the fixed sensor are considered, and the equivalent transmission path func­
tions of the time-varying transmission paths are proposed for the first time. The theoretical
derivations are validated by both simulations and engineering tests using two cases of 2.0MW
industrial wind turbine gearboxes. The findings in this work are not only applicable to the
gearboxes studied in this paper, but also to other similar multistage gearboxes, which can provide
a priori spectral structure for the multistage gearbox to assist its condition monitoring and fault
diagnosis.

1. Introduction

The gearbox is one of the most important and vulnerable components in the wind turbine (WT), of which the failure rate and
downtimes account for a relatively higher proportion [1,2]. Although failures are inevitable, by monitoring the health status of the
gearbox and discovering potential failures in time, the losses caused by sudden faults and damages can be minimized. In recent years,
with the development of offshore wind power, its accessibility for operation and maintenance tasks are getting worse, and higher
requirements have been put forward for condition monitoring and fault diagnosis of the WT gearbox. Hence, vibration-based condition
monitoring systems (CMS) are widely used in WT, especially for the WT gearbox [3–5], see Fig. 1, which displays an overview of the
configuration and description of sensors in the CMS. Therefore, analyzing the vibration data obtained from CMS to understand the real
behavior of the WT gearbox and discover early failures opportunely is of great concerns to researchers [6–10].
Vibration analysis of the sensor-perceived signal is a popularly adopted technique for condition monitoring due to the fact that the
gearbox has particular frequency features for its health status, which will change with the development of damage. In the multistage

* Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: lifangyi@sdu.edu.cn (F. Li), liming_wang@sdu.edu.cn (L. Wang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mechmachtheory.2021.104428
Received 13 May 2021; Accepted 9 June 2021
Available online 3 September 2021
0094-114X/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Y. Nie et al. Mechanism and Machine Theory 167 (2022) 104428

WT gearbox, each accelerometer sensor can theoretically receive vibrations from all meshing vibration sources through multiple
transmission paths. By studying and analyzing the vibration signal of each sensor installed on the outer surface of the gearbox, we can
not only have a more comprehensive understanding of the health status of the gearbox but also realize that even if one or several
sensors fail, the health status of the gearbox can still be evaluated through the remaining sensors. In order to monitor the health status
or diagnose faults of the WT gearbox, mathematical vibration models and spectral structures describing the vibration features of
gearboxes have to be studied extensively.
For a single-stage parallel/fixed-shaft gearbox, when a healthy gear pair mesh at a constant speed and load, the position between
the gear pair and a fixed sensor remains unchanged. The sensor-perceived vibration signal only includes main spectral components at
the gear meshing frequency harmonics. When a gear is damaged, the amplitude modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM)
effects on the normal meshing vibration will be produced, with the meshing frequency harmonics as the carrying frequency, and with
the rotation frequency harmonics of the faulty gear as the modulating frequency [11,12].
The vibration signals measured by a fixed sensor installed on the casing of planetary gearboxes have more complicated spectral
structures than that of fixed-shaft gearboxes due to the unique structure and the complex kinetics of the planetary gearbox. MacFadden
and Smith [13] proposed a vibration model considering the varying vibration phase of all planet gears, which first explained the
phenomenon that the asymmetry of the modulation sidebands around the gear meshing frequency and the disappearance of the
spectral component at the gear meshing frequency in the vibration spectra of the epicyclic gearboxes. McNames [14] supplemented the
work of [13], using continuous-time Fourier series analysis to explain the source of the asymmetry observed in the vibration spectrum
and to predict the location of the dominant spectral components around the gear meshing frequency harmonics. Depending on the
system parameters such as the number of planet gears, planet position angles, etc., Inalpolat and Kahraman [15] classified the
planetary gearboxes into five distinct groups and proposed a simplified mathematical model to expound the mechanisms resulting in
modulation sidebands of these five groups of planetary gearboxes. Vicuña [16] improved the work of [15], modified the classification
principle of the planetary gearboxes and classified them into four groups. Besides, he developed a phenomenological model to explain
the root cause of the different spectral structures that can be found in the healthy planetary gearboxes. Recently, vibration models
under fault conditions have been proposed for diagnostic purposes. Feng and Zuo [17] presented a vibration signal model of planetary
gearboxes for the gear fault diagnosis considering both the amplitude modulation and frequency modulation effects caused by gear
damage and the amplitude modulation effects caused by the time-varying transmission path. Hong et al. [18] proposed phenome­
nological models of vibration signals and investigated the spectral structures using the Fourier series analysis for equally spaced
planetary gearboxes under healthy and faulty conditions. Lei et al. [19,20] considered the unequal load sharing and the angular shifts
of planet gears to construct phenomenological models for planetary gearboxes. These studies have made important contributions to the
condition monitoring and fault diagnosis of planetary gearboxes.
However, the above-reported work focused only on the vibration analysis of parallel-shaft gearboxes or planetary gearboxes
containing a single stage. In fact, an industrial multistage WT gearbox includes both planetary stage and parallel stage. Compared with
the single-stage gearboxes studied above, there are more meshing vibration sources and more complicated transmission paths inside
the multistage WT gearbox. The above-reported vibration models of single-stage gearboxes are not applicable to industrial multistage
WT gearboxes, the vibration model of multistage WT gearboxes must be further investigated.
In previous studies like in [16,19,21–24], they illustrated that the spectral structure of planetary gearboxes is completely different
from the fixed-shaft gearboxes because of the time-varying transmission paths resulting from the moving of the meshing point with
respect to the fixed sensor as the planet carrier rotates. They demonstrated that the time-varying transmission paths able to produce
AM effects on the meshing vibration resulting in modulation sidebands around the meshing frequency harmonics in the vibration
spectrum. Inalpolat and Kahraman [15] used a Hanning function to represent the AM effects caused by the transmission path from the
ring-planet meshing point to the fixed sensor mounted on the ring gear. Lei et al. [19] gave window functions with different amplitudes
to present time-varying transmission path from the sun-planet and ring-planet meshing points to the fixed sensor. Zuo et al. [22]
divided the transmission path into the transmission path inside the gearbox from each gear to the gearbox casing and the transmission
path along with the casing to the sensor position. Then, the former part is represented by one constant smaller than 1 and the latter part
is modelled by the modified Hamming function. These studies provide a good reference for us to model the transmission paths.
However, they only considered the time-varying transmission paths in single-stage planetary gearboxes, and the transmission paths in
multistage WT gearboxes have not yet been studied in their work. If the transmission paths in the multi-stage WT gearbox are not clear,
it may lead to a misdiagnosis of the gearbox health status. This work will be addressed in this paper. Accordingly, we consider all the
possible transmission paths from the meshing vibration sources to the fixed sensors to reveal the frequency features of the
sensor-perceived vibration signal of the WT gearboxes.
According to the existing research on the vibration models for multistage wind turbine gearboxes, two key issues must be
addressed: 1) analysis and modeling of time-varying transmission paths in the multistage gearboxes; 2) the model-based vibration
spectral structures of the multistage WT gearboxes.
In order to address these two issues, in this paper, a mathematical model for the sensor-perceived vibration signal of WT gearboxes
is established considering all the meshing vibration sources and the time-varying transmission paths. The solution framework shows as
follows.

1) Considering all the meshing vibration sources, according to the configuration of the gearbox, the relative phases between the
multiple gear pairs are calculated. Then, the vibrations generated at the meshing points from all gear pairs are obtained.
2) Analyzing the transmission paths from all the meshing points to the fixed sensors mounted on the gearbox casing, the time-varying
transmission paths are modelled as periodic functions with different attenuation amplitudes.

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Y. Nie et al. Mechanism and Machine Theory 167 (2022) 104428

3) On the basis of 1) and 2), a mathematical model for the sensor-perceived vibration signal of healthy WT gearboxes considering all
the vibration sources and all the time-varying transmission paths are proposed, the spectral structures are derived from the
mathematical model using Fourier series analysis.
4) On the basis of 3), the equivalent transmission path functions of the time-varying transmission paths are proposed for the first time.

The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, the relative phases between multiple gear pairs are calculated, and then
the vibrations generated at the meshing points are expressed. In Section 3, the time-varying transmission paths are analysed and
modelled. In Section 4, a mathematical vibration model of healthy WT gearboxes is proposed. After analyzing the spectral structure
based on the vibration model, the equivalent transmission path functions are proposed. The validity of the vibration model is verified
by the engineering test vibration signals from two cases of 2.0 MW industrial WT gearboxes in Section 5. Finally, some concluding
remarks are summarized. This research can reveal the vibration frequency features of the healthy WT gearbox and provide a priori
spectral structure for a healthy gear transmission system to assist its condition monitoring and fault diagnosis.

2. WT gearbox

2.1. Structure of the WT gearbox

The structure schematic diagram of a typical WT gearbox to be investigated in this study is shown in Fig. 2, including three stages:
the first planetary stage and the following two parallel stages. The first planetary stage (PS) consists of planet carrier (c), sun gear (s),
ring gear (r), and 3 equally spaced planets (p). The planet carrier acts as the input shaft, and the ring gear is fixed on the gearbox casing.
The second intermediate-speed stage (ISS) is composed of the gear g1 and the pinion g2. The third high-speed stage (HSS) consists of
the gear g3 and the pinion g4.
In this kinematic configuration, the fundamental gear meshing frequency of three stages are defined as
wm1 = zs (ws − wc ) = zr wc ,
( )
zr
wm2 = 1+ zg1 wc ,
zs (1)
( )
zr zg1
wm3 = 1+ zg3 wc ,
zs zg2

where, wm1 , wm2 , and wm3 are meshing frequency of the PS, ISS and HSS, respectively. wc and ws are the angular frequency of the planet
carrier and the sun gear. z denotes the teeth number of the corresponding gear as indicated by the subscript.

2.2. Vibration generated at the meshing points

Because of the periodically time-varying meshing stiffness [25–28], the vibration generated by the meshing of a perfect gear pair is
modelled as a periodic signal with a fundamental frequency equal to the meshing frequency wm [12], which can be described as
∑
K ∑
K
v(t) = vk cos(kwm t + ηk ) = Vk ej(kwm t+ηk ) , (2)
k=1 k=− K,
k∕
=0

where k (1,2,…,K, where K is the maximum harmonic order considered in the vibration) is the meshing harmonic number, vk and ηk are
the amplitude and initial phase of the kth component, and Vk is the corresponding Fourier coefficient.
There are multiple gear pairs in the WT gearbox. Each gear pair will produce a vibration signal similar to Eq. (2) during the meshing
process. It is worth noting that there is a relative phase between any two gear pairs in the multistage gear transmission system [29].
As shown in Fig. 2, the sun and the planet carrier rotate clockwise. Three equally spaced planets rotate counterclockwise, let pn (n
= 1,2,…,N, where N denotes the number of the planets) represent the nth planet gear, then φn represents the relative angle between
the position of pn and p1 counted in a counterclockwise manner (φ1 = 0). In this study, s-p1 gear pair is selected as the reference gear
pair (p1 is selected randomly). It is assumed that when t = 0, the s-p1 gear pair is meshing at the pitch point. Herein we derive the
relative phases between gear pairs and establish the vibration signal of each gear pair.
The relative phase r1spn /r1rpn between the s/r-pn gear pair and the s/r-p1 gear pair can be described as
zs φn
r1spn = − , (3)
2π
zr φn
r1rpn = . (4)
2π
The vibration vspn rpn
1 (t)/v1 (t) generated by the meshing of the s/r-pn gear pair can be expressed as the time-shifted version of the
vibration vsp1 rp1
1 (t)/v1 (t) generated by the meshing of the s/r-p1 gear pair by taking their relative phase into account

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Y. Nie et al. Mechanism and Machine Theory 167 (2022) 104428

∑
K ( ( ))
φn
vspn sp1 spn
1 (t) = v1 (t − r1 Tm1 ) = vsp1
1k cos kwm1 t+ , (5)
k=1
ws − wc

( ( ))
( ( ) ) ∑ K
φn
vrpn rp1
1 (t) = v1 t − r1rpn + r1rs Tm1 = vrp1
1k cos kwm1 t − − r1rs Tm1 , (6)
k=1
wc

where Tm1 = 2π/wm1 is the meshing period of the PS, vsp1 rp1 th sp1
1k and v1k are the amplitude of the k harmonic of the vibration v1 (t) and
vrp1 rs
1 (t). r1 is the relative phase between the r-p gear pairs and s-p gear pairs [30].
The ISS/HSS is the parallel stage with only g1-g2/g3-g4 gear pair. The relative phase γ2 /γ 3 between the g1-g2/g3-g4 gear pair and
the reference gear pair is dependent on manufacturing and installation form. Without any loss of generality, γ 2 and γ 3 are set to be 0 for
simplicity in this paper. The vibration v2 (t)/v3 (t) generated by the meshing of the g1-g2/g3-g4 gear pair can be expressed as
∑
K
v2 (t) = v2k cos(kwm2 t), (7)
k=1

∑
K
v3 (t) = v3k cos(kwm3 t), (8)
k=1

where v2k and v3k are the amplitude of the kth harmonic of the vibration v2 (t) and v3 (t).

3. Modeling of vibration transmission paths

There are multiple gear pairs (s-p gear pairs, r-p gear pairs, g1-g2 gear pair, and g3-g4 gear pair) in the WT gearbox. Each gear pair
can be regarded as a vibration source. Besides, as shown in Fig 1, there are generally three accelerometers (A3, A4, and A5) installed on
the outer surface of the gearbox, among them, A3 is mounted on the gearbox casing at the ring gear directly, A4 is mounted on the low-
speed shaft bearing, and A5 is mounted on the high-speed shaft bearing. Each accelerometer can receive the vibrations generated by
the meshing of the gear pairs through multiple transmission paths.
In previous studies [16,19,21–24], researchers pointed out that in a single-stage planetary gearbox, the s/r-p meshing points moves
with respect to the fixed sensor as the planet carrier rotates, resulting in a periodic time-varying transmission path. However, in the
industrial multistage WT gearbox with one planetary stage and two parallel stages, apart from the time-varying transmission paths
mentioned in previous studies, there are time-varying transmission paths from the meshing points in parallel stages to the fixed
accelerometer, although the position between them remains unchanged. This is because the vibrations generated in the parallel stages
can be transmitted to the fixed accelerometer A3 through the PS stage. This situation has not yet been studied in previous studies and

Fig. 1. An overview of the configuration and description of sensors in WT CMS.

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Y. Nie et al. Mechanism and Machine Theory 167 (2022) 104428

will be addressed in this section.

3.1. The transmission paths from the meshing points to the accelerometer mounted on the ring gear (A3)

Fig. 3 draws the transmission paths from the r-p and s-p meshing points to A3.
For r-p gear pair, three main transmission paths are drawn as paths 1–3 in Fig. 3(a).

• Path 1:r-p meshing point→ ring gear→ gearbox casing→ A3.

• Path 2:r-p meshing point→ planet gear→ planet gear shaft bearing→ planet gear shaft → planet carrier→ planet carrier
bearing→ gearbox casing → A3.
• Path 3:r-p meshing point→ planet gear→ sun gear→ sun gear shaft (low-speed shaft)→ low-speed shaft bearing→ gearbox casing→
A3.

For s-p gear pair, three main transmission paths are also drawn as paths 4–6 in Fig. 3(b).

• Path 4:s-p meshing point→ planet gear→ ring gear → gearbox casing→ A3.
• Path 5:s- p meshing point→ planet gear→ planet gear shaft bearing→ planet gear shaft→ planet carrier→ planet carrier
bearing→ gearbox casing → A3.
• Path 6:s-p meshing point→ sun gear →low-speed shaft (sun gear shaft) → low-speed shaft bearing→ gearbox casing→ A3.

It is noticeable that the lengths of paths 2, 3, 5, and 6 are unchanged, while the lengths of paths 1 and 4 changed because as the
carrier rotates, the r- p and s-p meshing points move with respect to A3. In other words, among the above six transmission paths, paths
2, 3, 5, and 6 are time-invariant, while paths 1 and 4 are time-varying.
From Fig. 3, besides the above six transmission paths, the vibration generated at the r-p/s-p meshing point can also be firstly
transmitted successively via the sun gear to sun gear shaft (low-speed shaft). Then, the path can divide into more complex branch paths
(e.g. r-p meshing point→ planet gear→ sun gear→ sun gear shaft→ gear 1→ gear 2→ intermediate-speed shaft→ intermediate-speed
shaft bearing→ gearbox casing→ A3). However, since these paths are too long, resulting in large energy loss to vibration, they are
neglected in this study.
For the vibration generated by the meshing of the gear pairs in the ISS and HSS, on the one hand, it can be directly transferred
successively through the gear in ISS/HSS, shaft, bearing and casing to A3, and these paths are usually time-invariant. On the other
hand, they can be transferred through the low-speed shaft to PS and then to A3, and Fig. 4 draws the time-varying transmission paths
from the g1-g2 and g3-g4 meshing points to A3.
For g1-g2 gear pair, it can be seen from Fig. 4, there is a time-varying transmission path from the meshing point to A3, which is
shown as Path 7. The vibration can be transferred successively through gear 1, bearing, and low-speed shaft to the sun gear, and then
through path 4 to A3.
Path 7: g1-g2 meshing point →gear 1 → gear 1 bearing→ low-speed shaft→ sun gear→ planet gear→ ring gear→ gearbox casing→
A3.
It is worth noting that when the vibration generated by the meshing of g1-g2 gear pair is transferred to the sun gear, the trans­
mission path 7 divides into N (the number of planets) branch transmission paths, which are shown in Fig. 4 as paths 7i , 7ii , and 7iii , then
the vibration is transmitted through the planet gears 1, 2, and 3 to A3 respectively.
For g3-g4 gear pair, there is also a time-varying transmission path from the meshing point to A3, which is shown as path 8 in Fig. 4.
The vibration can be transferred successively through gear 3, bearing, and intermediate-speed shaft to gear 2, and then through path 7
to A3.
Path 8: g3-g4 meshing point→ gear 3 → gear 3 bearing→ intermediate-speed shaft→ gear 2→ gear 1→ gear 1 bearing→ low-speed
shaft→ sun gear→ planet gear→ ring gear→ gearbox casing→ A3.
Similarly, the transmission path 8 also divide into three branch transmission paths, which are shown in Fig. 4 as paths 8i , 8ii , and
iii
8 .
From the detailed analysis of transmission paths from the meshing points in ISS and HSS to A3, it can be seen that although the
position between the g1-g2/g3-g4 meshing point and A3 is unchanged, there are still time-varying transmission paths that cannot be
ignored. This has not been paid attention to the studies on single-stage planetary gearboxes.
Assuming that the time delay caused by the change in the length of the vibration propagation is considered to be small enough to be
neglected. For time-invariant transmission paths 2, 3, 5, and 6, they only affect the ratio of amplitude attenuation of the meshing
vibrations. therefore, the effects of the time-invariant transmission path are neglected in the modeling of transmission paths. With
regard to the time-varying paths 1, 4, 7, and 8, when the planet gears rotate close to A3, the length of them reduce and A3 measures an
increase in the amplitude of the vibration signal; conversely, when the planet gear moves away from A3, the length of the transmission
path is increases and A3 measures a decrease in the amplitude of the vibration signal. These periodic time-varying transmission paths
introduce AM effect on the meshing vibration and the fundamental frequency of the periodic AM functions is equal to wc .
In the following content, the transmission path functions of paths 1 and 4 are first analyzed.
The meshing vibrations vrpn 1 (t)|n=1,…,N of r-p gear pairs in the first planetary stage are transmitted to A3 through path 1. The AM
function wrpn 1 (t) of the vibration generated by the meshing of the r-pn gear pair can be expressed as a time-shifted version of the AM

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Y. Nie et al. Mechanism and Machine Theory 167 (2022) 104428

function of the r-p1 gear pair. According to the motion relationship of PS as shown in Fig. 2, the time-shifted of wrpn
1 (t) is tn behind than
wrp1
1 (t).

φn Tc φn
tn = = , (9)
2π wc

where Tc is the rotation period of the planet carrier.

Then, the AM function wrpn 1 (t) can be expressed as
( ) ∑ Q
φ
wrpn rp1 rp1
1 (t) = w1 (t − tn ) = w1 t− n = Wq ejqwc t e− jqφn
, (10)
wc q∈− Q

where, Wq is the Fourier coefficient of wrp1

1 (t).
It can be seen in Fig. 3, path 4 can be divided into two parts: transmission path from the s-pn meshing point to the r-pn meshing
point and transmission path from the r-pn meshing point to A3. Between them, the first part has a constant length, while the latter part
has a time-varying length (i.e. path 1). The first time-invariant transmission leads to amplitude attenuation on the vibration. We
introduce a constant coefficient α1 to present this attenuation effect, and α1 ∈ (0,1). Therefore, the AM function wspn
1 (t) of the vibration
generated by the meshing of the s-pn gear pair can be expressed as
∑
Q
wspn rpn
1 (t) = α1 w1 (t) = α1 Wq ejqwc t e− jqφn
. (11)
q∈− Q

Then, we analyze paths 7 and 8.

From Fig. 4, take the path 7i for example, it can also be divided into two parts: one time-invariant part from the g1-g2 meshing point
to the r-p1 meshing point and one time-varying part, that is, path 1. Another constant-coefficient α2 is used to present the attenuation
effect of the time-invariant part, and α2 ∈ (0,1). Path 7 is longer than path 4, hence, α2 < α1 . Because path 7 is consist of N (the number
of planets) branch transmission paths, the AM function caused by the transmission path is denoted by w2,n (t) and can be given by the
following expression
∑
Q
w2, n (t) = α2 wrpn
1 (t) = α2 Wq ejqwc t e− jqφn
. (12)
q∈− Q

Similarly, path 8 is composed of two parts: one time-invariant part from the g3-g4 meshing point to the r-p1 meshing point and one
time-varying part, that is, path 1. The transmission path function w3,n (t) of path 8 can be expressed as

Fig. 2. Structure schematic diagram of the WT gearbox: 1-planet carrier; 2-sun gear shaft (low-speed shaft); 3-intermediate-speed shaft; 4-high-
speed shaft.

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Y. Nie et al. Mechanism and Machine Theory 167 (2022) 104428

Fig. 3. Transmission paths: (a) from the r-p meshing point to A3, (b) from the s-p meshing point to A3.

Fig. 4. Transmission paths from the meshing points of g1-g2 and g3-g4 to A3.

∑
Q
w3, n (t) = α3 wrpn
1 (t) = α3 Wq ejqwc t e− jqφn
, (13)
q∈− Q

where, α3 present the attenuation effect of the time-invariant part in path 8, α3 ∈ (0, 1), and α3 < α2 < α1 .

3.2. The transmission paths from the meshing points to the accelerometer mounted on the low/high-speed shaft bearing (A4/A5)

Fig. 5 illustrates the main transmission paths from each meshing point to A4.
As can be seen in Fig. 5, paths 9–12 are all time-invariant, and their length only affects the amplitude attenuation of the vibration
signal received by A4. they cannot introduce the AM effects on the meshing vibration. Accordingly, under the healthy condition, the

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Y. Nie et al. Mechanism and Machine Theory 167 (2022) 104428

Fig. 5. Transmission paths from meshing points to A4.

vibration signal received by A4 is at the gear mesh frequency harmonics and is unmodulated. The vibration signal received by A5 is
similar to that of A4, which are all free from the AM effects of the time-invariant vibration transmission paths.

4. A mathematical model of vibration signals of WT gearboxes

As discussed in Section 3.2, in the spectrum of the vibration signal received by A4 and A5, in addition to the gear meshing frequency
harmonics of each stage, no other frequency components will appear. However, the vibration signal received by A3 is affected by the
time-varying transmission path, resulting in a more complex spectral structure. Thus, in this section, we only focus on the vibration
signal measured by A3.

4.1. A mathematical model and frequency analysis of vibration signal measured by A3

It is assumed that the WT gearbox is linear, and the vibration signal perceived by a fixed sensor will therefore be the linear su­
perposition of all vibrations from individual gear pairs.
According to Eqs. (3), (5), and (11), the AM vibration signal wspn spn
1 (t)v1 (t) generated by the meshing of s-pn gear pair as measured by
A3 can be expressed as a complex Fourier series as
( )
φn sp1
wspn
1 (t)vspn
1 (t) = α 1 w rp1
1 t − v (t − r1spn Tm1 )
wc 1

∑
Q ∑
K
sp1 jkwm1 t jkwm1 w − wφn
= α1 Wq ejqwc t e− jqφn
V1k e e s c

q∈− Q k=− K,

(14)
k∕
=0

∑
Q ∑
K
sp1 j(qwc +kwm1 )t j(kzs − q)φn
= α1 Wq V1k e e .
q∈− Q k=− K,

k∕
=0

Thus, A3 perceives the sum of all AM vibrations signal xsp

1 (t) contributed from N sun-planet gear pairs can be expressed as

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Y. Nie et al. Mechanism and Machine Theory 167 (2022) 104428

( )
∑
N ∑
Q ∑
K ∑
N
xsp
1 (t) = wspn spn
1 (t)v1 (t) = α1
sp1 j(q+kzs )wc t
Wq V1k e ej(kzs − q)φn
. (15)
n=1 q∈− Q k=− K, n=1

k∕
=0

For the WT gearbox with N equally spaced planet gears in the PS, there are φn = 2π (n − 1)/N, hence,
⎧
∑ N ∑N ⎨ N, if kzs − q = integer,
(16)
2π(n− 1)
j(kzs − q)φn j(kzs − q) N
e = e = N
n=1 n=1
⎩
0, otherwise.

The frequency analysis of the mathematical model is carried out using the Fourier transform (FT), the FT of Eq. (15) becomes

(17)

where F { ⋅ } denotes the FT. δ(⋅) denotes the Dirac delta, δ(y) = 1, if y = 0 and δ(y) = 0, if y ∕
= 0.
Eq. (17) makes clear that the vibration signal xsp
1 (t) only exhibit dominant components at the frequencies of w = kwm1 +qwc only
when (kzs − q)/N is an integer. The variables k and q in Eq. (17) are the meshing harmonic and side-harmonic of PS respectively.
Likewise, according to Eqs. (4), (6), and (10), A3 perceives the sum of all AM vibrations signal xrp
1 (t) contributed from N ring-planet
gear pairs can be expressed as
∑
N ( )
∑
N φ ( ( ) )
xrp
1 (t) = wrpn rpn
1 v1 (t) = wrp1
1 t − n vrp1 t − r1rpn + r1rs Tm1
n=1 n=1
wc 1

∑
N Q
∑ ∑
K
rp1 jkwm1 t − jkzr φn − 2π kr1rs
= Wq ejqwc t e− jqφn
V1k e e e
n=1 q∈− Q
k=− K,

(18)
k∕
=0

( )
∑
Q ∑
K
rp1 j(qwc +kwm1 )t − 2π krrs
∑
N
− j(kzr +q)φn
= Wq V1k e e 1 e .
q∈− Q k=− K, n=1

k∕
=0

∑N
Similar to Eq (16), the term n=1 e in Eq. (18) becomes
− j(kzr +q)φn

⎧
∑
N ∑
N ⎨ N, if kzr + q = integer,
(19)
2π (n− 1)
j(kzr +q)φn j(kzr +q)
e− = e− N = N
n=1 n=1
⎩
0, otherwise.

It is noted that for an equally spaced planetary gear set at planet position angles φn = 2π(n − 1)/N is possible only if (zs + zr )/N =
interger [16]. Hence, if (kzs − q)/N is an integer, then (kzr + q)/N is also an integer. The FT of Eq. (18) yields
⎧ ∑ Q ∑K
kzs − q
⎪ rp1 − 2π kr1rs
⎪
⎪ 2π N Wq V1k e δ(w − kwm1 − qwc ), if = integer,
⎪
⎪ q∈− Q
N
⎨ k=− K,
xrp rp
1 (f ) = F{x1 (t)} = (20)
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ k∕
=0
⎪
⎩
0, otherwise.

Eq. (20) implies that the vibration signal xrp

1 (t) exhibit dominant components at the frequencies of w = kwm1 + qwc only when (kzs −
q)/N and (kzr + q)/N is an integer.
Different from PS, there is only one meshing pair in ISS and HSS respectively. According to Eqs. (7) and (12), A3 perceives vibration
signal x2 (t) contributed from g1-g2 gear pair through path 7, which is consist of N branch transmission paths can be expressed as

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Y. Nie et al. Mechanism and Machine Theory 167 (2022) 104428

( )
1 ∑N
1 ∑N
φn
x2 (t) = w2,n (t)v2 (t) = α2 wrp1 t − v2 (t)
N n=1 N n=1 1 wc

Q
1 ∑N ∑ ∑
K
= α2 Wq ejqwc t e− jqφn
V2 ejkwm2 t
N n=1 q∈− Q
k=− K,

(21)
k∕
=0

( )
1 ∑ Q ∑
K ∑
N
= α2 Wq V2 ej(qwc +kwm2 )t e− jqφn
.
N q∈− Q n=1
k=− K,

k∕
=0

In this model, assuming that the meshing vibration generated by the meshing of g1-g2 transferred to A3 through N planet gear
∑
equally, that is, 1/N of the meshing vibration via a planet gear to A3. The term Nn=1 e− jqφn in Eq. (21) is
⎧ q
∑N ∑N ⎨ N, if = integer,
(22)
2π(n− 1)
e− jqφn
= e− jq N
= N
⎩
n=1 n=1 0, otherwise.

The FT of Eq. (21) yields

(23)

Eq. (23) implies that the vibration signal x2 (t) exhibit dominant components at the frequencies of w = kwm2 + qwc only when q/N is
an integer, the variables k and q in Eq. (23) are the meshing harmonic and side-harmonic of ISS respectively.
Correspondingly, according to Eqs. (8) and (13) and following the same procedure, A3 perceives the AM vibration signal x3 (t)
contributed from g3-g4 gear pair can be expressed as
( )
1 ∑N
1 ∑N
φn
x3 (t) = w3,n (t)v3 (t) = α3 wrp1 t − v3 (t)
N n=1 N n=1 1 wc

Q
1 ∑N ∑ ∑
K
= α3 Wq ejqwc t e− jqφn
V3 ejkwm2 t
N n=1 q∈− Q
k=− K,

(24)
k∕
=0

( )
Q
1 ∑ ∑
K ∑
N
= α3 Wq V3 ej(qwc +kwm3 )t e− jqφn
N q∈− Q n=1
k=− K,

k∕
=0

The FT of Eq. (24) yields

(25)

Eq. (25) implies that the vibration signal x3 (t) exhibit dominant components at the frequencies of w = kwm3 + qwc only when q/N is
an integer, the variables k and q in Eq. (25) are the meshing harmonic and side-harmonic of HSS respectively.
Thus, the global vibration signal x(t), i.e. the resultant vibration signal, received by A3 can be expressed as follows:
x(t) = xsp rp
1 (t) + x1 (t) + x2 (t) + x3 (t). (26)
So, the global spectrum of vibration signal x(t) received by A3 can be expressed as follows:
x(f ) = xsp rp
1 (f ) + x1 (f ) + x2 (f ) + x3 (f ). (27)
According to the above theoretical derivation, we know that even the WT gearbox under the healthy condition, the signal received
by the fixed sensor A3 has a complex spectral structure due to the complex transmission paths.

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Y. Nie et al. Mechanism and Machine Theory 167 (2022) 104428

(1) For PS, due to the relative phases between the multiple gear pairs and the influence of the time-varying transmission paths,
resulting in the A3-perceived vibration spectral components contributed from PS appear at the frequencies of , nNwc (n integer).
(2) In contrast, For ISS and HSS, althouth the positions between the g1-g2 and g3-g4 meshing points and A3 are unchanged, there
are time-varying transmission paths that cannot be ignored. Based on the effects of the time-varying transmission paths, the A3-
perceived vibration spectral components contributed from ISS and HSS not only appear at the meshing frequency harmonics but
the sidebands spaced at Nwc around them.

4.2. Equivalent transmission path functions

According to the classification suggested in [15], the planetary gear system with equally spaced planet gears can be divided into
two types: if zr /N = integer, it pertains to equally spaced planetary gear system with in-phase meshes; if zr /N ∕=integer, it pertains to
equally spaced planetary gear system with sequential phase meshes (i.e., the phase of the same kind of gear pairs will be equally
distributed in [0, 2π). For the first type planetary gear system, since zr /N = integer, the vibration signal in Eqs. (15) and (20) exhibit
components at the frequencies of w = kwm1 + qwc only when q/N = integer.
Take the s-p gear pairs for example, when their meshing manner are in-phase, since vspn sp1
1 (t) = v1 (t) and q/N = integer, A3 perceives
sp
the sum of all AM vibrations signal x1 (t) contributed from N s-p gear pairs becomes

∑
N ∑
N
xsp
1 (t) = wspn spn sp1
1 (t)v1 (t) = v1 (t) wspn
1 (t)
n=1 n=1
(28)
Q
∑
sp1 N
=α 1 Nv1 (t) Wq e jqwc t
= Nvsp1 sp1
1 (t)w1 (Nt), = integer
q∈− Q
q

This means that the vibration signal received by A3 form PS is equivalent to being modulated by a periodic transmission path
function with a fundamental frequency equal to Nwc (N times the angular frequency of the planet carrier).
Under this condition, the transmission path function of the transmission path 4 from the s-p meshing point to A3 can be equivalent
to
∑
Q
̃ sp
w sp1
1 (t) = w1 (Nt) = α1 Wq ejNqwc t . (29)
q∈− Q

Similarly, the transmission path function of the transmission path 1 from the r-p meshing point to A3 can be equivalent to
∑
Q
̃ rp
w rp1
1 (t) = w1 (Nt) = Wq ejNqwc t . (30)
q∈− Q

These equivalent transmission path functions were directly used in [31,32] for convenience. But it should be noted that for the
planetary gearbox with sequential phase meshes, this equivalent transmission path function does not work, and this has not been
explained and distinguished in previous studies.
Follow the same rules, according to the spectral structure of the vibration signal x2 (t) in Eq. (23), the equivalent transmission path
function of path 7, which is consist of three branch paths 7i , 7ii , and 7iii can be expressed as
∑
Q
̃ 2 (t) = α2 wrp1
w 1 (Nt) = α2 Wq ejNqwc t . (31)
q∈− Q

Then, the equivalent transmission path function of path 8 can be expressed as

∑
Q
̃ 3 (t) = α3 wrp1
w 1 (Nt) = α3 Wq ejNqwc t . (32)
q∈− Q

Unlike the equivalent transmission path function of PS, this equivalent transmission path functions of ISS and HSS are always valid
and will not change with gear parameters.

Table 1
Gear parameters and meshing orders of each stage normalized by the angular frequency of the carrier.
Case 1 Stage PS ISS HSS
Component r s p g1 g2 g3 g4
Number of teeth 99 21 38 95 21 123 25
Meshing order 99 542.86 3179.59
Case 2 Stage PS ISS HSS
Component r s p g1 g2 g3 g4
Number of teeth 104 19 42 97 23 98 24
Meshing order 104 628 2675.6

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Y. Nie et al. Mechanism and Machine Theory 167 (2022) 104428

Based on these proposed equivalent transmission path functions, not only can the vibration spectral structure of the WT gearbox be
revealed more intuitively, but also a simpler and more practical simulation model can be provided for the development of signal
processing algorithms.

4.3. Simulation validation

In order to illustrate the above theoretical derivations, numerically simulated vibration signals for a healthy WT gearbox measured
by A3 are analyzed.
The two types of equally spaced planetary gear systems as discussed in Section 4.2 are general in the planetary stage of multistage
WT gearboxes with rated power at 2.0 MW. Hence, we select two types of WT gearbox in simulation. Table 1 list the parameters of the
WT gearboxes, which are in agreement with the real industrial WT gearbox used for the case study to be introduced in Section 5. It is
noted that the planetary gear system in case 1 is in-phase meshes, and it is sequential phase meshes in case 2.
The time-varying transmission function is conveniently represented by a Hanning function, which is given as [16]:
[ ( )]
1 1 2πNt
w1 (t) = − cos , (33)
2 2 Tc
For the planet gear pn, the weighting function is put forward as:
( φ )
wrpn
1 (t) = w1 t −
n
Tc Ui (t), (34)
2π

where,
∑∞ { [ ( ) ] [ ( ) ]}
(n − 1)N + i − 1 (n − 1)N + i
Ui (t) = u t− Tc − u t − Tc . (35)
n=1
N N

The terms u(⋅) in Eq. (35) denote the unit step function ((t − b) = 1 for t > b, and u(t − b) = 0 for t < b).
For simplicity, we consider the first three harmonic meshing vibration of PS and the fundamental meshing vibration of ISS and HSS
in the simulation. The other parameters are listed as N = 3, vsp1 rp1 sp1 rp1 sp1 rp1
11 = v11 = 0.004, v12 = v12 = 0.002, v13 = v13 = 0.0015, v21 = 0.1,
rs
v31 = 0.5, α1 = 0.9, α2 = 0.4, α3 = 0.3, r1 = 0.
Fig. 6 shows the vibration waveform and its order spectrum of the case 1 WT gearbox. To reveal the details, we zoom in the order
spectrum and focus on the waveform in the range of [50, 350], [520, 560] and [3160, 3190] as shown in Fig. 7.
It can be noted in Fig. 7(a) that the spectral components appear at the meshing frequency harmonic orders of PS at Om1 = 99, 2Om1
= 198, 3Om1 = 297, and exist the sidebands spaced at N around them. In Figs. 7(b) and 7(c), spectral components appear at the
meshing order of ISS and HSS at Om2 = 542.86, Om3 = 3176.6. Besides, sideband orders of Om2 ± N, Om3 ± N are observed because of
the effects of the transmission paths.
Likewise, Fig. 8 draws the vibration waveform and its order spectrum of the case 2 WT gearbox, and the zoomed-in order spectrum
in the range of [50, 350], [610, 640], and [2665, 2685] are shown in Fig. 9.
In contrast to case 1 WT gearbox, there are no obvious components exhibit at the meshing order of PS in Fig. 9(a), the spectral
components appear at the orders of such as: 105 = Om1 + 1 = 35N, 108 = Om1 + 4 = 36N, 207 = 2Om1 − 1 = 69N, 210 = 2Om1 + 2 =
70N, which appear in integer multiples of N. Whereas the third harmonic meshing order of PS (order 312) is an integer multiple of 3, so

Fig. 6. Simulated signal of case 1: (a) signal waveform, (b) order spectrum.

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Y. Nie et al. Mechanism and Machine Theory 167 (2022) 104428

Fig. 7. Zoomed-in order spectrum of case 1 in the range of: (a) [50, 350], (b) [520, 560], (c) [3160, 3190].

Fig. 8. Simulated signal of case 2: (a) signal waveform, (b) order spectrum.

its amplitude is not zero. In Figs. 9(b) and 9(c), the presence of the order components for case 2 WT gearbox are follow the same rules as
case 1 WT gearbox, which appear at the orders Om2 = 628, Om3 = 2675.6, Om2 ± N, and Om3 ± N. All these findings are consistent with
the theoretical derivations from the signal model in Eq. (26) and show the correctness of the proposed equivalent transmission path
functions.

5. Case study

To validate the mathematical vibration model demonstrated in Section 4, the vibration datasets obtained from the CMS of two types
of 2.0 MW industrial WT gearbox are used for analysis. their drive trains and gearboxes are shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Both industrial WT
gearboxes include three accelerometers and a data acquisition system. Fig. 10 shows a view of the WT gearbox and the accelerometers
mounted on the gearbox casing. The transmission ratio of case 1 WT gearbox is 127.18, and 111.48 for case 2 WT gearbox. The pa­
rameters of the gears in the WT gearboxes are listed in Table 1, which are the same as those used in the simulations. The characteristic
frequencies of the WT gearboxes normalized by the angular frequency of the planet carrier are calculated and also listed in Table 1.
As did in Section 4, the vibration signal measured by A3 with the sampling frequency 2560 Hz is selected for analysis. Fig. 11 shows
the vibration waveform and its order spectrum of the case 1 WT gearbox. In Fig. 11(a), an obvious AM effect is observed. As a result, in
addition to the meshing harmonics of each stage, there are obvious modulation sidebands around them in the order spectrum as shown

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Y. Nie et al. Mechanism and Machine Theory 167 (2022) 104428

Fig. 9. Zoomed-in order spectrum of case 2 in the range of: (a) [50, 350], (b) [610, 640], (c) [2665, 2685].

Fig. 10. The WT gearbox and the accelerometers mounted on the gearbox casing.

in Fig. 11(b). To reveal the details, we zoom in the order spectrum as did in simulation, which is displayed in Fig. 12. We see that there
are sidebands spaced at 3 (the number of planets) near the meshing orders of PS, ISS, and HSS, as the mathematical model predicted
(Fig. 7). Thus the mathematical model correctly predicts the vibration spectral structure of the gearbox.
Similarly, the vibration waveform and its order spectrum and the zoomed-in order spectrum of case 2 WT gearbox are shown in
Figs. 13 and 14.
In Fig. 14(a), we see that: i) no spectral components at orders of 104 (Om1 ), 208 (2Om1 ); ii) sidebands spaced at 3 around Om1 +1
(=105, integer multiple of 3), 2Om1 − 1 (=207, integer multiple of 3), and 3Om1 (=312, integer multiple of 3); iii) sidebands spaced at
3 around 628 (Om2 ) and 2675.6 (Om3 ). These results are in accordance with the model-based spectral spectrum in Fig. 9. The reason
why the fundamental meshing order and its second harmonic of PS do not appear in the spectrum is that they are not integer multiples
of 3. However, the third meshing order harmonic (312) is an integer multiple of 3, so its amplitude is not zero. The presence of the
vibration order components around the meshing order of ISS and HSS in case 2 WT gearbox are followed the same rules as case 1 WT

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Y. Nie et al. Mechanism and Machine Theory 167 (2022) 104428

Fig. 11. Vibration signal of case 1 WT gearbox measured by A3: (a) signal waveform, (b) order spectrum.

Fig. 12. Zoomed-in order spectrum of case 1 WT gearbox in the range of: (a) [80, 330], (b) [520, 560], (c) [3160, 3190].

gearbox.
Notably, the phenomenon that there are sidebands spaced at N around Om2 and Om3 in a healthy WT gearbox, which has not
attracted the attention of previous studies. In a first sight, these sidebands were thought to be caused by some kind of damage in the
gears or bearings, which made the erroneous diagnosis of the WT gearbox. In fact, we know that the sidebands are caused by the effects
of time-varying transmission paths in the multistage gear transmission.
In short, for the vibration signal measured by A3 contributed from PS, the vibration components appear at the orders of integer
multiples of N. For the vibration signal measured by A3 contributed from ISS and HSS, the meshing order harmonics always appear in
the spectrum, as well as the modulation sidebands spaced at 3 around them. All these observations agree with the proposed mathe­
matical model in Eq. (26) and show the correctness of the proposed equivalent transmission path functions. We conclude that the
mathematical model proposed in this paper can predict the vibration spectral structures and reveal the frequency features of healthy
WT gearboxes.

Conclusions

In this paper, a vibration mathematical model of the multistage WT gearbox under the healthy condition is established considering
all the meshing vibration sources and time-varying transmission paths, the vibration frequency features of multistage WT gearboxes

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Y. Nie et al. Mechanism and Machine Theory 167 (2022) 104428

Fig. 13. Vibration signal of case 2 WT gearbox measured by A3: (a) signal waveform (b) order spectrum.

Fig. 14. Zoomed-in order spectrum of case 2 WT gearbox in the range of: (a) [80, 320], (b) [610, 640], (c) [2665, 2685].

are explained through theoretical deduction, simulation analysis and industrial WT gearbox datasets verification. The results show:
(1) In the multistage WT gearbox, there are time-varying transmission paths from each meshing point to the accelerometer
mounted on the ring gear. The length of these transmission paths changes periodically with the fundamental frequency equal to wc (the
angular frequency of the planet carrier).
(2) The vibration spectral structure measured by the accelerometer mounted on the ring gear show the following characteristics:
the vibration signal contributed from PS appear at the orders of , nNOc (n integer, Oc the order of the planet carrier, and Oc = 1); the
vibration signal contributed from ISS and HSS not only appear at the mesh frequency harmonic orders but also sidebands spaced at NOc
around them.
(3) The equivalent transmission path functions of the transmission path from the meshing points to the accelerometer mounted on
the ring gear are proposed for the first time. For equally spaced PG with in-phase meshes, ISS and HSS, the equivalent transmission path
functions are periodic functions with the fundamental frequency equal to Nwc .
The findings in this paper are not only applicable to the WT gearbox studied in this paper, but also to other similar multistage
gearbox systems, which can reveal the vibration frequency features and provide a priori spectral structure for a healthy multistage gear
transmission system to assist its condition monitoring and fault diagnosis. The proposed equivalent transmission path functions can
provide a more simple and practical tool for the analysis of the gearbox spectral structure and the development of signal processing
algorithms.

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Y. Nie et al. Mechanism and Machine Theory 167 (2022) 104428

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China under Grant 2020YFB1712905, the National Science
Foundation of China under Grant 51805297, the Key Technology Research and Development Program of Shandong under Grant
2019JZZY020313.
The authors would like to thank the support of CRRC Wind Power (Shandong) Co. Ltd., China.

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