An Integrated Diagnostic and Maintenance System for Marine Diesel Engines

The U.S. Navy is currently developing Unmanned Sea Surface Vehicles (USSVs) that could potentially perform vital functions, such as fleet security and mine reconnaissance. A primary obstacle that must be overcome in order for USSVs to provide valuable service to the fleet is the lack of maintenance personnel on board the vessel. Failure of a single key component that could easily be replaced or repaired on a manned vessel could cause an USSV to have to abort its mission or, perhaps, require a manned vessel to put itself and its crew at risk to retrieve the USSV. Barron Associates, Inc. (BAI) and its subcontractor, Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), propose a Phase II effort that builds on the successful Phase I feasibility demonstration. The integrated diagnostic and maintenance system (IDMS) leverages BAI’s generic diagnostic and prognostic algorithms and SwRI’s marine diesel engine expertise and research facilities. The vision for the Phase II prototype is for an IDMS with three components: (1) a model-based module to monitor the engine gas path dynamics; (2) an accelerometer-driven mechanical monitoring module, and; (3) a module to communicate engine health status information, operational limitations, and maintenance requirements to the mission computer.