Engine Health Diagnostics Using Radar

Abstract

This paper reviews the work undertaken by the Advanced Technology Center to demonstrate that low power microwave radar can be utilized for condition monitoring of a jet engine. The impact of a damaging item of FOD on a highly stressed compressor blade or HCF may often not produce visible damage, but the impact will have altered the stress within the blade. This can drastically alter the life of the blade and possibly instigate early fatigue failure, often with catastrophic effect. This paper postulates that the EHDUR system could be used to monitor both the engine intakes for FOD ingestions and the compressor stages for changes in there vibration characteristics. The system can be easily fitted to engine test rigs by utilizing existing inspection ports. To date the sensors have in excess of 300 hours of rig time.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2005
Accession Number
ADA469526

Entities

People

  • Barbara Wright
  • David Shephard
  • Gordon Richards

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Air Platforms
  • Biomedical
  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Air Intakes
  • Aircrafts
  • Compressor Blades
  • Compressors
  • Gas Turbines
  • Inspection
  • Jet Engines
  • Maintenance
  • Measurement
  • Monitoring
  • Radar
  • Standards
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Test Equipment
  • Turbines
  • Vehicles

Fields of Study

  • Engineering

Readers

  • Aerodynamics.
  • Facility/Structural Engineering.
  • Systems Analysis and Design