Aircraft Electrical Power System Diagnostics and Health Management

Global Technology Connection with our partners (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Innovative Power Solutions and Boeing Phantom Works) propose the development and integration of diagnostic / prognostic technologies into an overall vehicle health management for P-3 aircraft's electrical power systems. Phase I effort will concentrate on the P-3 generators: 1) conceptualization of diagnostic / prognostic architecture and its deployment; 2) identify key parameters to measure to differentiate between various failure modes and normal aircraft operational modes / environments; 3) use QFD to select appropriate sensors according to weight, size, ease of integration, etc.; 4) develop and prototype data-driven algorithms for generator diagnostics and prognostics based upon electrical signature analysis feature extraction; and 5) feasibility of deploying diagnostics / prognostics for P-3 generators based upon an assessment of accuracy, memory and computation requirements, scalability and cost of system. The outline of a technology roadmap and Phase II development approach / schedule that contains discrete milestones for product development for P-3 generators and extension plans to converters and batteries will be provided. Phase II will capitalize upon the findings of Phase I research and will proceed to finalize the design and demonstrate a proof of concept diagnostic / prognostic technology for P-3 generators. The design will be finalized and a prototype system based on the design concept(s) proposed in Phase I will be fabricated. Through laboratory testing and characterization experiments, the viability of the system's ability to diagnose failure modes and predict remaining life for the P-3 generator will be demonstrated. A detailed plan for software / hardware certification, validation, and method of implementation will be provided. Phase III encompass final optimization of the prototype system and user interface for the Navy P-3 aircraft and other Navy / DoD aircraft systems.BENEFITS: The results of this project will assist the U.S. Navy initially and other government or industry sectors to eventually deploy a diagnostic and health management technology for the P-3 aircraft's electrical power system. When integrated into an overall vehicle health management system, such practices will reduce substantially the risk of false ID of faults while achieving accurate fault detection, reduce maintenance costs, increase the availability of aircraft systems and improve their reliability in the execution of critical missions. The commercial aircraft, electric power generation and automotive industry will also benefit from the integration of the technology.