Research on Rolling Bearing Fault Diagnosis Based on Digital Twin Data and Improved ConvNext

This article introduces a novel framework for diagnosing faults in rolling bearings. The framework combines digital twin data, transfer learning theory, and an enhanced ConvNext deep learning network model. Its purpose is to address the challenges posed by the limited actual fault data density and inadequate result accuracy in existing research on the detection of rolling bearing faults in rotating mechanical equipment. To begin with, the operational rolling bearing is represented in the digital realm through the utilization of a digital twin model. The simulation data produced by this twin model replace traditional experimental data, effectively creating a substantial volume of well-balanced simulated datasets. Next, improvements are made to the ConvNext network by incorporating an unparameterized attention module called the Similarity Attention Module (SimAM) and an efficient channel attention feature referred to as the Efficient Channel Attention Network (ECA). These enhancements serve to augment the network’s capability for extracting features. Subsequently, the enhanced network model is trained using the source domain dataset. Simultaneously, the trained model is transferred to the target domain bearing using transfer learning techniques. This transfer learning process enables the accurate fault diagnosis of the main bearing to be achieved. Finally, the proposed method’s feasibility is validated, and a comparative analysis is conducted in comparison with similar approaches. The comparative study demonstrates that the proposed method effectively addresses the issue of low mechanical equipment fault data density, leading to improved accuracy in fault detection and classification, along with a certain level of robustness.