Needle bearing endurance test data for early fault detection during oscillating movements

In aviation, there is a transition to more electric aircraft (MEA) for commercial aircraft, as electric powered components promise an increase in operational efficiency. These components are being integrated into the primary and secondary flight control system. The adaptation of electromechanical actuators (EMAs), for instance, can enhance maintainability, reliability and reduce the overall aircraft weight. However, the service life of such an actuator depends on the failure mechanisms of its components. During operation, bearings are critical components because they experience short-stroke movements that may lead to early failure due to fretting corrosion. Under these conditions, the amplitude of the oscillation, the frequency and the applied load vary. To ensure the safe and reliable operation of EMAs, it is necessary to implement an early fault detection mechanism and to improve oscillating bearing lifetime calculation. For accurate prediction of the remaining useful life (RUL), high-fidelity and reliable data are essential. Vibration measurements or analyses of torque signals are frequently used for this purpose. Thus, this data article presents a dataset of eight independent run-to-failure experimental data. The performance of needle bearings was tested using different lubricants. In these tests, the bearings were radial preloaded with 9 to 19.4 kN, the oscillation angle varied between 10° and 20°, and frequencies of 5 Hz and 10 Hz were applied. This article provides measurements of acceleration, temperature, positional displacement, torque fluctuation, and radial movement dynamics obtained from oscillating needle bearings. This dataset serves as a valuable resource to improve the understanding of signal characteristics associated with bearing degradation and fault progression. The results from different tested initial parameters can be leveraged to develop and validate RUL predictive models in various industrial and aerospace engineering applications.