Identifying a spectral frequency band with abundant fault information from spectral coherence is essential for improved envelope spectrum-based bearing diagnosis. Both blind features and targeted features have been employed to distinguish informative spectral frequency band of spectral coherence. However, how to select appropriate feature to correctly discriminate the optimal frequency band of spectral coherence in different scenarios is problematic. In this study, a new targeted feature is presented to quantify the signal-to-noise ratio in narrow frequency bands of spectral coherence, and further a method based on the proposed feature is developed to distinguish an optimal spectral frequency band of spectral coherence for bearing diagnostics. The efficiency of the developed method, typical blind feature-based methods and typical targeted feature-based methods in identifying the defect-sensitive frequency band of spectral coherence and bearing fault diagnosis is validated and compared using simulated signals with different interference noises and bearing experimental signals. The advantages and limitations of typical blind and targeted feature-based methods in different scenarios are summarized to guide the application. The results demonstrate that the developed targeted feature can efficiently evaluate bearing failure information in the cyclic frequency domain, and the presented approach can accurately discriminate the failure-related spectral frequency band of spectral coherence and detect different bearing faults compared with the methods based on the state-of-the-art features.
