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Most helicopters, including the Army’s UH-60 Blackhawk, use a tail rotor to counteract main rotor torque. The tail rotor gearbox is driven by the main transmission via a long multi-section hollow driveshaft, which is supported by the oil cooler bearings, several hanger bearings in vibration damping mounts, and the intermediate gearbox. Failure of any one of the bearings in the tail rotor drive system can lead to a complete loss of directional control and a subsequent forced landing or crash. This type of failure has occurred in both military and commercial helicopters and has resulted in injuries, loss of aircraft, and loss of life. [Click to read more]

The F-35B Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) uses a convergent-divergent (C-D) nozzle to control engine thrust generation to enable Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL). A three-bearing swivel duct (3BSD) can rotate the entire nozzle downward to balance the lift fan in the fore section of the aircraft, as shown in the picture to the right. Therefore, the nozzle must respond quickly and accurately to input commands in order to ensure aircraft stability. A sync ring actuated by three symmetric linear actuators controls the nozzle diameter and thrust vectoring. Existing nozzle actuation diagnostics based on system level response do not have adequate sensitivity to ensure aircraft stability under all conditions. [Click to read more]

In recent years, significant research has been directed towards condition monitoring, diagnostics, and prognostics for the major gas turbine engine turbomachinery components, and also towards general engine health. These components are expensive to maintain, and their failure frequently has immediate safety implications. However, the degradation, faults, and failures of turbine engine accessories lead to the majority of events that compromise mission success and availability. Much less research has been focused on these faults in the electrical, hydraulic, and pneumatic accessory components. Sentient is addressing this gap with research into fault identification on many accessory applications, including several promising fault estimation algorithms for diagnosing axial-piston variable displacement pumps (VDP) similar to the pump shown. [Click to read more]

Momentum/reaction wheels and control moment gyros provide mission-critical orientation, stabilization, and energy storage for most satellites. These devices, referred to as attitude control wheels, typically consist of a flywheel, a spindle that typically contains two precision angular contact ball bearings, an electric motor, and control electronics integrated into a sealed housing.

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