Condition Monitoring of a Worm Gearbox Under Dynamic Loading Condition

Effective condition-based maintenance plays a vital role to extend the lifespan of the rotating equipment and helps in reducing the maintenance cycle intervals. The gearbox failure indication starts with the increased vibrations and abnormal increase in temperatures. Parameters like load, vibrations, temperature, etc., determine the overall life of the gearbox. By measuring and studying these parameters, we can predict the life of a new gearbox or the remaining life of a gearbox that is already in use. The present work deals with a foot-mounted worm reducer gearbox test rig. Different locations were selected for measuring temperature and vibration responses of the test rig. To study the test rig behavior and document the generated results, a test plan is designed. In the first phase reading, the test rig is operated for 70 min under normal conditions without any load applied. Readings are taken for every 10 min during the run. In the second phase reading, the operation time is kept the same 70 min, and the only change did is that the applied load is increased by 10 kg after every 10 min run operation. The temperature and vibration monitoring procedures were used to describe the behavior of the worm gear system as a function of load applied on the worm gear system. The temperature and vibration responses of the selected reading locations are compared for both phase readings. Commercial HP EP 90 gear oil is used in the gearbox for this experimentation.