THE ANALYSIS OF AIRCRAFT AND HELICOPTER PROPULSION SYSTEM SUCH AS COMPRESSORS, GAS TURBINES, PROPELLERS AND ROTORS REQUIRES THE USE OF SLIP-RING DEVICES TO INTERFACE WITH THE LARGE ARRAYS OF SENSING ELEMENTS ON THE MOVING MEMBER.

THE ANALYSIS OF AIRCRAFT AND HELICOPTER PROPULSION SYSTEM SUCH AS COMPRESSORS, GAS TURBINES, PROPELLERS AND ROTORS REQUIRES THE USE OF SLIP-RING DEVICES TO INTERFACE WITH THE LARGE ARRAYS OF SENSING ELEMENTS ON THE MOVING MEMBER. THE CONVENTIONAL MECHANICAL SLIP-RING DEVICES ARE SPEED, NOISE, SIZE AND LIFE-TIME LIMITED. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS EFFORT IS TO DEVELOP A HIGH-SPEED, ELECTRO-OPTIC SLIP RING DEVICE THAT WILL EXPAND THE POTENTIAL CAPABILITY FOR ANALYSIS WITH ROTATING OR MOVING SYSTEMS AND FORM THE BASIS FOR A COMMERCIAL DEVICE. THE PHASE I TASK SHALL DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF AN OPTICAL SLIP-RING DEVICE BASED ON THE INTEGRATION OF HIGH-SPEED ELECTRO-OPTICAL COMPONENTS WITH AN OPTICAL LINK FOR DATA TRANSFER FROM A ROTATING SHAFT. MODULAR COMPONENTS THAT FORM THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF THE SLIP-RING WILL FIRST BE DEVELOPED AND TESTED (MULTIPLEX/DEMULTIPLEX MODULES, A HIGH SPEED MODULATED SOURCE AND RECEIVER AND A OPTICAL LINK) AND THEN INTEGRATED INTO A LABORATORY MOCKUP OF A ROTATING SHAFT SYSTEM TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF THE OPTICAL SLIP-RING CONCEPT. THIS DATA WILL IDENTIFY BASIC COMPONENTS, NEEDS FOR SPECIAL COMPACT HYBRID CIRCUITS, DIRECTIONS FOR PHASE II AND APPLICATION AREAS FOR A UNIVERSAL SLIP-RING DEVICE.