Extreme Learning Machine-Based Diagnostics for Component Degradation in a Microturbine

Micro turbojets are used for propelling radio-controlled aircraft, aerial targets, and personal air vehicles. When compared to full-scale engines, they are characterized by relatively low efficiency and durability. In this context, the degraded performance of gas path components could lead to an unacceptable reduction in the overall engine performance. In this work, a data-driven model based on a conventional artificial neural network (ANN) and an extreme learning machine (ELM) was used for estimating the performance degradation of the micro turbojet. The training datasets containing the performance data of the engine with degraded components were generated using the validated GSP model and the Monte Carlo approach. In particular, compressor and turbine performance degradation were simulated for three different flight regimes. It was confirmed that component degradation had a similar impact in flight than at sea level. Finally, the datasets were used in the training and testing process of the ELM algorithm with four different input vectors. Two vectors had an extensive number of virtual sensors, and the other two were reduced to just fuel flow and exhaust gas temperature. Even with the small number of sensors, the high prediction accuracy of ELM was maintained for takeoff and cruise but was slightly worse for variable flight conditions

NASA SBIR abstracts of 1991 phase 1 projects

The objectives of 301 projects placed under contract by the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are described. These projects were selected competitively from among proposals submitted to NASA in response to the 1991 SBIR Program Solicitation. The basic document consists of edited, non-proprietary abstracts of the winning proposals submitted by small businesses. The abstracts are presented under the 15 technical topics within which Phase 1 proposals were solicited. Each project was assigned a sequential identifying number from 001 to 301, in order of its appearance in the body of the report. Appendixes to provide additional information about the SBIR program and permit cross-reference of the 1991 Phase 1 projects by company name, location by state, principal investigator, NASA Field Center responsible for management of each project, and NASA contract number are included

Autonomous electrical current monitoring system for aircraft

Aircraft monitoring systems offer enhanced safety, reliability, reduced maintenance cost and improved overall flight efficiency. Advancements in wireless sensor networks (WSN) are enabling unprecedented data acquisition functionalities, but their applicability is restricted by power limitations, as batteries require replacement or recharging and wired power adds weight and detracts from the benefits of wireless technology. In this paper, an energy autonomous WSN is presented for monitoring the structural current in aircraft structures. A hybrid inductive/hall sensing concept is introduced demonstrating 0.5 A resolution, < 2% accuracy and frequency independence, for a 5 A – 100 A RMS, DC-800 Hz current and frequency range, with 35 mW active power consumption. An inductive energy harvesting power supply with magnetic flux funnelling, reactance compensation and supercapacitor storage is demonstrated to provide 0.16 mW of continuous power from the 65 μT RMS field of a 20 A RMS, 360 Hz structural current. A low-power sensor node platform with a custom multi-mode duty cycling network protocol is developed, offering cold starting network association and data acquisition/transmission functionality at 50 μW and 70 μW average power respectively. WSN level operation for 1 minute for every 8 minutes of energy harvesting is demonstrated. The proposed system offers a unique energy autonomous WSN platform for aircraft monitoring

NASA SBIR abstracts of 1990 phase 1 projects

The research objectives of the 280 projects placed under contract in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 1990 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 program are described. The basic document consists of edited, non-proprietary abstracts of the winning proposals submitted by small businesses in response to NASA's 1990 SBIR Phase 1 Program Solicitation. The abstracts are presented under the 15 technical topics within which Phase 1 proposals were solicited. Each project was assigned a sequential identifying number from 001 to 280, in order of its appearance in the body of the report. The document also includes Appendixes to provide additional information about the SBIR program and permit cross-reference in the 1990 Phase 1 projects by company name, location by state, principal investigator, NASA field center responsible for management of each project, and NASA contract number

A review of aircraft auxiliary power unit faults, diagnostics and acoustic measurem

The Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) is an integral part of an aircraft, providing electrical and pneumatic power to various on-board sub-systems. APU failure results in delay or cancellation of a flight, accompanied by the imposition of hefty fines from the regional authorities. Such inadvertent situations can be avoided by continuously monitoring the health of the system and reporting any incipient fault to the MRO (Maintenance Repair and Overhaul) organization. Generally, enablers for such health monitoring techniques are embedded during a product's design. However, a situation may arise where only the critical components are regularly monitored, and their status presented to the operator. In such cases, efforts can be made during service to incorporate additional health monitoring features using the already installed sensing mechanisms supplemented by maintenance data or by instrumenting the system with appropriate sensors. Due to the inherently critical nature of aircraft systems, it is necessary that instrumentation does not interfere with a system's performance and does not pose any safety concerns. One such method is to install non-intrusive vibroacoustic sensors such that the system integrity is maintained while maximizing system fault diagnostic knowledge. To start such an approach, an in-depth literature survey is necessary as this has not been previously reported in a consolidated manner. Therefore, this paper concentrates on auxiliary power units, their failure modes, maintenance strategies, fault diagnostic methodologies, and their acoustic signature. The recent trend in APU design and requirements, and the need for innovative fault diagnostics techniques and acoustic measurements for future aircraft, have also been summarized. Finally, the paper will highlight the shortcomings found during the survey, the challenges, and prospects, of utilizing sound as a source of diagnostics for aircraft auxiliary power units

A review of diagnostic methods for hydraulically powered flight control actuation systems

Aircraft systems are designed to perform functions that will aid the various missions of the aircraft. Their performance, when subjected to an unfamiliar condition of operation, imposes stress on them. The system components experience degradation due to fault which ultimately results in failure. Maintenance and monitoring mechanisms are put in place to ensure these systems are readily available when required. Thus, the sensing of parameters assists in providing conditions under which healthy and faulty scenarios can be indicated. To obtain parameter values, sensor data is processed, and the results are displayed so that the presence of faults may be known. Some faults are intermittent and incipient in nature. These are not discovered easily and can only be known through a display of unusual system performance by error code indication. Therefore, the assessed faults are transmitted to a maintenance crew by error codes. The results may be fault found (FF), no fault found (NFF), or cannot display (CND). However, the main classification of the faults and their origins may not be known in the system. This continues throughout the life cycle of the system or equipment. This paper reviews the diagnostic methods used for the hydraulically powered flight control actuation system (HPFCAS) of an aircraft and its interaction with other aircraft systems. The complexities of the subsystem’s integration are discussed, and different subsystems are identified. Approaches used for the diagnostics of faults, such as model-based, statistical mapping and classification, the use of algorithms, as well as parity checks are reviewed. These are integrated vehicle health management (IVHM) tools for systems diagnostics. The review shows that when a system is made up of several subsystems on the aircraft with dissimilar functions, the probability of fault existing in the system increases, as the subsystems are interconnected for resource sharing, space, and weight savings. Additionally, this review demonstrates that data-driven approaches for the fault diagnostics of components are good. However, they require large amounts of data for feature extraction. For a system such as the HPFCAS, flight-management data or aircraft maintenance records hold information on performance, health monitoring, diagnostics, and time scales during operation. These are needed for analysis. Here, a knowledge of training algorithms is used to interpret different fault scenarios from the record. Thus, such specific data are not readily available for use in a data-driven approach, since manufacturers, producers, and the end users of the system components or equipment do not readily distribute these verifiable data. This makes it difficult to perform diagnostics using a data-driven approach. In conclusion, this paper exposes the areas of interest, which constitute opportunities and challenges in the diagnostics and health monitoring of flight-control actuation systems on aircraft

Aeronautical engineering: A continuing bibliography with indexes, supplement 100

This bibliography lists 295 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information System in August 1978

Deep Learning Applications in Industrial and Systems Engineering

Deep learning - the use of large neural networks to perform machine learning - has transformed the world. As the capabilities of deep models continue to grow, deep learning is becoming an increasingly valuable and practical tool for industrial engineering. With its wide applicability, deep learning can be turned to many industrial engineering tasks, including optimization, heuristic search, and functional approximation. In this dissertation, the major concepts and paradigms of deep learning are reviewed, and three industrial engineering projects applying these methods are described. The first applies a deep convolutional network to the task of absolute aerial geolocalization - the regression of real geographic coordinates from aerial photos - showing promising results. Next, continuing on this work, the features and characteristics of the deep aerial geolocalization model are further studied, with implications for future applications and methodological improvements. Lastly, a deep learning model is developed and applied to a difficult rare event problem of predicting failure times in oil and natural gas wells from process and site data. Practical details of applying deep learning to this sort of data are discussed, and methodological principles are proposed

Research and Technology Objectives and Plans Summary (RTOPS)

A compilation of the summary portions of each of the Research and Technology Operating Plans (RTOP) used for management review and control of research currently in progress throughout NASA is presented along with citations and abstracts of the RTOPs. Indexes include: subject; technical monitor; responsible NASA organization; and RTOP number