Spectral entropy: A complementary index for rolling element bearing performance degradation assessment

Performance degradation assessment has been proposed to realize equipment's near-zero downtime and maximum productivity. Exploring effective indices is crucial for it. In this study, rolling element bearing has been taken as a research object, spectral entropy is proposed to be as a complementary index for its performance degradation assessment, and its accelerated life test has been performed to collect vibration data over a whole lifetime (normal-fault-failure). Results of both simulation and experiment show that spectral entropy is an effective complementary index.