Analysis of the Vibration of the Input Bevel Pinion in RAN (Royal Australian Navy) Wessex Helicopter Main Rotor Gearbox WAK143 Prior to Failure.

Abstract

Following the crash of an RAN Wessex helicopter caused by the catastrophic fatigue failure of the input spiral bevel pinion in the main rotor gearbox, routine recordings of the gearbox vibration have been analyzed by ARL. It has been shown that conventional spectral analysis of the vibration is unable to give adequate indication of the presence of the fatigue crack but that an alternative technique of vibration analysis called signal averaging can give warning of the crack 42 hours before failure. Enhancement of the signal average using a computer enables detection of the crack as early as 103 hours before failure.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 1985
Accession Number
ADA173851

Entities

People

  • P. D. Mcfadden

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Amplitude Modulation
  • Analyzers
  • Bandwidth
  • Computer Programs
  • Demodulation
  • Detection
  • Detectors
  • Digital Signal Processing
  • Engineering
  • Frequency
  • Frequency Domain
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Modulation
  • Phase Modulation
  • Signal Processing
  • Turbines

Fields of Study

  • Engineering

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Structural Health Monitoring of Composite Structures.
  • Tribology (the study of the boundary interaction between sliding surfaces, lubrication, wear and friction).