An aircraft includes a gas turbine engine and an optically-based measurement system. The gas turbine engine is configured to ingest a first mass flow and to exhaust a second mass flow. The optically-based measurement system is configured to determine the first and second mass flows in response to performing an imaging process on the gas turbine engine.

A system and method for reducing the vibration response of a rotating system are provided. In one aspect, an optimized balance shot or solution that indicates one or more physical locations at which one or more balancing weights are to be added or removed from the rotating system is generated. The balance shot is generated based on a transfer function that is customized specifically for the rotating system. The transfer function is generated by applying one or more machine-learned models to parameter values for parameters that are associated with the rotating system. The machine-learned models can generate main effects plots, and from the plots, an effective set of parameter values can be determined. The transfer function can be generated using the effective set of parameter values so that the transfer function used to generate the balance shot is optimized specifically for the rotating system undergoing the balancing process.

A method can include perturbing an electric motor of a hybrid powerplant having the electric motor and a fuel powered engine. The method can include measuring a frequency response of the powerplant due to the perturbing of the electric motor to determine a health of the powerplant and/or one or more components thereof.

Embodiments of the invention are shown in the figures, where a system for vibration detection is shown, the system comprising: one or more drivelines including a rotatable component rotatable about a rotational axis relative to another component; an electrical machine having a rotor and a stator rotatable with respect to one another, the rotor being arranged to at least one of drive and be driven by a part of the driveline, the electrical machine being adapted to provide signals indicative for at least one of a motion and a force between the rotor and the stator and a torque applied on the rotor; and an analysis unit adapted to receive the signals and to detect a vibration signature of the rotatable component with respect to the other component based on the signals.

A method is provided involving a turbine engine. During this method, data is received indicative of twist of a shaft of the turbine engine. The data is monitored over time to identity one or more reversal events while the turbine engine is operating, where each of the reversal events corresponds to a reversal in a value sign of the data. Shaft shear is identified in the shaft based on occurrence of N number of the reversal events.

A system of a machine includes a waveguide system and a radio frequency transceiver/detector coupled to the waveguide system and configured to emit a calibration signal in the waveguide system to establish a reference baseline between the radio frequency transceiver/detector and a calibration plane associated with an aperture of the waveguide system, emit a measurement signal in the waveguide system to transmit a radio frequency signal from the radio frequency transceiver/detector out of the aperture of the waveguide system, and detect a reflection of the measurement signal at the radio frequency transceiver/detector based on an interaction between the measurement signal and a component of the machine. A measurement result of the reflection of the measurement signal can be adjusted with respect to a reflection of the calibration signal.

A system of a machine includes a first node and a second node configured to establish a first communication path through a waveguide system to guide a radio frequency transmission between the first node and the second node in the machine. The system also includes a third node and a fourth node configured to establish a second communication path in the machine. The first node is grouped with the third node as a first node group, and the second node is grouped with the fourth node as a second node group such that the second communication path provides a redundant communication path with respect to the first communication path for communication between the first node group and the second node group.

A damage evaluation device evaluates damage of equipment, including an operation data obtaining unit which detects a state of the equipment to obtain the state as operation data; an operating state quantity evaluation unit which calculates an operating state quantity including at least one of temperature and generated stress at a predetermined evaluation-target site of the equipment, based on the operation data; a material deterioration evaluation unit which evaluates a material deterioration quantity of a material forming the equipment, based on the operating state quantity; a risk evaluation unit which evaluates at least one of a cumulative damage quantity of the material forming the equipment and failure risk, based on the operating state quantity and the material deterioration quantity; and a recommended maintenance time presentation unit which presents a recommended maintenance time of the equipment based on a result of the evaluation of the risk evaluation unit.

A system and method for adaptively controlling a cooldown cycle of an auxiliary power unit (APU) that is operating and rotating at a rotational speed includes reducing the rotational speed of the APU to a predetermined cooldown speed magnitude that ensures combustor inlet temperature has reached a predetermined temperature value, determining, based on one or more of operational parameters of the APU, when a lean blowout of the APU is either imminent or has occurred, and when a lean blowout is imminent or has occurred, varying one or more parameters associated with the shutdown/cooldown cycle.

The present application provides an exhaust frame differential cooling system of a gas turbine engine to mitigate a temperature differential along a compressor and/or a turbine to minimize centerline eccentricity of a shaft. The exhaust frame differential cooling system may include a number of compressor temperature sensors positioned about the compressor and/or a number of turbine temperature sensors positioned about the turbine, an exhaust frame including an inner barrel with a bearing tunnel for the shaft, an outer barrel, and a number of struts extending from the inner barrel to the outer barrel, a blower, and a cooling air metering system that provides cooling air from the blower to the bearing tunnel and through the inner barrel, the struts, and the outer barrel in response to the temperature differential being determined along the compressor and/or the turbine.