Data-Driven Approaches for Diagnosis of Incipient Faults in Cutting Arms of the Roadheader

Incipient fault detection and identification (IFDI) of cutting arms is a crucial guarantee for the smooth operation of a roadheader. However, the shortage of fault samples restricts the application of the fault diagnosis technique, and the data analysis tools should be optimized efficiently. In this study, four machine learning tools (the back-propagation neural network based on genetic algorithm optimization, the naive Bayes based on genetic algorithm optimization, the support vector machines based on particle swarm optimization, and the support vector machines based on dynamic cuckoo) are applied to address the challenge in the IFDI of cutting arms. The commonly measured current and vibration data cutting arms are used in the IFDI. The experimental results show that the support vector machines based on dynamic cuckoo outperform the other methods. Besides, the performance of the four methods under different operating conditions is compared. The fault cause of cutting arms of the roadheader is analyzed and the design improvement scheme for cutting arms is provided. This study provides a reference for improving the fault diagnosis of the roadheader.