Open Access

ARTICLE

Research on Gearbox Fault Diagnosis Method Based on Multi-Dimensional Feature Extraction and Random Forest

Yu Zhang^1,2,#, Shihan Tan^1,#, Guangyao Lian², Congying Dun³, Qiwei Hu^1,*, Chiming Guo^1,*

1 Shijiazhuang Campus, Army Engineering University of PLA, Shijiazhuang, China
2 No. 32181 Unit of PLA, Xian, China
3 Army Command Academy, Nanjing, China

* Corresponding Authors: Qiwei Hu. Email: ; Chiming Guo. Email:
# These authors contributed equally to this work as the first author

Computers, Materials & Continua 2026, 88(2), 71 https://doi.org/10.32604/cmc.2026.081931

Received 12 March 2026; Accepted 22 April 2026; Issue published 15 June 2026

Abstract

Gearboxes are critical components in the transmission systems of various mechanical equipment. Subjected to complex and harsh operating conditions for a long time, they suffer from a high failure rate and potentially severe consequences. Traditional fault diagnosis methods are limited by problems such as noise interference, and can hardly meet the requirements in terms of diagnostic accuracy, generalization ability, and reliability. To tackle the deficiencies of traditional gearbox fault diagnosis methods, including insufficient utilization of features, poor generalization under small-sample conditions, and weak model interpretability, this paper proposes a fault diagnosis method based on multi-dimensional feature extraction and Random Forest (RF). This method integrates intelligent computing, data-driven approaches, and mechanical structural health monitoring. First, fault feature analysis is conducted from multiple dimensions including time domain, frequency domain, and envelope domain, and visualization verification is implemented using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE). Then, the Random Forest (RF) algorithm is used for dataset training and testing, obtaining a stable diagnostic model with strong generalization ability. Finally, experimental analyses verify the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method. The research results possess high application potential and practical value in improving the performance of gearbox fault diagnosis.

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Keywords

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