Vibration-based Approach to Lifetime Prediction of Washing Machines

This paper presents a vibration method for remaining life estimation of components in washing machines. Vibration signals were measured on electric motors during an accelerated lifetime test. Significant frequency bands are identified using a spectral comparison based on the Constant Percentage Bandwidth (CPB) spectrum. CPB- and cepstrum-based indicators are extracted and some improvements are proposed, such as the use of CPB difference sum and envelope cepstrum. Increasing trends of several indicators confirm the potential of vibration-based techniques to quantify the actual life of components. It was found that loose bearings have caused a severe damage of the rotor and stator.