Reliability of the Engine Electronic Controls and a Novel Approach to Improve Service Life

Reliability of Electronic Engine Controls (EEC) for airplane jet engines is critical for reliable and economic operations of the airplane. EEC failures can cause in-flight engine shut downs and airplane dispatch delays. The economic impact of this shortcoming is very large on the airlines, engine suppliers, and airplane manufacturers.

The EEC is one of the most complex and expensive components of the jet engine. Reliability must be designed into the EEC from the initial stage of design by consideration of the environment, hardware selection, manufacturing processes, software design, rigorous testing, fault detection and monitoring logic, and proper in-service trouble shooting procedures.

This paper outlines an approach for designing a high reliability EEC and includes a novel design for controlling EEC cooling.