Original Article

Proc IMechE Part G:

J Aerospace Engineering
A new characteristic analysis method 0(0) 1–14
! IMechE 2017

for aero-engine rotor–stator rubbing Reprints and permissions:

sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0954410017706990
journals.sagepub.com/home/pig

Mingyue Yu1, Zhigang Feng1, Jiajing Huang2 and Linlin Zhu1

Abstract
Aero-engine fault diagnosis is often studied according to casing signal owing to the inconvenience of assembly and
structural limitations. Satisfactory result by cyclic statistics alone is difficult to obtain because casing signal is weak
and complex. Based on this, a cyclostationary theory combined with autocorrelation function and Hilbert transform
is applied to extract the characteristics of aero-engine rotor–stator rubbing fault according to the aero-engine
structure and rotating features with regard to of single-point rubbing and local rubbing. Signal autocorrelation
function is analyzed by cyclic autocorrelation function and Hilbert transform, in order to extract rubbing charac-
teristics based on casing signal of aero-engine and reduce inconsistent frequency in the frequency spectrum between
time-delay signal of cyclic frequency slice position and original signal. Meanwhile, consideration is given to the
influence of rubbing position and sensor installation position in the extraction of rubbing characteristics. Finally,
the Hilbert envelope spectrum is compared and analyzed between normal running and occurrence of the rubbing
faults of aero-engines. The result indicates that the different cyclic frequency positions slice signal’s Hilbert envelop
spectrum of signal autocorrelation function, but not original acceleration signal which has outstanding characteristic
frequency for rubbing frequency (product between blade numbers and rotating frequency) and its twice frequency
when rubbing fault occurs not only in single rubbing but also in local partial rubbing. Meanwhile, when compared
with the original vibration signal slice, inconsistent frequency of the autocorrelation function slice in the Hilbert
envelope spectrum is decreased considerably.

Keywords
Aero-engine, autocorrelation, cyclic autocorrelation function, casing, Hilbert transform, rubbing

Date received: 26 April 2016; accepted: 4 April 2017

Introduction
Rubbing is a kind of common and serious nonlinear
fault of aero-engine, which not only affects the service
life of the equipments but also is likely to cause
tremendous economic loss and casualties.1 It is
important to determine the causes for the rubbing
fault characteristics early, and it is of great economic
and important theoretical value to find the reason for
the fault, improve design, avoid accidents and
improve the work-safety of aero-engines. The rubbing
fault characteristics of real aero-engines are particu-
larly difficult to be extracted due to the limited
number of stops, inconvenience of disassembly,
occasionality, and difficulty to emerge.2 Due to the
close symmetric physical structure and rotation
mode, aero-engine casing vibration signal has a
cyclostationary feature and the rubbing fault charac-
teristics can be studied in the cyclostationary theory
frame. In the last two decades, cyclostationary theory
was applied to the signal and information processing,
and has also been studied in the rotating machine
fault diagnosis. Some noteworthy conclusions have
been obtained with the vibration signal of the rolling
element bearing and gears, and Antoni’s3 study is the
most representative. In 2001, Randall et al.3 applied
cyclostationary theory and envelope analysis to the
ball bearing fault diagnosis, considering the relation-
ship between spectral and envelope analysis for the
cyclostationary signal. Meanwhile, Antoni et al.4
dedicated to modeling rotating machine signals as
cyclostationary processes,a comprehensive methodol-
ogy is proposed in order to process actual cyclosta-
tionary signals, and three typical ones apply to
1
School of Automation, Shenyang Aerospace University, China
2
Guizhou Aero-engine Design Institute, Aviation Industry Corporation
of China, China
Corresponding author:
Mingyue Yu, School of Automation, Shenyang Aerospace University,
Daoyi South Street, Shenbei New District, Shenyang, Liaoning Province,
China.
Email: yumingyue211@outlook.com
2 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)

dealing with vibration signals of IC engine, rolling Cyclic autocorrelation function and
element bearing and a gearbox was analyzed by dif- Hilbert transform
ferent types of cyclostationarity in 2004. . . . Antoni
et al.5 combined the cyclostationary theory with
Cyclic autocorrelation function
blind separation algorithm and studied the convolu- Suppose xðtÞ is a continuous signal, then autocorrel-
tion mix blind separation algorithm based on the ation function of xðtÞ is
cyclostationary theory. Higher order cyclic statistics n 
theory was applied to the rotating machine fault diag-     o
Rx ðt, Þ ¼ E x t  x tþ ð1Þ
nosis by Chen et al.6 Bouillaut and Sidahmed7 com- 2 2
bined the cyclostationary theory with bilinear
approach to helicopter gearbox early diagnosis and Efg is the statistical average value,  is the delay
classification method based on higher order cyclosta- factor, and * represents the conjugate. If Rx ðt, Þ is a
tionarity. Borghesani et al.8 introduced the original cyclic function of time t, then xðtÞ has second-order
analytical derivation of the statistical tests for cyclos- cyclostationary characteristics. Because Rx ðt, Þ is a
tationary in the squared envelope spectrum, and the periodic function, it can be obtained through
proposed method was verified by using the experimen- Fourier series expansion
tal vibration data of the rolling element bearings. X
Lamraoui et al.9 used the cyclostationary method to Rx ðt, Þ ¼ Rx ð, Þej2t ð2Þ
2A
investigate chatter and tool wear vibrations signals
acquired from high-speed milling. Boungou et al.10 m
where  ¼ ðm 2 ZÞ represents the cyclic frequency,
T0
proposed the fatigue damage detection method and T0 is the period of autocorrelation function. Then
according to the cyclostationary theory. Fourier transform coefficient is given as
The application study of the cyclostationary the-
Z     
T
ory on rotating machine fault diagnosis is widely pro- 1 2

moted by research scholars both home and abroad. Rx ð, Þ ¼ lim x t x t þ ej2t dt
T!1 T T2 2 2
The research is mainly concentrated on small-sized
rotator experiment table and noncasing signal. ð3Þ
Meanwhile, the study does not give full consideration
to the aero-engine rotor-disc-blade structure, and its where Rx ð, Þ represents the cyclic autocorrelation
fault diagnosis is often studied according to the casing function of the cyclic frequency equal to .
signal because of the assembly and structural Suppose x (t) is an amplitude modulated signal,
limitations. The study meets certain limitations then
owing to the complexity of rubbing fault, and so it
is difficult to be applied to practical aero-engines. xðtÞ ¼ A½1 þ B cosð2fn tÞ cosð2fz tÞ ð4Þ
Aero-engines work under adverse circumstances,
and the casing signal is the comprehensive reflection fz represents the carrier frequency, and fn repre-
of many parts. The signal distortion, energy attenu- sents the modulation frequency. A and B is respec-
ation, and noise effect leads to obtaining the weak and tively amplitude of carrier signal and modulation
complex casing vibration signals.2 Satisfactory results signal. It is also seen that
probably by cyclic statistics alone are difficult to
Z T=2
obtain. Meanwhile, the cyclic frequency is a kind of 1
frequency shift from the original signal frequency, i.e. lim expði!1 tÞ expði!2 tÞdt ¼ 0 !1 6¼ !2 ð5Þ
T!1 T T=2
it is a mapping of the original signal frequency, which
leads to the existence of some frequency in the cyclic According to equations (3) to (5), it is inferred that
frequency domain while it does not exist in the ori-
ginal signal frequency spectrum. These reasons Rfx ðÞ
8 2 h i
increased the difficulty of applying the cyclostationary > A B2
>
> 2 cosð2fz Þ 1 þ 2 cosð2fn Þ f¼0
theory to the aero-engine fault diagnosis. >
>
>
> 2
Signal’s autocorrelation function can reserve the > A2B cosð2fz Þ½1 þexpði2fn Þ
> f ¼ fn
>
>
periodic component and eliminate noise at the same >
< A2 B2 cosð2fz Þ½expði2fn Þ f ¼ 2fn
time, and meanwhile can change the frequency modu- ¼ 28 h i
>
> A
½ expði2f Þ  1 þ B2
cosð2f Þ f ¼ 2fz
lation to amplitude modulation. Hilbert transform >
> 4 n 2 n
>
>
>
> A2 B ½expði2f Þþ exp½2ðf f Þi
can obtain the complex envelope of signal, which >
> z n z f ¼ ðfn 2fz Þ
>
> 8
removes the regular vibration component. Based on : A 2 B2
16 exp ½ 2ðf n  fz Þi  f ¼ ð2fn  2fz Þ
the above analysis, this paper proposes a new method
combining the autocorrelation function, Hilbert ð6Þ
transform, and cyclostationary theory to extract the
rubbing fault characteristics in the state of single- It is obvious that cyclic autocorrelation function is
point and local partial rubbing of aero-engines. not equal to zero if and only if cyclic frequency f ¼ 0,
Yu et al.
Figure 1. (a) Research method combining cyclic autocorrelation function and Hilbert transform; (b) new method proposed in
this paper.
f ¼ fn , f ¼ 2fn , f ¼ 2fz , f ¼ ð fn  2fz Þ and
f ¼ ð2fn  2fz Þ, while f ¼ 0 represents stationary
signal. If one f value is taken, and the split signal of
the cyclic autocorrelation function is analyzed in this f
value, then fault characteristics can be extracted by
obtaining modulation spectrum of the split signal.
Hilbert transform
Suppose original signal is yðtÞ, then the Hilbert trans-
form of yðtÞ is
Z þ1
1 yi ðÞ
H½ yi ðtÞ ¼ d ð7Þ
 1 t
Structuring yðtÞ analysis function zi ðtÞ
zi ðtÞ ¼ yi ðtÞ þ jH½ yi ðtÞ ¼ Ai ðtÞej’i ðtÞ ð8Þ
Then the amplitude function Ai ðtÞ of yðtÞ is
obtained, namely the Hilbert envelope spectrum
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Ai ðtÞ ¼ y2i ðtÞ þ H2 ½ yi ðtÞ ð9Þ
A new characteristic analysis method
for aero-engine rotor–stator rubbing
In consideration of the aero-engine rotor-disc-blade
structure, every blade will impact the rubbing point
in turn, and this behavior will repeat with rotator
cycle rotation. Therefore, the vibration caused by rub-
bing is similar to gear; the rubbing frequency corres-
ponds to the meshing frequency of gear. The vibration
amplitude is modulated by the rotating speed.
Therefore, there are modulated boundary frequencies
by rotating frequency in rubbing frequency and its
frequency doubling. The rubbing frequency is equal
to the product of blade numbers and the rotational
speed. That is, fn is respectively the rotating frequency
and rubbing frequency in equation (6). Therefore, we
can respectively consider f being equal to the rotating
3
frequency and its frequency doubling and rubbing
frequency and its frequency double to analyze the
cyclic autocorrelation function. Considering signal’s
autocorrelation function can reserve the periodic
component and eliminate noise at the same time,
and Hilbert transform can remove the regular vibra-
tion component and only contain signal modulated
information without the load frequency composition.
Autocorrelation function and Hilbert envelop spec-
trum is respectively used to reduce noise and demodu-
late rubbing signal when single-point rubbing and
local partial rubbing occurs.
Based on the above analysis, this paper proposes a
new method combined with the autocorrelation func-
tion, Hilbert transform, and cyclostationary theory to
extract rubbing fault characteristics of aero-engines.
The common research method used to extract the
rubbing characteristics is the combined cyclic autocor-
relation function and Hilbert transform as shown in
Figure 1(a). The new method proposed in this paper is
shown in Figure 1(b).
The difference is obvious when comparing
Figure 1(a) and (b), and they are shown as follows:
1. The casing vibration signal is analyzed in the new
method;
2. The autocorrelation function is used to reduce
noise in the new method;
3. Considering the aero-engine rotor-disc-blade
structure, rubbing frequency and its doubling fre-
quency is used to analyze the modulation
frequency.
The concrete steps of new method are as follows:
1. The casing vibration signal is collected including
normal running, single-point rubbing, and local
partial rubbing fault occurs of aero-engine rotor
experiment rig.
2. The autocorrelation function is obtained through
original casing vibration signal.
3. Slice signal of autocorrelation function in time-
delay domain and cyclic frequency domain is
4 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)
Figure 2. Aero-engine rotor experiment rig.
analyzed by cyclic autocorrelation function. The
split position includes not only the rotating fre-
quency and its doubling frequency but also rub-
bing frequency as well as doubling frequency.
4. Finally, Hilbert envelop spectrum is used to
extract characteristics of slice signal, and rubbing
characteristics and rules are extracted according to
the Hilbert envelope spectrum.
Rubbing experiment
In this paper, all experiment data come from the aero-
engine rotor experiment rig, which is designed by the
Shenyang Aero-engine Design Institute. The experi-
ment rig core-engine is simplified to be 0-2-0 support
structure, and the compressor is simplified to be a
single disk structure. The diagram of aero-engine
rotor experiment rig is shown in Figure 2.
In aero-engine, rubbing is mainly caused by rotor
imbalance, casing deformation, support different con-
centric, etc. Rotor is difficult to rebound by rubbing
force as rotor is heavy while casing usually is light due
to the use of thin case structure, which leads to the
rubbing types of aero-engine shown in partial rub-
bing, while partial rubbing position has some differ-
ences due to casing deformation difference, direction
difference of support different concentric. Considering
that rubbing position is distributed on casing whole
circumference, the paper respectively sets four uni-
form distribution rubbing points on single-point rub-
bing state and two rubbing positions on partial
rubbing state. The specific rubbing positions are as
follows: (1) single-point rubbing: vertical upper, ver-
tical lower, horizontal left, and horizontal right on
turbine casing. (2) Local rub: (a) the turbine casing
local left or right, (b) the compressor casing local left
or right. The diagrams of the rubbing experiment in
different rubbing states are shown in Figure 3. Figure
3(a) shows the single-point rubbing experimental dia-
gram. Figure 3(b) depicts the partial rubbing experi-
mental diagram. Different extents of single-point
rubbing experiments and local partial rubbing experi-
ments could respectively be embodied by adjusting the
rubbing screw against rubbing ring and adjust the
compressor partial rubbing adjusting mechanism.
The installation position of acceleration sensors
always includes vertical upper, vertical lower, hori-
zontal left, and horizontal right of turbine casing.
All the rubbing experiments involved in the paper
are based on the acceleration signal collected by the
acceleration sensors Model 4508, which is provided by
Demark Brüel&Kjær, and the rotating speed
measured by SE series eddy current displacement sen-
sors, which is provided by instrument factory
Southeast University. Data collector model is
USB9234 provided by National Instruments. The
experiment is conducted under room temperature.
Diagrams of installation position of sensors are
shown in Figure 3(c).
Aero-engine rotor–stator rubbing
characteristic extract
Due to the limited space, single-point rubbing experi-
mental data are randomly selected from 17 May 2014,
and the rotational speed is about 1500 r/min; local
partial rubbing experimental data are randomly
selected from 28 April 2013, where the rubbing
extent is light, and the rotational speed is about
1200 r/min. 1T–5T respectively represent 1–5 integer
multiple rubbing frequencies involved in the paper.
Aero-engine rotor–stator rubbing characteristics
extraction based on autocorrelation function of
casing acceleration signal
Cyclic autocorrelation function is used to analyze the
rubbing fault on casing vibration acceleration signal.
We firstly take single-point rubbing as an example for
analysis. The rubbing position and sensor installation
position is selected on the vertical direction (select
vertical upper randomly) and horizontal direction
(select horizontal right randomly) of turbine casing.
Yu et al. 5

Figure 3. Rubbing experiment and sensors installed position diagram: (a) turbine casing single-point rubbing experiment; (b) local
partial rubbing experiment; (c) sensors installed position diagram of turbine casing.

Figure 4. (a) Time-domain signal and (b) frequency spectrum of the vibration signal.

Firstly, rubbing experiment with rubbing position on
vertical upper and sensor installed on vertical upper of
turbine casing is studied. The experimental rotating
speed is 1511.7 r/min, the rotating frequency is 25.2
Hz, and the rubbing frequency (product between
blade numbers and rotating frequency, and the
blade numbers is 32 of aero-engine experimental rig)
is 806.2 Hz. The result is shown in Figure 4 where
Figure 4(a) and (b) respectively represent time-
domain signal and its slice signal frequency spectrum
graph on time-delay equal to zero of the original
signal.
By observing Figure 4(b), we cannot find signifi-
cant rubbing characteristics by cyclic autocorrelation
function alone to analyze the casing signal, due to
obtaining weak and complex casing vibration signal.
In order to obtain more satisfactory results, autocor-
relation function is used to reduce noise and enhance
the single-point rubbing characteristics. Firstly, the
autocorrelation function is obtained according to
the original casing vibration signal. Then autocorrel-
ation function’s slice signal in time-delay domain and
cyclic frequency domain is analyzed according to the
cyclic autocorrelation function, and the split position
includes not only the rotating frequency and double
rotating frequency, but also rubbing frequency and
double rubbing frequency. Finally, the Hilbert enve-
lope spectrum is used to extract characteristics of slice
6 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)

Figure 5. Cyclostationary autocorrelation function zero-time-delay slice for: (a) autocorrelation function slice and (b) autocorrel-
ation function slice local amplification.

Figure 6. Cyclostationary autocorrelation function slice graph of the cyclostationary frequency from10 Hz to 90 Hz for: (a) original
signal slice and (b) autocorrelation function slice.

signal, and rubbing characteristics and rules are
abstracted according to the Hilbert envelope
spectrum.
For comparison with the cyclic autocorrelation
function that was used alone to extract rubbing char-
acteristics through original vibration acceleration
signal, selected data are consistent with Figure 4.
Figure 5(a) and (b) respectively represents slice
graph and its local amplification on time-delay equal
to zero of the original signal autocorrelation function.
Comparing Figure 5 with Figure 4, it is seen that
cyclic autocorrelation function slice on cyclic
Yu et al. 7

Figure 7. Cyclostationary autocorrelation function slice of cyclostationary frequency from 600 Hz to1000 Hz for: (a) original signal
slice and (b) autocorrelation function slice.

Figure 8. Cyclostationary autocorrelation function slice of the cyclostationary frequency from 1400 Hz to1800 Hz for: (a) original
signal slice and (b) autocorrelation function slice.
8 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)
frequency domain when time-delay is equal to zero of
signal autocorrelation function has outstanding
characteristic frequency on rubbing frequency and
double frequency positions, while original vibration
acceleration signal analyzed by cyclic autocorrelation
function does not have obvious characteristic
frequency in Figure 4.
Figure 9. Frequency spectrum of the original casing vibration
signal.
Figure 10. Different cyclostationary frequency slice signal’s frequency spectrum of the autocorrelation function for (a), (b), (c) and
(d) cyclostationary frequency () is respectively equal to rotating frequency, double rotating frequency, rubbing frequency. and double
rubbing frequency.
To research the rubbing characteristics further,
cyclic autocorrelation function’s slice signal on differ-
ent cyclic frequency positions was analyzed between
the original vibration acceleration signal and its
autocorrelation function. Figures 6 to 8 respectively
represents slice graph of the cyclic frequency from 10
Hz to 90 Hz, from 600 Hz to 1000 Hz, and from
1400 Hz to 1800 Hz. Figures 6(a) to Figure 8(a) rep-
resents different cyclic frequency slice of the original
vibration acceleration signal, and Figures 6(b) to 8(b)
represent autocorrelation function on different cyclic
frequency slices of the original vibration acceleration
signal.
Some conclusions can be drawn by comparison
and analysis of Figures 6 to 8:
There are significant characteristic values only in
cyclic frequency equal to the rotating frequency in
the original vibration acceleration signal cyclic auto-
correlation function slice signal, while cyclic autocor-
relation slice has more significant characteristic values
in rotating frequency, double rotating frequency, rub-
bing frequency, double rubbing frequency position of
original vibration acceleration signal autocorrelation
function. We can see rubbing fault characteristics
become more outstanding if the original acceleration
signal is analyzed firstly by autocorrelation function
and then by cyclic autocorrelation function.
Yu et al.
Figure 11. Different cyclostationary frequency slice signal’s Hilbert envelope spectrum of autocorrelation function for (a), (b), (c)
and (d) represents respectively cyclostationary frequency () equal to rotating frequency, double rotating frequency, rubbing fre-
quency, and double rubbing frequency.
For exploring the rubbing characteristics in future,
frequency spectrum of the original casing vibration
acceleration signal and the time-delay slice signal of
autocorrelation function were analyzed and com-
pared. The slice position of cyclic frequency includes
rotating frequency and double rotating frequency,
rubbing frequency and double rubbing frequency.
Figure 9 depicts the frequency spectrum of the ori-
ginal casing vibration acceleration signal.
Figure 10(a) to (d) respectively represents time-delay
signal’s frequency spectrum on cyclic frequency equal
to rotating frequency and double rotating frequency,
rubbing frequency and double rubbing frequency of
the cyclic autocorrelation function.
From Figure 9 we can find that the frequency spec-
trum of casing vibration signal has significant impact
characteristic frequency in rubbing frequency 3–5
integer multiple positions, and also sees large noise
signal at the same time.
From Figure 10, in the precise analysis on time-
delay signal’s frequency spectrum of casing vibra-
tion signal autocorrelation function, we can find
that rubbing frequency and its multiples frequency
is outstanding in the cyclic frequency equal to rotat-
ing frequency, double rotating frequency, rubbing
frequency and double rubbing frequency, but there
9
is also some frequency which does not exist in the
original vibration signal frequency spectrum
(Figure 9). It is because the cyclic frequency is a
kind of mapping from the original signal frequency,
and it represents a kind of correlation among fre-
quency on certain cyclic frequency position when
original vibration acceleration signal frequency is
shifted. These inconsistent frequencies with original
signal frequency spectrum add to the difficulty of
rubbing fault diagnosis.
Aero-engine rubbing characteristic extract based on
autocorrelation function, cyclic autocorrelation
function, and Hilbert envelope spectrum
In order to reduce the inconsistent frequency between
cyclic autocorrelation function slice signal and original
vibration acceleration signal, the Hilbert envelope spec-
trum is introduced to analyze the time-delay slice signal.
Figure 11(a) and (b) respectively represents autocorrel-
ation function time-delay signal’s Hilbert envelop spec-
trum of the cyclic frequency equal to rotating frequency
and its double, Figure 11(c) and (d) respectively repre-
sents autocorrelation function time-delay signal’s
Hilbert envelop spectrum of the cyclic frequency equal
to rubbing frequency and its double.
10 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)

Figure 12. Sensor installed position effect on rubbing characteristics extraction-sensor installed on horizontal direction while
rubbing position on vertical direction for (a) time-domain signal, (b) original vibration signal frequency spectrum, (c), (d), (e) and (f)
represents respectively cyclostationary frequency () equal to rotating frequency, double rotating frequency, rubbing frequency, and
double rubbing frequency.

In the precise analysis on time-delay signal’s

Hilbert envelope spectrum of autocorrelation func-
tion, it can be seen that outstanding rubbing charac-
teristics exist, irrespective of the cyclic frequency equal
to rotating frequency and its double or rubbing fre-
quency and double rubbing frequency. Compared
with the frequency spectrum of casing original signal
(Figure 9) and slice signal of autocorrelation function
(Figure 10), the noise and inconsistent frequency is
reduced considerably, and rubbing frequency and
twice rubbing frequency was better reserved at the
same time, which proved that the proposed new
method can effectively and correctly extract rubbing
features in single-point rubbing occurrence.
Different factors effect on rubbing
characteristics extraction based on
proposed new method
Sensor installed position effect
To compare the influence of the installation position
of sensor on rubbing characteristics extraction, we
selected the experimental data collected in the same
time in section ‘‘Aero-engine rotor-stator rubbing
characteristics extraction based on autocorrelation
function of casing acceleration signal’’ to analyze,
and conducted rubbing characteristic analysis on the
signal collected by the acceleration sensors installed
Yu et al.
Figure 13. Rubbing type effect on rubbing characteristics extraction—local partial rubbing for: (a) time-domain signal, (b) and (c)
represents respectively cyclostationary frequency () equal to rubbing frequency and double rubbing frequency.
on turbine casing horizontal right. Figure 12(a) and
(b) respectively represents the time-domain signal and
its frequency spectrum. Figure 12(c) to (f) respectively
represents time-delay slice signal’s Hilbert envelope
spectrum on cyclic frequency equal to rotating fre-
quency, double rotating frequency, rubbing fre-
quency, and double rubbing frequency.
From Figure 12, we can draw the following
conclusions:
From Figures 12(c) and 15(d), we can find that
there is no rubbing frequency and its integer multiple
frequency on cyclic frequency is equal to rotating fre-
quency and its double rotating frequency if rubbing
position on vertical direction while sensor installed
horizontal direction, it is inconsistent with Figure
11(a) and (b). On analysis of Figure 12(e) and (f)
there is outstanding rubbing frequency and its integer
multiple frequency on cyclic frequency equal to rub-
bing frequency and its double rubbing frequency if
rubbing position on vertical direction, while sensor
installed horizontal direction, it is consistent with
Figure 11(c) and (d). That is, if the cyclic frequency
is equal to the rubbing frequency and double rubbing
frequency, the time-delay slice signal’s Hilbert envelop
spectrum of autocorrelation function has not been
affected by sensor installation position. Significant
characteristic frequency appears on the rubbing fre-
quency or its integer multiple frequency positions irre-
spective of the sensor installed on the vertical or
horizontal direction.
11
Rubbing type effect on rubbing characteristics
extraction
Taking into account the influence of the rubbing type
on the rubbing characteristics extraction, the experi-
mental data is collected and analyzed from 28 April
2013 in local partial rubbing of turbine casing where
the extent of rubbing is light. The acceleration sensors
are installed on the turbine casing horizontal right and
the experiment rotating speed is 1214.7 r/min, and the
rotating frequency is 20.2 Hz, and the rubbing fre-
quency is 646.4 Hz. Figure 13(a) to (c) respectively
represents time-domain signal and time-delay slice sig-
nal’s Hilbert envelope spectrum on cyclic frequency
equal to rubbing frequency and double rubbing
frequency.
From Figure 13(b) and (c), we can find that there is
outstanding but not unique rubbing frequency and its
integer multiple frequency on cyclic frequency is equal
to rubbing frequency and double rubbing frequency,
and is consistent with Figure 11(c), Figure 11(d) and
Figure 12(e), Figure 12(f). That is, if the cyclic fre-
quency equals rubbing frequency and double rubbing
frequency, the time-delay slice signal’s Hilbert enve-
lope spectrum of autocorrelation function has been
affected slightly by rubbing type. Significant charac-
teristic frequency appears on rubbing frequency or its
integer multiple frequencies positions but is not
unique, which may be caused by nonsingle blade in
contact with the rubbing ring.
12
Figure 14. Rubbing position effect on rubbing characteristics extraction-sensor installed on vertical direction and rubbing position
on horizontal direction for (a) time-domain signal, (b) original vibration signal frequency spectrum, (c) cyclostationary frequency,
 ¼ rubbing frequency slice signal’s Hilbert envelop spectrum and (d) cyclostationary frequency  ¼ double rubbing frequency slice
signal’s Hilbert envelope spectrum.
Rubbing position effect on rubbing characteristics
extraction
In order to compare the influence of rubbing position
on rubbing characteristic extraction, the experimental
data from 17 May 2014 were taken and rubbing pos-
ition on horizontal right of turbine casing as an exam-
ple was analyzed. The rubbing state is a single-point
rubbing, and the acceleration sensors are also selected
in the vertical direction (also select vertical upper).
The rotating speed is 1503.5 r/min, and its rotating
frequency is 25.1 Hz, rubbing frequency is equal to
801.9 Hz. Figure 14(a) and (b) respectively shows
time-domain signal and its frequency spectrum.
Figure 14(c) and (d) respectively represents time-delay
slice signal’s Hilbert envelope spectrum of autocorrel-
ation function on cyclic frequency equal to rubbing
frequency and double rubbing frequency.
By analyzing Figure 14 and comparing with
Figure 11(c) to (f), we can find that there is out-
standing rubbing frequency and its integer multiple
frequency on cyclic frequency equal to rubbing fre-
quency and double rubbing frequency if rubbing
position is in the horizontal direction while if
sensor is installed in the vertical direction, it is con-
sistent with rubbing position on vertical direction in
Figure 11(c) to (f).
Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)
On analysis of Figure 11(c), Figure 11(d), Figure
12(e), Figure 12(f), Figure 13(c), Figure 13(d), Figure
14(c) and Figure 14(d), we can find that the rubbing
position and sensor installation position has no effect
by using the Hilbert envelope spectrum of autocorrel-
ation function extract rubbing characteristic, if the
cyclic frequency is equal to rubbing frequency and
double rubbing frequency. The rubbing type has
small effect on rubbing characteristics extraction,
but it also has obvious rubbing frequency and its inte-
ger multiply, with the frequency component being
more complex. That is, combining the Hilbert enve-
lope spectrum with autocorrelation function and
cyclic autocorrelation function can effectively extract
rubbing characteristics based on casing vibration
signal in the state of single-point rubbing and local-
light partial rubbing.
Hilbert envelope spectrum analysis on the
aero-engine normal running station
For comparing the difference of the cyclic autocor-
relation slice signal’s Hilbert envelope spectrum
between aero-engine normal running state and rub-
bing fault occurrence, we also take the experimental
data of 17 May 2014 as an example for analysis,
with aero-engine rotor experiment rig running
Yu et al.
Figure 15. Hilbert envelope spectrum analysis in aero-engine running in normal station for (a) time-domain signal, (b) original
vibration signal frequency spectrum, (c) cyclostationary frequency,  ¼ rubbing frequency slice signal’s Hilbert envelope spectrum of
autocorrelation function and (d) cyclostationary frequency  ¼ double rubbing frequency slice signal’s Hilbert envelop spectrum of
autocorrelation function.
on normal state. Figure 15(a) and (b) are respectively
the time domain signal and its frequency spectrum.
Figure 15(c) and (d) respectively shows time-delay
signal’s Hilbert envelope spectrum of autocorrelation
function when cyclic frequency is the rubbing fre-
quency and double rubbing frequency.
From Figure 15(c) and (d), we can see that
the time-delay slice signal’s Hilbert envelope spec-
trum of autocorrelation function does not have sig-
nificant characteristic frequency on cyclic frequency
equal to rubbing frequency and double rubbing fre-
quency, and the difference is obvious with aero-
engine rubbing fault occurrence. It is therefore
advantageous to identify the rubbing fault of aero-
engines.
Conclusions and discussion
Considering that the casing signal of aero-engines is
weak and complex, this study combines autocorrel-
ation function, cyclostationary theory, and Hilbert
transform to extract the aero-engine rotor–stator rub-
bing characteristics according to the aero-engine
structure and rotating features in the state of single-
point rubbing and local-light partial rubbing based on
13
casing vibration signal. The method also has the fol-
lowing characteristics:
1. Analysis of comparison is carried out between ori-
ginal vibration signal and its autocorrelation func-
tion based on the cyclic autocorrelation function
and Hilbert transform. The result shows that the
cyclic autocorrelation function slice signal Hilbert
envelope spectrum of the autocorrelation function
has outstanding characteristic frequency on the
cyclic frequency, which is equal to the rubbing fre-
quency and twice rubbing frequency. While ori-
ginal vibration signal does not have obvious
characteristics, it is analyzed in the same method.
2. The sensor installation position and rubbing pos-
ition effect on rubbing characteristic extraction is
considered at the same time. By analysis it was
found that the extracted rubbing characteristic
according to Hilbert envelope spectrum has not
been affected by rubbing position and sensors
installation position on cyclic frequency equal to
rubbing frequency and double rubbing frequency.
3. The effect of rubbing type on rubbing characteris-
tic extraction is considered. By analysis it was
found that the extracted rubbing characteristic
14
according to Hilbert envelope spectrum has been
effected slightly, but there also exists obvious rub-
bing frequency and its integer multiply on cyclic
frequency equal to rubbing frequency, double rub-
bing frequency, where the frequency component is
more complex, which may be caused by nonsingle
blade contacting with the rubbing ring.
4. Time-delay slice signal’s Hilbert envelope spec-
trum does not have significant characteristic fre-
quency on cyclic frequency equal to rubbing
frequency and twice rubbing frequency if aero-
engine runs on normal state, and the difference is
obvious with the occurrence of aero-engine rub-
bing fault, which is obviously advantageous in
identifying the rubbing fault of aero-engines.
5. The proposed research method in this paper
should be inspected in the actual project. The pro-
posed method was inspected just by simulated
data of the aero-engine rotor experiment rig. As
the real aero-engine structure is far more complex
than the rotor experiment rig, and there are great
deals of external noises and vibrations in the real
flight, actual project inspection is required to
determine the efficiency of extracting casing char-
acteristics. Meanwhile, the rubbing extent effect
on rubbing characteristics extract should be con-
sidered, and owing to the limitation of space and
experimental condition, in this paper just studies
on the middle-single-point rubbing and light-local
partial rubbing was carried out.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of
this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial
support for the research, authorship, and/or publication
Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)
of this article: This work was supported by the National
Natural Science Fund (grant no. 51605309), Provincial
Education Department of Liaoning Province (grant no.
L201628), and Aviation Science Function (grant no.
20163354004).
References
1. Kostyuka AG, Shatokhinb VF and Volokhovskayac
OA. Motion of an imbalanced rotor when it rubs
against the stator. Therm Eng 2012; 59: 87–95.
2. Yu MY and Tian F. Characteristic analysis on the rub-
bing of rotor blade-casing of aero-engine based on
Hilbert transform. J Vibroeng 2005; 17: 733–742.
3. Randall RB, Antoni J and Chobsaard S. The relation-
ship between spectral correlation and envelope analysis
for cyclostationary machine signals, application to ball
bearing diagnostics. Mech Syst Syst Process 2001; 15:
945–962.
4. Antoni J, Bonnardot F, Raad A, et al. Cyclostationary
modeling of rotating machine vibration signals. Mech
Syst Signal Process 2004; 18: 1285–1314.
5. Antoni J, Guillet F, El Badaoui M, et al. Blind separ-
ation of convolved cyclostationary processes. Signal
Process 2005; 85: 51–66.
6. Jin C and Ming J. The state-of-art of the application of
the higher-order cyclostationary statistics in mechanical
fault diagnosis. J Vib Eng 2001; 14: 125–134.
7. Bouillaut L and Sidahmed M. Cyclostationary
approach and bilinear approach: comparison, applica-
tions to early diagnosis for helicopter gearbox and clas-
sification method based on HOCS. Mech Syst Signal
Process 2001; 15: 923–943.
8. Borghesani P, Pennacchi P, Ricci R, et al. Testing
second order cyclostationarity in the squared envelope
spectrum of non-white vibration signals. Mech Syst
Signal Process 2013; 40: 38–55.
9. Lamraoui M, Thomas M and El Badaoui M.
Cyclostationarity approach for monitoring chatter and
tool wear in high speed milling. Mech Syst Signal
Process 2014; 44: 177–198.
10. Boungou D, Guillet F and El Badaoui M. Fatigue
damage detection using cyclostationarity. Mech Syst
Signal Process 2014; 1: 1–15.