Development of a robust system for the detection of incipient bearing faults in gas turbine engines will benefit both military and civil aviation through improved aircraft reliability and maintainability. Techniques such as vibration analysis and oil debris monitoring have proven effective in laboratory and industrial settings, but several factors, including poor transmission of vibration energy from bearings to practical sensor locations, settling of debris in oil scavenge lines, and increased usage of ceramic materials, have complicated the implementation of these techniques on gas turbine engines. Presented is a gas turbine engine bearing diagnostic system that integrates information from various advanced vibration analysis techniques to achieve robust bearing health state awareness. This paper details the successful laboratory testing and implementation of the system on a gas turbine engine containing a damaged bearing, as well as the validation and verification of the system's performance using data from a ground test cell.
展开▼
