Correlation of HUMS CIs with a Physics-Based Prognostic Model for Remaining Useful Life of UH-60M Black Hawk Tail Rotor Gearbox Bearings

The purpose of this research is to determine the value of incorporating vibration derived condition indicator (CI) data for UH-60M Black Hawk tail rotor gearbox bearings within a previously developed prognostic architecture. A description of the tail rotor gearbox test facility used to develop ground truth bearing spall information and associated CI data is provided. This is followed by a description of a physics-based spall progression model and the architecture used to provide on-line model updating and uncertainty management. CI data is then used as a source of diagnostic information within the prognostic framework, and the relative performance of each CI with respect to remaining useful life (RUL) prediction quality is presented.

Author: Nathan Bolander, Ph.D, Clint Baker

Publish Date: Mar 15, 2013