Oil Debris Monitoring

Eaton Aerospace Oil Debris Monitoring Technology

Presentation to the Aircraft Builders Council, Inc.
September 26, 2006

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Why Monitor Oil Debris?

 Engine

Wear  Predict Engine Failure

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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.

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Bearing/Gear Life Cycle, Stage Two

Normal Operation Stage: Debris generation reaches a low rate equilibrium.

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Bearing/Gear Life Cycle, Stage Three

Failure stage: Primary Mode indicated by escalating quantity of of 250400 micron particles. Secondary Mode marked by the generation of much larger debris

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Sample Debris Particles

110 g bearing RCF particle

Extruded Rolling Contact Fatigue (RCF) spall flake, ca. 300 m diameter
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Product Evolution
Mag Plug (visual inspection)  Very simple  Inexpensive  Thread-in designs  Requires lock-wiring  Oil loss when inspecting  Labor intensive

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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

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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

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Drivers for Advanced Oil Debris Monitoring

CBM (Condition-Based Maintenance) - reduce maintenance burden by eliminating routine inspections PHM (Prognostic Health Management) - reduce IFSDs, 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

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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.
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QDM (Quantitative Debris Monitor) Technology

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GE90 for Boeing 777

First Commercial Aircraft

Engine with Advanced Oil Debris Monitoring System Over 7 million engine flight hours since 1995

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GE90 Debris Monitoring System Hardware

Three-phase vortex separator separates air and debris from oil Signal conditioner generates digital pulse when debris particle exceeds preset mass threshold

QDM (quantitative debris monitoring) inductive debris sensor generates signal when particle is captured
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Signal conditioner Vortex separator

Sensor Oil Reservoir

DMS Hardware Mounted on Fan Case

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Operating Principle: 3-Phase Vortex Separator

Debris separation efficiency 75 to 95% Air separation efficiency > 95% Oil separation efficiency > 99.8%

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Air Outlet

Mixture Inlet

Debris Outlet

Oil Outlet

3D DMS Design
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Debris Tracking

3D DMS Design
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QDM Operating Principle - Sensor

Magnetic field BIT coil Chips of different mass arrive Sense coil

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
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QDM System Performance

Counts ferromagnetic particles that exceed a mass of 50 g (M50Nil), equivalent to a 230 m dia. sphere. For inductive sensors, sensitivity is a function of particle mass (not linear size), magnetic properties, shape.
These particles all have the same size but their mass differs by >100x

1000m

250m 125
20

65

10

12

1 g

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QDM Operating Principle - System

QDM counts discrete particles
Pre-set mass threshold QDM sensor QDM signal conditioner Square output pulses to FADEC or EMU

sensor output

BIT input to sensor

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.
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BIT command from FADEC or EMU

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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
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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.
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DMS alert messages: Per-flight debris count Cumulative debris count DMS system fault MAT EICAS status message CMC VHF radio downlink via ACARS Remote Diagnostics program data bases Debris data trending

QDM Signal BIT command

Signal QDM Sensor Conditio ner. FADEC ACMS

Ch.A

Ch.B

Non-volatile memory

AMI software

DMS Integration and Interfaces on GE90/Boeing 777

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Maintenance Access Terminal (MAT) on 777 Flight Deck

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EICAS Display on 777 Flight Deck

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QDM Sensors for Smaller Engines - Sump or Scavenge Pump Inlet Installation

QDM sensor with self-closing valve for sump

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QDM sensor with valve built into scavenge pump inlet screen

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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.

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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

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In Service Experience
Eatons 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.

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In-Service Experience (cont'd.)

Absence of DMS counts prevented two IFSDs that would have resulted from false impending-bypass indications due to faulty filter- p 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

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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.

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