DEVELOPMENT AND INTEGRATION OF ONBOARD DRIVE TRAIN VIBRATION MONITORING SYSTEMS

This paper discusses the experience at Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. (Bell), with the development and integration of onboard drive train vibration monitoring systems (VMS) for both military and commercial rotorcraft applications, which, although similar, can have significant differences in system requirements and integration. The paper covers the phases of development of a VMS, including definition of aircraft monitoring requirements, specifications, development and validation of monitoring techniques, system design and integration, system testing and flight test evaluation, system tuning, status, future plans, future needs, and lessons learned. Also discussed are some examples of vibration monitoring benefits that have been demonstrated to date. In addition, design features of the onboard systems and the tools used on the ground for testing and evaluation are presented. The paper is focused on drive train VMS development efforts for the military VSLED system on the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey and the commercial HUMS on the Model 412 rotorcraft.