Abstract

Purpose Real-time monitoring of the critical physical fields of core components in complex equipment is of great significance as it can predict potential failures, provide reasonable preventive maintenance strategies and thereby ensure the service performance of the equipment. This research aims to propose a hierarchical explicit–implicit combined sensing-based real-time monitoring method to achieve the sensing of critical physical field information of core components in complex equipment. Design/methodology/approach Sensor deployable and non-deployable areas are divided based on the dynamic and static constraints in actual service. An integrated method of measurement point layout and performance evaluation is used to optimize sensor placement, and an association mapping between information in non-deployable and deployable areas is established, achieving hierarchical explicit–implicit combined sensing of key sensor information for core components. Finally, the critical physical fields of core components are reconstructed and visualized. Findings The proposed method is applied to the spindle system of CNC machine tools, and the result shows that this method can effectively monitor the spindle system temperature field. Originality/value This research provides an effective method for monitoring the service performance of complex equipment, especially considering the dynamic and static constraints during the service process and detecting critical information in non-deployable areas.