Abstract Addressing the challenge of diagnosing incipient bearing faults amidst significant noise, a novel diagnostic approach is introduced, leveraging a Rank Constrained Low-Rank and Sparse Decomposition (RCLRSD) model tailored for weak fault detection in bearings. Initially, we raised the Autocorrelation Function of the Square Envelope in Frequency Domain (AFSEFD) as an innovative method for the estimation of fault frequencies. Subsequently, we constructed a two-dimensional observation matrix, which is formulated independently of predefined assumptions. Then, we examine the configuration and distribution patterns of bearing fault signals, uncovering the low-rank nature of fault characteristics within a designated two-dimensional transform domain. Moreover, we found the noise signal to exhibit sparsity and an approximate Gaussian distribution. Based on this, a rank-constrained low-rank sparse decomposition model is established, and rank-constrained low-rank regular constraints for feature information and sparse regular constraints and Gaussian constraints for interference signals are constructed respectively. Ultimately, we employed the Gray Wolf Optimization (GWO) algorithm to refine the model parameters, and we deduced the model's solver via the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM). The proposed RCLRSD model decomposes bearing fault data into three constituents: low-rank, sparse, and Gaussian components, effectively addressing the challenge of extracting weak fault signatures from bearings. The weak feature extraction capability of the RCLRSD model is verified using a multi-interference simulation model and experimental data of bearing failures under strong noise conditions; the generalization of the model is verified by the classification effect of the Support Vector Machine (SVM) under two bearing failure datasets. Comparison with various algorithms confirms the superiority of the proposed algorithm.

A novel bearing weak fault diagnosis method based on rank constrained low-rank and sparse decomposition