EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR ROTOR SYSTEM HEALTH MONITORING

Helicopter health and usage monitoring systems (HUMS) have been developed in an attempt to reduce operational costs and improve aircraft readiness and flight safety. However, existing HUMS are very limited in regard to their ability to monitor rotor system health. Reasons for this include difficulty in designing sensors that are rugged enough to survive for extended periods of time in the harsh rotor operating environment and the complexities associated with transferring power and data from the rotating system to the fuselage. Enabling technologies for rotor system health monitoring and fault detection are emerging at a rapid pace. These technologies include advanced sensors and signal processing techniques and the capability to process large quantities of data in real time. In this paper the application of HUMS to rotor systems is reviewed as well as ongoing efforts within the Navy to develop and demonstrate emerging technologies for an Air Vehicle Diagnostic System (AVDS) that includes a comprehensive rotor health monitoring and fault detection capability. Implementation issues and challenges in the development are also discussed.