Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

ScienceDirect
Materials Today: Proceedings 5 (2018) 5186–5194 www.materialstoday.com/proceedings

ICMPC 2017

Statistical and frequency analysis of acoustic signals for condition

monitoring of ball bearing
Sanjay Kumara*, Deepam Goyalb, Sukhdeep S. Dhamib
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering,I.K.Gujral Punjab Technical University, Kapurthala (Pb.) - 144603, India
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technical Teachers’ Training & Research (NITTTR), Chandigarh -160019, India

Abstract

Condition monitoring of ball bearing is important as they are a common component in machinery that finds widespread industrial
applications. Early warning of an approaching bearing failure is fundamental to guarantee the machine availability by timely
maintenance actions and diminishing breakdown. In this paper, the statistical and frequency analysis of acoustic signals were
performed for the detection of bearing defects. The results show that the statistical parameters can be used to detect different
types of faults in ball bearings. The power spectral density analysis shows that bearings with different physical conditions
running at different speeds emit acoustic signals with different power spectrums.
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and/or Peer-review under responsibility of 7th International Conference of Materials Processing and Characterization.

Keywords:Ball bearings; condition monitoring; bearing defects; statistical parameters; acoustic signature

1. Introduction

The incentives of reduced maintenance costs, increased plant availability, improved productivity and safety, have
all led to an increasing interest in machine condition monitoring. Ball bearings are a common component in
machinery that finds widespread industrial applications, due to which they have received immense consideration of
researchers in the field of condition monitoring (CM). The elements of bearing are the outer ring, rolling elements,
cage, and innerring. Defects in bearing emerge during the manufacturing process or when in use. Diverse techniques
are used for detection and diagnosis of the bearing defects. They might be classified as vibration and acoustic
measurement, wear analysis, and temperature measurement. Vibration monitoring and analysis in rotating machinery

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +91-9466448592;

E-mail address: skdhiman83@outlook.com

2214-7853© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Selection and/or Peer-review under responsibility of 7th International Conference of Materials Processing and Characterization.
 Sanjay Kumar et al / Materials Today: Proceedings 5 (2018) 5186–5194 5187

is the most predominant technique utilized for monitoring, detecting and analyzing the structure’s condition in real
time or at determined time interims, because of quick data collection and interpretation [1]. The vibration signatures
of the machine apprise the operator to make a crucial decision for condition based maintenance [2].
A machine could be seriously risked if faults occur in bearings during service. Early detection of the deformities
in bearings, therefore, is critical for the prevention of damage to alternate parts of a machine. Bearing deformities
might be sorted as localized and distributed. The localized defects incorporate spalls, cracks, and pits brought about
by fatigue on rolling surfaces. The other classification, i.e., distributed defects, incorporate waviness and misaligned
races, surface roughness, and off size rolling elements. These defects might be due to manufacturing errors and
operating environments. Thus, CM of bearings has been considered a fundamental and basic part of any modern
manufacturing facility [3]. Adequate monitoring predicts the likelihood of a breakdown before it really happens.
Several vibration monitoring methods and signal processing techniques for CM have been explored [4]. Few
strategies have been applied to measure the vibration and acoustic responses from faulty bearings; i.e., sound
pressure and sound intensity techniques, the shock pulse method, vibration measurements in time and frequency
domains and the acoustic emission technique [5,6]. A real-time cost effective non-contact vibration measuring
system has been developed for determining the health of the machine [7].
Statistical parameters which are extricated from the acoustic signatures obtained from bearing by means of
microphones are mostly in time-domain. Proper analysis of time series of the signal can yield colossal measures of
data [8]. Several statistical indicators which can be utilized as a part of real environment are, Peak, Root Mean
Square (RMS), Standard Deviation, Crest Factor, Clearance Factor, Skewness, Impulse Factor, Kurtosis, Shape
Factor and Beta moments based upon the beta distribution [9]. Time domain statistical parameters are utilized as
erratic and trend parameters in an attempt to detect the presence of incipient bearing damage. In this paper, the
statistical and frequency analysis of acoustic signals were performed for the detection of bearing defects.

2. Experimental setup and software tools for data acquisition and analysis

Condition monitoring of ball bearing was implemented through the analysis of captured acoustic signal data. The
functional information flow of the acoustic measurement system is shown in figure 1.

Statistical &
Test rig Acoustic sensor Sound card
frequency analysis

Fig. 1. Information flow for acoustic measurement

The following sections describe the development of the experimental setup and software tools used for capturing
and analyzing the acoustic signals of healthy and defective bearings:

2.1. Hardware system development

Real-time acoustic signals of healthy and defective bearings were captured through a microphone. The raw
signals were processed to extract the characteristic features for analysis. The various components that were used for
this purpose are described below:

a) Test rig

A test rig was fabricated for recording the acoustic signals of healthy and faulty bearings in working environment
as shown in figure 2. It consisted of a DC motor, drive, encoder, a replaceable ball bearing (i.e. target component)
and an idler roller. The rotation to the ball bearing was imparted by the motor by means of a flat belt. The idler
roller, located in an elliptical hole by means of washers, nut and bolt, was used for adjusting the tension of the flat
belt.Encoder, coupled to the motor shaft with a flexible coupling, was used for the measurement of motor shaft
speed controlled by the DC drive.
5188 Sanjay Kumar et al./ Materials Today: Proceedings 5 (2018) 5186–5194

Fig. 2. Test rig (1 - DC Motor Shaft, 2 - Idler Roller, 3 - Ball Bearing ,Fig. 3. Microphone4 - Flat Belt)

b) Sensor

A microphone was used to capture the acoustic signals from the bearings as shown in figure 3. The microphone
tip was placed at a distance of approximately 10 mm from rotating bearing to avoid direct contact with bearing. The
specifications of microphone are given in table 1.

Table 1. Microphone specifications

Current Standard Operation

Specification Sensitivity Directivity Impedance S/N Ratio
Consumption Voltage
0db =1V/Pa, Noise Low more than
Value Max. 0.5 mA 1.5V
1 kHz Cancelling Impedance 36db

c) Healthy and defective ball bearings

A total of fourteen new ball bearing of type 6204 were used in this work. The different conditions of bearings i.e.
healthy (H) bearing, bearing with ball (B) defects, bearing with inner race (IR) defects and bearing with outer race
(OR) defects are considered to perform the experiments. Defects were induced in eleven bearings. Ball defects were
induced manually in three bearings by disassembling them and filing the balls. Inner race defects were induced
randomly on inner races of four ball bearings by Electric Discharge Machine (Electronica – M, Model No. T-3822).
Similarly, outer race defects were induced in four new bearings. Thus, a total of four sets of bearings were used for
experimentation. The first set comprised of three healthy bearings. The second set consisted of three bearings with
ball defects, the third and fourth sets comprised of four bearings each having inner race and outer race defects
respectively.

2.2. Software tools

The acoustic signals of bearings under different conditions were recorded using the ‘Sound Recorder’ of MS
Windows 7.0 that records the signal in .wma format at a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz. Further, audio converter is used
for converting the .wma format files to .wav format for importing them in MATLAB using wavread function. Audio
convertor was also used for converting the sampling rate to 22.05 kHz. The statistical and frequency analysis
techniques were then applied using MATLAB functions and tools.

2.3. Acoustic signal acquisition

The acoustic signals of bearings under different conditions were recorded at four different speeds viz. 550 rpm,
1000 rpm, 1600 rpm and 2000 rpm. Each experiment was conducted thrice and 50k samples each of acoustic signals
for healthy and defective bearings were captured, which were used to calculate the mean value of statistical
parameters. Acoustic signals of healthy and defective bearings recorded at different rotational speeds are shown in
figure 4.
 Sanjay Kumar et al / Materials Today: Proceedings 5 (2018) 5186–5194 5189

(a) (b)
-3 -3 -3 -3
x 10 RPM: 550 x 10 RPM: 1000 x 10 RPM: 550 x 10 RPM: 1000
1 1 2 2

0.5 0.5 1 1

Amplitude

Amplitude
Amplitude

Amplitude
0 0 0 0

-0.5 -0.5 -1 -1

-1 -1 -2 -2
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
Samples 4 Samples 4 Samples 4 Samples 4
x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10
-3 RPM: 1600 -3 RPM: 2000
-3 -3 x 10 x 10
x 10 RPM: 1600 x 10 RPM: 2000
1 1 2 2

0.5 0.5 1 1

Amplitude

Amplitude
Amplitude

Amplitude

0 0
0 0

-1 -1
-0.5 -0.5

-2 -2
-1 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
Samples 4 Samples 4
Samples 4 Samples 4 x 10 x 10
x 10 x 10

(c) (d)
-3 -3
-3 RPM: 550 -3 RPM: 1000 x 10 RPM: 550 x 10 RPM: 1000
x 10 x 10 2 2
3 3
2 2
1 1
1 1
Amplitude

Amplitude
Amplitude

Amplitude

0 0 0 0
-1 -1
-1 -1
-2 -2
-3 -3
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 -2 -2
Samples 4 Samples 4
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
x 10 x 10 Samples 4 Samples 4
-3 -3
x 10 x 10
x 10 RPM: 1600 x 10 RPM: 2000
3 3 -3 -3
x 10 RPM: 1600 x 10 RPM: 2000
2 2 2 2

1 1
Amplitude

Amplitude

1 1
Amplitude

Amplitude
0 0
-1 -1 0 0
-2 -2
-1 -1
-3 -3
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
Samples 4 Samples 4
-2 -2
x 10 x 10
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
Samples 4 Samples 4
x 10 x 10

Fig. 4. Acoustic signals of different conditions of bearings at different speeds: (a) healthy bearing (b) bearing with ball defect (c) bearing with
inner race defect (d) bearing with outer race defect

3. Results and discussion

The mean values of RMS, Standard Deviation, Skewness and Kurtosis values for different condition of bearings
at different rotating speeds are tabulated in tables 2-3.

Table 2. RMS and standard deviation mean values of acoustic signals for different bearing conditions
Parameters RMS Standard Deviation
Bearing 550 rpm 1000 rpm 1600 rpm 2000 rpm 550 rpm 1000 rpm 1600 rpm 2000 rpm

Healthy 0.00005028 0.0000848 0.000151 0.00014374 0.00005027 0.0000848 0.000151 0.00014374

Ball Defect 0.00004914 0.00009382 0.00015831 0.0002058 0.00004914 0.00009382 0.00015831 0.0002058
Inner Race
0.00014277 0.00019844 0.00028085 0.00030142 0.00014277 0.00019844 0.00028085 0.00030142
Defect
Outer Race
0.00007727 0.00011176 0.0001716 0.00021451 0.00007727 0.00011176 0.0001716 0.00021452
Defect
5190 Sanjay Kumar et al./ Materials Today: Proceedings 5 (2018) 5186–5194

Table 3. Skew and kurtosis mean values of acoustic signals for different bearing conditions

Parameters Skewness Kurtosis

Bearing 550 rpm 1000 rpm 1600 rpm 2000 rpm 550 rpm 1000 rpm 1600 rpm 2000 rpm

Healthy 0.0152 0.0118 0.0434 0.0362 3.7471 3.4202 3.0630 3.2724

Ball Defect 0.0127 0.0674 0.1015 0.0481 4.0509 3.9945 4.4654 4.2594
Inner Race
0.3648 -0.1087 0.5304 0.2602 4.5385 6.2085 5.1268 5.0670
Defect
Outer Race
0.0796 -0.0608 -0.0147 0.0289 4.3783 4.0250 3.5770 3.5464
Defect

(a)

(b)
 Sanjay Kumar et al / Materials Today: Proceedings 5 (2018) 5186–5194 5191

(c)

Figure 5 indicates the trend of mean values of four statistical parameters for different bearing conditions at different speeds Mean values of
statistical parameters for healthy and defectivebearings at different speeds: (a) RMS (b) standard deviation (c) skew.

At 550 rpm, the RMS value of the bearing with inner race and outer race defects was 183.9% and 53.6%
respectively higher than the corresponding value for healthy bearing. Moreover, the RMS value for inner race defect
was 84.7% more than that for outer race defects. This indicated that RMS value may be considered as an indicator of
presence of inner race defect and outer race defect in a bearing at 550 rpm. The RMS value of the bearing with ball
defect was found to be -2.2% of RMS value of the healthy bearing at 550 rpm. The proximity of RMS, SD and
skewness values of healthy bearing and bearing with ball defect indicated that these three statistical parameters may
not be used as an indicator of presence of ball defect in a bearing at 550 rpm, whereas kurtosis can be used to detect
ball, inner race and outer race defects in ball bearing rotates at 550 rpm as shown in above Fig 5 (a) (b)& (c).
At 1000 rpm, all four the statistical parameters can be used to detect all the three defects i.e. ball, inner race and
outer race defects in ball bearing. At 1600 rpm, two of the statistical parameters i.e. RMS and standard deviation can
be used to detect inner and outer race defects whereas skewness and kurtosis can be used to detect ball, inner race
and outer race defects in ball bearing. At 2000 rpm, RMS, SD and kurtosis can be used to detect all three defects
while skewness can detect only inner race defect in ball bearings.
3.1. Frequency spectrum analysis

To determine frequency content of sound emitted by healthy and defective bearings at different speeds, the Power
Spectral Density (PSD) of the captured sound signals have been analyzed using MATLAB software. The Fast
Fourier Transform (FFT) method was employed for the spectral analysis for which a windowing function was
selected for smoothening the ends of the captured signal for removing the discontinuities. As the acoustic signals are
not deterministic in nature, the Welch method along with the application of Kaiser Window option was chosen for
plotting the PSD of the acoustic signals. The PSD plots of the acoustic signals of healthy and defective bearings at
four different speeds obtained during experimentation are shown in figure 6.
5192 Sanjay Kumar et al./ Materials Today: Proceedings 5 (2018) 5186–5194

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Fig. 6. PSD plots for different bearing conditions during experimentation at different speeds: (a) 550 rpm (b) 1000 rpm (c) 1600 rpm (d) 2000
rpm

The frequency spectrums obtained for different bearings running at different speeds were categorized into three
frequency ranges based upon the power spectrums. It was observed that the acoustic signals obtained from bearings
with inner race defect possessed highest power followed by those for bearings having other two defects. The signals
obtained from healthy bearing had least power at all the speeds. For defective bearings, the PSD reduced up to 3680
Hz which further increases to 7350 Hz followed by decreasing trend. For healthy bearing signal, the PSD followed
the pattern of defective bearings up to 3680 Hz after which it remained almost same up to 7350 Hz beyond which it
started decreasing.
The overall PSD for healthy as well as defective bearings was observed to be higher at higher speeds. At all the
speeds, the magnitude of PSD of all the bearings were found to be closer to each other up to 3680 Hz beyond which
the difference between the healthy and the defective bearings increased up to 7350 Hz. At this frequency, the PSD
of the bearings with inner race defect was found to be much higher than the other defective bearings as well as
healthy bearing. The magnitudes of PSD for bearings with ball defect and outer race defect were higher than those
for the healthy bearing but were closer to each other at bearing speeds greater than or equal to 1000 rpm. At 550
rpm, the magnitudes of PSD for healthy bearing, bearing with ball defect and bearing with outer race defect were
distinct from each other. The plots of the PSD clearly showed that the bearings with different physical conditions
emit acoustic signals with different power spectral densities.
Thus, based upon statistical and frequency analysis, it may be inferred that the acoustic signals emitted by a
bearing may be used to determine the type of defect present in the bearing.
 Sanjay Kumar et al / Materials Today: Proceedings 5 (2018) 5186–5194 5193

3.2. Graphical user development

A computer based application program was developed for condition monitoring of ball bearings using GUIDE
tool of MATLAB software. The application program has an easy to use Graphical User Interface (GUI) through
which a person can easily make use of this application. The program in the run mode is shown in figure 7.

Fig. 7. GUI in run-mode

For testing the capability of the application program, acoustic signals of bearings with different conditions at
different speeds were recorded and processed by the program. On importing the data of acoustic signals acquired
from bearings operated at particular speed in GUI, the application program computes the four statistical parameters
of the sampled signal and compares these with statistical parameters of healthy and defected bearings stored in
application program database. Further, the logic incorporated within the program indicates whether the sampled
acoustic signature indicates a healthy state or defective state of the bearing. The program also indicates the type of
defect present in the bearing.

4. Conclusions

Ball bearings are vital components in rotary machinery which have received greater attention in the field of
condition monitoring. The present work was aimed at condition monitoring of ball bearings based upon statistical
and frequency analysis of acoustic signatures. Ball bearings of type 6204 were used for experimental work. Three
types of defects i.e. ball, inner race and outer race were induced in bearings. The acoustic signals of healthy and
defective bearings were recorded for 550 rpm, 1000 rpm, 1600 rpm and 2000 rpm. The captured acoustic signals
were characterized through four statistical measures viz. RMS, SD, skewness and kurtosis as well as PSD.
It was observed that at different rotational speeds, different statistical measures may be able to indicate different
defects in the ball bearings. At 550 rpm, RMS, standard deviation and skewness can be used to detect inner race and
outer race defects whereas kurtosis can be used to detect ball, inner race and outer race defects in ball bearings. At
1000 rpm, the all the four statistical parameters can be used to detect all the three defects i.e. ball, inner race and
outer race defects in ball bearings. At 1600 rpm, RMS and standard deviation can be used to detect inner and outer
race defects whereas skewness and kurtosis can be used to detect ball, inner race and outer race defects in ball
bearings. At 2000 rpm, RMS, SD and kurtosis can be used to detect all three defects while skewness can detect only
inner race defect in ball bearings. The plots of the PSD clearly showed that the bearings with different physical
conditions emit acoustic signals with different power spectral densities. Thus, it may be concluded that the acoustic
signals emitted by a bearing may be used to determine the type of defect present in ball bearings.
5194 Sanjay Kumar et al./ Materials Today: Proceedings 5 (2018) 5186–5194

References

[1] D. Goyal, B.S. Pabla, Condition based maintenance of machine tools - A review, CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and
Technology, 10 (2015) 24-35.
[2] S. Orhan, N. Aktürk, & V. Celik, Vibration monitoring for defect diagnosis of rolling element bearings as a predictive maintenance
tool: Comprehensive case studies, Ndt& E International, 39(2006) 293-298.
[3] M.S. Patil, J. Mathew, P.K. Rajendrakumar, S. Desai, A theoretical model to predict the effect of localized defect on vibrations
associated with ball bearing, International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, 52 (2010) 1193-1201.
[4] D. Goyal, B.S. Pabla, The vibration monitoring methods and signal processing techniques for structural health monitoring: a review,
Archives of Computational Methods in Engineering, 23 (2016) 585-594.
[5] N. Tandon, A. Choudhury, A review of vibration and acoustic measurement methods for the detection of defects in rolling element
bearings, Tribology International, 32 (1999) 469-480.
[6] A.R. Bhende, G.K. Awari, S.P. Untawale, Assessment of bearing fault detection using vibration signal analysis, VSRD-TNTJ, 2
(2011) 249-261.
[7] D. Goyal, B.S. Pabla, Development of non-contact structural health monitoring system for machine tools, Journal of Applied Research
and Technology, 14 (2016) 245-258.
[8] P. Chen, Bearing condition monitoring and fault diagnosis, Dissertation, University of Calgary, (2000) 1-133.
[9] D. Goyal, Vanraj, B.S. Pabla, S.S. Dhami, Condition monitoring parameters for fault diagnosis of fixed axis gearbox: a review,
Archives of Computational Methods in Engineering, (2016), DOI: 10.1007/s11831-016-9176-1.