Dynamic MAML with Efficient Multi-Scale Attention for Cross-Load Few-Shot Bearing Fault Diagnosis

Abstract: Accurate bearing fault diagnosis under various operational conditions presents significant challenges, mainly due to the limited availability of labeled data and the domain mismatches across different operating environments. In this study, an adaptive meta-learning framework (AdaMETA) is proposed, which combines dynamic task-aware model-independent meta-learning (DT-MAML) with efficient multi-scale attention (EMA) modules to enhance the model’s ability to generalize and improve diagnostic performance in small-sample bearing fault diagnosis across different load scenarios. Specifically, a hierarchical encoder equipped with C-EMA is introduced to effectively capture multi-scale fault features from vibration signals, greatly improving feature extraction under constrained data conditions. Furthermore, DT-MAML dynamically adjusts the inner-loop learning rate based on task complexity, promoting efficient adaptation to diverse tasks and mitigating domain bias. Comprehensive experimental evaluations on the CWRU bearing dataset, conducted under carefully designed cross-domain scenarios, demonstrate that AdaMETA achieves superior accuracy (up to 99.26%) and robustness compared to traditional meta-learning and classical diagnostic methods. Additional ablation studies and noise interference experiments further validate the substantial contribution of the EMA module and the dynamic learning rate components.