Adaptive Feature Extraction Using Sparrow Search Algorithm-Variational Mode Decomposition for Low-Speed Bearing Fault Diagnosis

To address the challenge of extracting effective fault features at low speeds, where fault information is weak and heavily influenced by environmental noise, a parameter-adaptive variational mode decomposition (VMD) method is proposed. This method aims to overcome the limitations of traditional VMD, which relies on manually set parameters. The sparrow search algorithm is used to calculate the fitness function based on mean envelope entropy, enabling the adaptive determination of the number of mode decompositions and the penalty factor in VMD. Afterward, the optimised parameters are used to enhance traditional VMD, enabling the decomposition of the raw signal to obtain intrinsic mode function components. The kurtosis criterion is then used to select relevant intrinsic mode functions for signal reconstruction. Finally, envelope analysis is applied to the reconstructed signal, and the results reveal the relationship between fault characteristic frequencies and their harmonics. The experimental results demonstrate that compared with other advanced methods, the proposed approach effectively reduces noise interference and extracts fault features for diagnosing low-speed bearing faults.