Physics-based Diagnostics and Prognostics of Interconnected Aircraft Subsystems

"Alphatech proposes a novel technique for Diagnostics, Prognostics, and Health Management (PHM) of interconnected mechanical subsystems, using physics-based models and multi-hypothesis technologies. In collaboration with Rolls-Royce, our effort is focusedtowards PHM development for the highly interconnected F35B LiftFan, to which our models and techniques will be applied. The goal of systems-level PHM is challenged by the presence of interconnected subsystems, each with organic sensing capability and PHMmodels. Interconnectivity introduces the possibility of cascading failures and secondary effects, since the performance and failure models of one subsystem are typically dependent upon the state of other subsystems. We develop the use of physics-basedsystem dynamic modeling which directly represents such behaviors. Further, we augment the interconnected models with failure mode information (e.g. from a FMECA analysis), and uncertainty information, which is derived from simulations and experimentaldata in the context of the system dynamics and sensor characteristics. Finally, we adapt Alphatech's existing multi-hypothesis data fusion and estimation technologies for use in robust diagnosis and prognostics tools. The proposed technology would enablea system of diagnosing and anticipating mechanical failures, and allowing for their mitigation and resolution in a timely fashion. These applications will improve the efficiency of logi