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Eaton Aerospace Oil Debris Monitoring Technology. Presentation to the Aircraft Builders Council, Inc. September 26, 2006. Why Monitor Oil Debris?. Engine Wear Predict Engine Failure. Bearing/Gear Life Cycle, Stage One. Run-in stage:
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Eaton Aerospace OilDebris Monitoring Technology Presentation to the Aircraft Builders Council, Inc. September 26, 2006
Why Monitor Oil Debris? • Engine Wear • Predict Engine Failure
Bearing/Gear Life Cycle, Stage One Run-in stage: Initial Wear particles are several hundred microns in size. The size and rate of particle generation decrease as the engine is run in.
Bearing/Gear Life Cycle, Stage Two Normal Operation Stage: Debris generation reaches a low rate equilibrium.
Bearing/Gear Life Cycle, Stage Three Failure stage: Primary Mode – indicated by escalating quantity of of 250–400 micron particles. Secondary Mode - marked by the generation of much larger debris
Sample Debris Particles 110 µg bearing RCF particle Extruded Rolling Contact Fatigue (RCF) spall flake, ca. 300 µm diameter
Product Evolution Mag Plug (visual inspection) • Very simple • Inexpensive • Thread-in designs • Requires lock-wiring • Oil loss when inspecting • Labor intensive
Product Evolution Chip Collector w/SCV (visual inspection) • Relatively simple • Inexpensive • Thread-in or quick disconnect designs • No lock-wiring on QD • No oil loss when inspecting
Product Evolution Electric Chip Detector /SCV (remote indication) • Alerts crew when debris is captured • Eliminates “periodic” checks • Some false indications due to normal wear particles • Aircraft wiring required
Drivers for Advanced Oil Debris Monitoring • CBM (Condition-Based Maintenance) - reduce maintenance burden by eliminating routine inspections • PHM (Prognostic Health Management) - reduce IFSD’s, remote engine changes, unscheduled maintenance • Reliability – reduce frequency of oil system break-ins and associated maintenance-induced problems • Commercial: power-by-the-hour, remote diagnostic programs, low IFSD rate, high dispatch reliability, improved ETOPS • Military: autonomous maintenance, self-deployment, elimination of ground support facilities
Some Requirements for Advanced Debris Monitoring Systems • Failure detection reliability: • detects all debris-producing, oil-wetted failures in a timely manner (avoidance of IFSDs, AOG, secondary damage, remote engine changes) • causes no, or at most, minimal false alerts • provides a verification process to support maintenance decisions (e.g. engine removal) • Prognostic capability • Communication with FADEC, EMU, CEDU, etc.
QDM® (Quantitative Debris Monitor) Technology
GE90 for Boeing 777 • First Commercial Aircraft Engine with Advanced Oil Debris Monitoring System • Over 7 million engine flight hours since 1995
GE90 Debris Monitoring System Hardware Signal conditioner generates digital pulse when debris particle exceeds preset mass threshold Three-phase vortex separator separates air and debris from oil QDM® (quantitative debris monitoring) inductive debris sensor - generates signal when particle is captured
Signal conditioner DMS Hardware Mounted on Fan Case Vortex separator Sensor Oil Reservoir
Operating Principle: 3-Phase Vortex Separator Debris separation efficiency 75 to 95% Air separation efficiency > 95% Oil separation efficiency > 99.8%
Air Outlet Mixture Inlet Debris Outlet Oil Outlet 3D DMS Design
Debris Tracking 3D DMS Design
QDM Operating Principle - Sensor Magnetic field BIT coil Sense coil Chips of different mass arrive Magnet Magnetic pole piece Output pulses for a “small” and a “large” particle QDM sensor is a passive, magnetic, inductive sensor that collects, retains, and indicates capture of, individual ferromagnetic chips
QDM System Performance • Counts ferromagnetic particles that exceed a mass of 50 µg (M50Nil), equivalent to a 230 µm dia. sphere. • For inductive sensors, sensitivity is a function of particle mass (not linear size), magnetic properties, shape. 1000µm These “particles” all have the same “size” but their mass differs by >100x 250µm 12 125 65 10 1 µg
QDM Operating Principle - System QDM signal conditioner Pre-set mass threshold QDM counts discrete particles Square output pulses to FADEC or EMU QDM sensor sensor output BIT input to sensor BIT command from FADEC or EMU Notes: 1. The signal conditioner indicates chips above a minimum, pre-set mass threshold to reject noise-induced false counts. 2. Limited chip mass classification (two or more mass levels) is possible, but this requires more complex chip alert algorithms.
QDM Signal Conditioner The QDM Signal Conditioner electronics are simple and contain no software (unless data bus interface or multi-level mass binning is required). Electronics can also be incorporated into FADEC or EMU as Eaton-supplied PC-board or licensed technology. Approximate size: 4x4x2 in. Weight: .95lbs. MTBF: no field failures in >5 million hours
Alert Algorithms and Maintenance Procedures • Based on important characteristic of oil-wetted component failures: ongoing particle production. • Alert algorithms for two preset debris count thresholds: per-flight and cumulative. • DMS messages are generated and displayed when thresholds are reached or system fails BIT on start. • Visual sensor inspection verifies presence of debris and provides “first-cut” problem analysis. • Further debris analysis, using established techniques (e.g.SEM/EDX), verifies failure and supports engine or module removal decision.
DMS alert messages: QDM Signal Per-flight debris count Cumulative debris count BIT command DMS system fault Signal Conditioner. MAT QDM Sensor FADEC ACMS EICAS status message Ch.A VHF radio downlink via ACARS CMC Ch.B Remote Diagnostics program data bases AMI software Debris data trending Non-volatile memory DMS Integration and Interfaces on GE90/Boeing 777
QDM Sensors for Smaller Engines - Sump or Scavenge Pump Inlet Installation QDM sensor with self-closing valve for sump QDM sensor with valve built into scavenge pump inlet screen
QDM….. • Indicates ferromagnetic chips with a mass above a preset threshold. • Mass threshold is set so that environmental noise (EMI, vibration) does not cause false counts. • Sensor collects and retains all chips for alert verification. • Chip counting, algorithms and crew alert functions reside in FADEC, EMU, CEDU, etc. • Includes end-to-end BIT.
QDM….. • In its simplest form, has very simple electronics and no software. Mass-level categorization (“binning”) or bus communication requirements may add complexity, including software. • Alert algorithms and maintenance procedures need to be developed by engine and aircraft OEMs, e.g.: • Count thresholds (number of chips per flight, number of chips per elapsed time interval) • Trending • Maintenance alerts, in-flight alerts or both
In Service Experience • Eaton’s DMS hardware has worked flawlessly: • Several failures detected during engine development • Two VSCF generator failures detected in 1997 • April 8, 2002: Beijing/Paris in-flight EICAS status and ACARS messages enabled Air France to get a spare aircraft ready. After landing, a developing failure was confirmed. • During 7 million flight hours, no “nuisance indications” reported. Several engines have low, random debris counts that have not caused alerts.
In-Service Experience (cont'd.) Absence of DMS counts prevented two IFSD’s that would have resulted from false impending-bypass indications due to faulty filter-Δp sensors. Most airlines no longer perform 500-hour routine sensor inspections originally recommended by Boeing. Continental has >16,000 hour high-time engines w/o sensor inspection. Routine sensor cleaning not required. End-to-end BIT detected early harness and other system problems
Conclusion • Appropriate alert algorithms and successful system integration are critical for timely failure detection and nuisance alarm prevention. • QDM is a proven, mature system: • over 7 million successful engine flight hours on GE90 • qualified for GP7200 (Airbus A380) • selected for GEnx, and Trent 1000 engines (Boeing 787) • Engine monitoring and aircraft maintenance systems can take full advantage of QDM capabilities improving safety and lowering operating costs.