Wireless On-engine Health Monitoring of Integrally Bladed Rotors

The ability to sustain turbine engine IBRs in a safe and affordable manner is critical. IBRs usually operate in a harsh environment, experience high centrifugal and thermal stresses. Cumulative microscopic cracks at critical loading areas, if not detected and repaired in time, may lead to a catastrophic disk or blade burst and thus engine failure. This proposal tries to address the health management issue of IBR from the inspection and microcrack detection point of view, which is the basis for life prediction and repair. We propose a wireless on-engine health monitoring approach. It applies light, thin film patch transducers to the IBR and inspects rotor for small cracks and embedded flaws. The signal is coupled wirelessly to the sensor patch so that the inspection can be done even when the IBR is rotating. The envisioned system has minimal effect on the rotor performance, instantaneously provides reliable and quantitative data such as crack location and severity level; minimizes and eventually eliminates the need for engine disassembly for purely inspection purpose.