Noise Diagnosis: an Expert System Approach

A diagnostic expert system on gear pump noise was developed from a shell with a limited knowledge base by focusing attention on the concept of the knowledge representation model, in order to give the end-user a friendly and low-cost key to a noise diagnosis able to direct effective maintenance operations. The shell was developed with features such as knowledge representation based on the modular decomposition concept applied to the functional relations of the underlying physical system, a built-in session of knowledge acquisition and rapid protyping of new features. The result is a flexible and robust representation system with few constraints on the cognitive model, the possibility of rapid and incremental prototyping and the re-usability of the knowledge base in other fields of hydraulics. (H.C.B.)