A computationally efficient method for induction motor bearing fault detection based on parallel convolutions and semi-supervised GAN

Accurate and timely bearing fault detection is imperative for optimal system functioning and the implementation of preventative maintenance measures. Deep learning models provide viable solutions to these malfunctions, however, the lack of labelled data makes the training both expensive and cumbersome. To remedy this, various semi-supervised approaches have surfaced in the last decade, significantly mitigating the need for extensive labelled data but with added computational cost. This study proposes one such approach by leveraging generative adversarial networks (GAN) trained on a time-frequency based representation. The proposed Parallel Convolutions Semi-Supervised GAN, namely PC-SSGAN, uses bottleneck parallel convolutions blocks to capture multi-scale features in both local and global contexts, lacing both the generator and discriminator with enhanced feature extraction capabilities and simultaneously reducing the parameters and training time. The Proposed framework is evaluated on two distinct open-source datasets. The classification accuracy for both models exceeded 99.50%. Moreover, the proposed parallel convolutions-based architecture spent approximately 33% less time on training than the normal convolutional layers. It has been foreseen that the proposed fault detection system can be integrated into the motor fault tolerant control system to produce a unified framework that can make informed decisions to handle the bearing faults effectively.