Application of 'observers' for monitoring vibration monitoring and early fault detection of mechanical structures

This paper describes special adjustments and application of these observers for monitoring vibrations, calculations of the life of the system and fault detection. But the use of these observers causes problems, especially for large systems. This is mainly due to the high number of degrees of freedom within the mathematical model. A solution provides the 'model observer' developed by methods of modal analysis. Its range of application for monitoring special system parameters is shown. The most important of these parameters are eigenfrequency, damping and factors of the stiffness matrix which are required for fault detection. With regard to the practical service of the algorithms the special characteristics of the mathematical model for the design of these observers are considered. Simulations and experiments help to clarify the wide range of application. (orig./HP)