Rocket Engine Health Management System - Turbopump System

Turbo Solutions Engineering LLC is providing this proposal for a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, to develop a rocket engine health management (REHM) system. The proposed project is a follow-on to Turbo Solutions’ nearly completed Phase I SBIR entitled “Integrated Vehicle Health Management ‘Intelligent Engine’ Turbopump Concept,” (AFRL Contract FA9300-05-M-3011). We envision coordinating our Phase II effort with WASK Engineering, Inc. (WASK). Turbo Solutions would execute this turbomachinery-focused Phase II SBIR, and WASK would carry out their Phase II SBIR that is focused on the engine system. This coordinated team approach would create a REHM concept that meets AFRL objectives to develop an overall vehicle health management philosophy for use in future engine development programs. The primary application for this REHM system would be the Integrated Powerhead Demonstrator (IPD), although the concept that is developed would be applicable to other engine cycles. The technical objectives are to develop a turbopump model for the IPD that includes the pumps, turbines, and secondary flow systems; integrate this model with the engine system ROCETS model being developed by WASK; and “train” this integrated model to detect, identify, and categorize failures throughout the IPD engine system using a recommended sensor suite.