Continuous Power Assurance for Rotorcraft

Impact Technologies LLC, with the support of Honeywell Aerospace, propose to develop and demonstrate innovative enhancements to existing power assurance methods for the T55-714A engine. The development team will build off the proven success of the Aviation Diagnostic and Engine Prognostic (ADEPT) program with the goal of prototyping automated and accurate continuous engine power assessment technologies that promise to reduce the incidence of unplanned engine removals due to low power, eliminate pilot burden and human error, and significantly reduce the threat to aircraft and crew for Power Assurance Check (PAC) when new engines or major engine repair has been performed. Specifically, regime recognition and correction routines enabling automated power assurance test (PAT) will be improved and evaluated against existing flight test data. A sensitivity study addressing high power extrapolation from torque levels of less than 60% along with a prototype routine will be developed and evaluated. Finally, state-of-the-art prognostic methods aimed at estimating future engine performance and fusing this knowledge with engine critical component lifing algorithms will be illustrated in an integrated software system demonstration. In the event that a Phase II program is awarded and the Phase I Option activated, the Impact/Honeywell team will perform a dedicated T55 test cell run designed to facilitate a higher TRL for the Continuous Power Assurance (CPA) modules. In addition, detailed concept of operations and software requirements specification documents will be developed to establish a clear bridge to Phase II software development, testing and implementation.