Real time performance monitoring of gas turbine engines
First Claim
1. A system for monitoring at least one performance parameter of a gas turbine engine installation comprising:
- first sensor means for supplying a signal representative of the current value of each monitored performance parameter;
second sensor means for supplying a first plurality of signals representative of the current values of an associated plurality of operating parameters of the engine installation being monitored, said plurality of signals being selected so that a signal ##EQU9## provides a current estimate of each monitored performance parameter where y denotes the estimated value of each monitored performance parameter, xi denotes a series of m independent performance parameters each having a current value dependent on the current value of selected ones of said plurality of signals supplied by said second sensor means and ci denotes a set of m scalar simulation coefficients;
first signal processing means responsive to said plurality of signals supplied by said second sensor means, said first signal processing means including means for supplying a second plurality of signals representative of the current value of each of said independent performance parameters xi, means for supplying a third plurality of signals representative of each of said simulation coefficients ci and means for combining predetermined signals of said second and third plurality of signals to supply a signal representative of the current value of each estimate y of said monitored performance parameters; and
,second signal processing means responsive to each of said signals representative of the current value of each estimate y of said monitored performance parameters and responsive to each of said signals supplied by said first sensor means for supplying a difference signal representative of the difference between the actual current value of each of said monitored performance parameters and the current estimated value of that same performance parameter.
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Abstract
A real-time gas turbine engine monitoring system is disclosed which includes a digital processor that utilizes a set of scalar coefficients and the current value of various engine operating parameters to predict the current value of a set of engine performance parameters. The actual values of these performance parameters are monitored and compared with the predicted values to supply deviation or error signals to monitoring logic which provides an indication of faults within the digital processor, within the sensor units which provide the actual values of the monitored performance parameters and within the gas turbine engine. In addition, the deviation signals are utilized within the digital processor unit to determine a time dependent quadratic estimate of the temporal characteristics of each monitored engine parameter. Signals representative of this quadratic estimate are supplied to trending logic that provides prognostic information. To adapt the disclosed engine monitoring system to the particular engine being monitored, the system is operable in a calibration mode wherein digital filtering is utilized to automatically determine coefficient values which reflect normal differences in performance between the monitored engine and others of the same type. Since similar digital filtering is utilized in the determination of the temporal characteristics of the monitored engine parameters, common digital processor structure and processing is utilized to effect both system calibration and the estimate of the parameter trends or temporal characteristics.
227 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A system for monitoring at least one performance parameter of a gas turbine engine installation comprising:
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first sensor means for supplying a signal representative of the current value of each monitored performance parameter; second sensor means for supplying a first plurality of signals representative of the current values of an associated plurality of operating parameters of the engine installation being monitored, said plurality of signals being selected so that a signal ##EQU9## provides a current estimate of each monitored performance parameter where y denotes the estimated value of each monitored performance parameter, xi denotes a series of m independent performance parameters each having a current value dependent on the current value of selected ones of said plurality of signals supplied by said second sensor means and ci denotes a set of m scalar simulation coefficients; first signal processing means responsive to said plurality of signals supplied by said second sensor means, said first signal processing means including means for supplying a second plurality of signals representative of the current value of each of said independent performance parameters xi, means for supplying a third plurality of signals representative of each of said simulation coefficients ci and means for combining predetermined signals of said second and third plurality of signals to supply a signal representative of the current value of each estimate y of said monitored performance parameters; and
,second signal processing means responsive to each of said signals representative of the current value of each estimate y of said monitored performance parameters and responsive to each of said signals supplied by said first sensor means for supplying a difference signal representative of the difference between the actual current value of each of said monitored performance parameters and the current estimated value of that same performance parameter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An airborne real time performance monitoring system for periodically monitoring a predetermined plurality of dependent performance parameters yk, k=1, 2, . . . , n of a gas turbine engine of an aircraft gas turbine engine installation wherein the actual value of each monitored dependent performance parameter is compared with an associated estimated value yk, K=1, 2, . . . , n to supply a signal indicative of an operating fault in said gas turbine engine, each of said estimated values yk being determined from a set of m independent performance parameters xi, i=1, 2, . . . , m which are predetermined functions of selected engine installation operating parameters sj, j=1, 2, . . . , p where said independent performance parameters xi collectively characterize the type of gas turbine engine being monitored, and a set of m scalar coefficients ci, i=1, 2, . . . , m that characterize the particular gas turbine engine being monitored relative to other engines of the same type, m, n and p being predetermined positive real numbers, said gas turbine performance monitoring system comprising:
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a plurality of sensor means for supplying signals representative of the value of each of said monitored dependent performance parameters yk and each of said engine installation operating parameters sj at each predetermined monitoring time KT where T is a predetermined system sampling interval and K is a positive real integer; function generating means responsive to said signals supplied by said sensor means for determining the value of each of said independent performance parameters xi at each monitoring time KT; digital processing means for determining the value of each of said estimated values yk at each of said monitoring times KT, said digital processing means including means for setting the value of each yk numerically equal to ##EQU11## comparator means for determining the difference between the values of each of said dependent performance parameters yk and the associated estimate yk at each monitoring time KT, said comparator means including means for supplying a plurality of n difference signals representative of the difference between each of said monitored dependent performance parameters and its associated estimate yk ; and logic means responsive to said difference signals supplied by said comparator means for logically combining said difference signals to supply a signal indicative of an operating fault within said gas turbine engine. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. In a gas turbine engine monitoring system of the type including parameter simulation means for estimating the current value of one or more critical engine performance parameters based on the current value of a plurality of operating parameters of the engine installation incorporating the monitored gas turbine engine and means for comparing each estimated current value of a critical performance parameter with the actual current value of that performance parameter to supply an indication of engine malfunction, the improvement comprising digital processing means for supplying the estimated current value of each of said critical performance parameters as scalar values mathematically equal to ##EQU13## where ci, i=1, 2, . . . , m is a set of predetermined scalar simulation coefficients that is associated with each of said performance parameters with said coefficients ci collectively characterizing the particular gas turbine engine being monitored relative to other gas turbine engines of the same type, m is a predetermined number and xi, i=1, 2, . . . , m is a set of predetermined independent engine operating parameters that generically characterize the type of gas turbine engine being monitored, said independent performance parameters being selected from the set of real numbers and the current value of predetermined functions of selected ones of said parameters of said engine installation operating parameters;
- said digital processing means including;
means for storing n vectors Ck, k=1, 2, . . . , n, each vector Ck having m scalar coefficient values ci, i=1, 2, . . . , m, where n denotes the number of critical performance parameters monitored by said system; means responsive to said current values of said plurality of engine installation operating parameters for determining the current value of each set of predetermined independent performance parameters xi, i=1, 2, . . . , m; means for multiplying each independent performance parameter xi by an associated scalar simulation coefficient ci ; and
,means for accumulating the products of each of said multiplications to supply said estimated value of each of said critical performance parameter. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
- said digital processing means including;
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14. A method for monitoring the performance of a gas turbine engine comprising the steps of:
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(a) detecting the current value of each gas turbine engine performance parameter being monitored; (b) detecting the current values of a plurality of additional operating parameters of the gas turbine engine being monitored; (c) generating a set of independent performance parameters xi, i=1, 2, . . . , m for each of said monitored performance parameters, said independent performance parameters xi being functionally related to one or more of said detected additional operating parameters of the gas turbine engine being monitored, said independent performance parameters xi being selected to generically characterize the type of gas turbine engine being monitored; (d) determining a current estimated value of each of said monitored performance parameters including the steps of determining the mathematical product of each independent performance parameter xi, i=1, 2, . . . , m multiplied by an associated simulation coefficient ci, i=1, 2, . . . , m and summing the products over the range i=l to i=m, said simulation coefficients ci characterizing the particular gas turbine engine being monitored relative to other gas turbine engines of the same type; (e) determining the difference between each of said monitored performance parameters and the estimated value of that same performance parameter; and (f) detecting said differences between each of said monitored performance parameters and the estimated value of that same performance parameter to provide an indication of the current condition of said gas turbine engine. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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Specification