Condition monitoring and intelligent diagnosis of marine electric direct-drive propulsion devices

Abstract

In this paper, aiming at the absence of effective technologies and methods for the health management of marine electric direct-drive propulsion devices, two typical electric direct-drive propulsion devices-podded electric propulsors and rim-driven thrusters—are taken as objects to analyze the propulsion device characteristics and the main components' failure mode. By sorting out the current research status of the condition monitoring technology for each component of an electric propulsion device, we summarized the research status, advantages, and disadvantages of various intelligent fault diagnosis methods. In combination with the characteristics of marine electric direct-drive propulsion devices, we analyzed the current problems in this field and proposed specific solutions. The research direction in the next stage will emphasize the failure modes and mechanisms of water-lubricated thrust bearings and rim motor sheaths, the miniaturization, integration, and intellectualization of sensing technology, and the extrapolation of fault diagnosis models to industrial data.