ENHANCED METHODS FOR PLANETARY GEAR SYSTEMS

DIAGNOSTIC FAULT DETECTION REQUIRES KNOWLEDGE OF FAILURE MODES, RECOGNITION OF MEASURABLE FAULT PATTERNS, AND IMPLEMENTATION OF OPTIMIZED SIGNAL PROCESSING. MANY OF TODAY'S ROTORCRAFT TRANSMISSIONS USE PLANETARY-GEAR REDUCTION SYSTEMS; THESE SYSTEMS POSE A COMPLEX PROBLEM IN THE DIAGNOSTICS FIELD DUE TO THE NON-FIXED AXIS GEARS AND BEARINGS PRESENT THEREIN. THIS PROJECT WILL EXPLORE METHODSTO INCREASE THE FAULT SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO FOR PLANETARY SYSTEMS THOUGH AN INTEGRATED APPROACH USING THE HUNTING TOOTH PERIOD, INNOVATIVE SENSORS AND SENSOR LOCATIONS, STRUCTURAL TRANSMISSION PATH ANALYSIS, AND HIGH FREQUENCY DATA PROCESSING TECHNIQUES. THE APPROACH INVOLVES DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER-BASED MODELS FOR PLANETARY-GEAR SYSTEM PERFORMANCE AND FAULT PATTERNS. IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE COMPUTER MODELS, DIAGNOSTIC PROCESS ALGORITHMS WILL BE BUILT TO OPTIMIZE DETECTION OF THE PREDICTED FAULT PATTERNS. THE ALGORITHMS WILL BE TESTED ON DATA OBTAINED WITH A GEAR-BOX MONITORING SYSTEM. ADDITIONALLY, HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS FOR PLANETARY-GEAR SYSTEM MONITORING WILL BE DEVELOPED. THE RESULTING ADVANCES IN PLANETARY GEAR DIAGNOSTICS WILL BE INTEGRATED WITH THE FIRM'S ON-GOING GEAR-MONITORING RESEARCH TO DEVELOP A UNIFIED APPROACH TO HELICOPTER GEAR-BOX MONITORING. DIAGNOSTIC FAULT DETECTION REQUIRES KNOWLEDGE OF FAILURE MODES, RECOGNITION OF MEASURABLE FAULT PATTERNS, AND IMPLEMENTATION OF OPTIMIZED SIGNAL PROCESSING. MANY OF TODAY'S ROTORCRAFT TRANSMISSIONS USE PLANETARY-GEAR REDUCTION SYSTEMS; THESE SYSTEMS POSE A COMPLEX PROBLEM IN THE DIAGNOSTICS FIELD DUE TO THE NON-FIXED AXIS GEARS AND BEARINGS PRESENT THEREIN. THIS PROJECT WILL EXPLORE METHODSTO INCREASE THE FAULT SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO FOR PLANETARY SYSTEMS THOUGH AN INTEGRATED APPROACH USING THE HUNTING TOOTH PERIOD, INNOVATIVE SENSORS AND SENSOR LOCATIONS, STRUCTURAL TRANSMISSION PATH ANALYSIS, AND HIGH FREQUENCY DATA PROCESSING TECHNIQUES. THE APPROACH INVOLVES DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER-BASED MODELS FOR PLANETARY-GEAR SYSTEM PERFORMANCE AND FAULT PATTERNS. IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE COMPUTER MODELS, DIAGNOSTIC PROCESS ALGORITHMS WILL BE BUILT TO OPTIMIZE DETECTION OF THE PREDICTED FAULT PATTERNS. THE ALGORITHMS WILL BE TESTED ON DATA OBTAINED WITH A GEAR-BOX MONITORING SYSTEM. ADDITIONALLY, HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS FOR PLANETARY-GEAR SYSTEM MONITORING WILL BE DEVELOPED. THE RESULTING ADVANCES IN PLANETARY GEAR DIAGNOSTICS WILL BE INTEGRATED WITH THE FIRM'S ON-GOING GEAR-MONITORING RESEARCH TO DEVELOP A UNIFIED APPROACH TO HELICOPTER GEAR-BOX MONITORING.