TOOLS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED BY NASA GRC TO ASSESS THE PERFORMANCE OF COMMERCIAL HELICOPTER HEALTH USAGE MONIT…

Public award description

TOOLS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED BY NASA GRC TO ASSESS THE PERFORMANCE OF COMMERCIAL HELICOPTER HEALTH USAGE MONITORING SYSTEMS (HUMS) CONDITION INDICATORS (CI) FOR SPECIFIC TRANSMISSION COMPONENT FAULTS. DAMAGE IN HELICOPTER TRANSMISSION COMPONENTS PRODUCE SPECIFIC FAULT PATTERNS IN THE ACCELEROMETER VIBRATION SIGNATURES. VARIOUS VIBRATION SIGNATURE ANALYSIS METHODS ARE DEVELOPED AND IMPLEMENTED IN THE COMMERCIAL HUMS TO DETECT FAULTS IN BEARINGS, GEARS AND SHAFTS. BASED ON THE PHYSICAL PHENOMENA OF THE ROTATING COMPONENT (GEARS, BEARINGS, SHAFTS) INTERACTING WITH ITS ENVIRONMENT, SPECIFIC FAULT PATTERNS ARE PRODUCED IN THE ACCELEROMETER VIBRATION SIGNATURES FOR THE COMPONENT FAULT UNDER INVESTIGATION. CONDITION INDICATORS (CI) REFER TO THE VIBRATION CHARACTERISTICS EXTRACTED FROM THESE SIGNATURES AND ARE USED TO REFLECT THE HEALTH OF THE COMPONENT. NUMEROUS CONDITION INDICATORS ARE CALCULATED FROM VIBRATION DATA TO CHARACTERIZE COMPONENT HEALTH. SENTIENT CORPORATION DEVELOPED A PHYSICS BASED MODEL FOR PREDICTING THE REMAINING USEFUL LIFE (RUL) OF BEARINGS THAT FAIL DUE TO CONTACT FATIGUE. THE MODEL, REFERRED TO AS CONTACT ANALYSIS FOR BEARING PROGNOSTICS (CABPRO) USES BEARING GEOMETRY, MATERIAL PROPERTIES, LUBRICANT SPECIFICATIONS, AND OPERATING CONDITIONS TO PREDICT THE ONSET AND PROGRESSION OF FATIGUE SPALLING. DIAGNOSTIC INFORMATION CAN BE USED TO INCREASE PREDICTION ACCURACY AND REDUCE UNCERTAINTY. TO DATE, CORRELATING THE BEARING RUL MODEL WITH BEARING CI DATA HAS NOT OCCURRED. SENTIENT CORPORATION ALSO DEVELOPED A PROGNOSTIC INTEGRATION ARCHITECTURE (PIA) TO BE USED AS A DIAGNOSTIC/PROGNOSTIC MANAGEMENT ARCHITECTURE FOR HEALTH MONITORING APPLICATIONS. UNDER A PHASE II SBIR (NNA07BA40C) WITH NASA AMES THEY ARE DEVELOPING TECHNIQUES TO PREDICT REMAINING LIFE, BASED ON BOTH A MODEL OF FAULT PROGRESSION AND INCOMPLETE/NOISY DIAGNOSTIC MEASUREMENTS OF HEALTH STATE. SENTIENT HAS A CI DATASETS FROM TESTS FROM BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER TAIL ROTOR GEARBOX TAPERED ROLLER BEARINGS. SENTIENT WILL DEVELOP A PROGNOSTIC INTEGRATION ARCHITECTURE (PIA) FOR THE TAIL ROTOR GEARBOX BEARINGS AND CORRELATE THE CABPRO MODEL WITH THE HUMS CI DATA. THIS ANALYSIS AND SOFTWARE TOOL WILL BE PROVIDED TO NASA.