HELMGOP- Helicopter Main Gearbox Loss of Oil Performance Optimisation
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Research Project EASA.2011/5 HELMGOP- Helicopter main gearbox loss of oil performance optimisation easa.europa.eu Disclaimer This study has been carried out for the European Aviation Safety Agency by an external organization and expresses the opinion of the organization undertaking the study. It is provided for information purposes only and the views expressed in the study have not been adopted, endorsed or in any way approved by the European Aviation Safety Agency. Consequently it should not be relied upon as a statement, as any form of warranty, representation, undertaking, contractual, or other commitment binding in law upon the European Aviation Safety Agency. Ownership of all copyright and other intellectual property rights in this material including any documentation, data and technical information, remains vested to the European Aviation Safety Agency. All logo, copyrights, trademarks, and registered trademarks that may be contained within are the property of their respective owners. Reproduction of this study, in whole or in part, is permitted under the condition that the full body of this Disclaimer remains clearly and visibly affixed at all times with such reproduced part. Project: EASA. 2011. C23 Helicopter Main Gearbox Loss of Oil Performance Optimization - HELMGOP Final Report Authors Professor David Mba Dr Simon Place Dr Hamad Rashid Mr Reuben L C Keong School of Engineering Cranfield University November 2012 Abstract Helicopters provide a versatile means of transporting people, material and equipment in a varied range of environments. They are totally dependent on their rotor transmission (RT) systems, which provide the critical links from the engines to the main rotor, tail rotor and ancillary systems. These RT systems are in turn totally dependent on a functioning lubrication system, and a number of significant helicopter accidents have been caused due to loss of this lubrication. Current certification requirements for Category A helicopters require that gearboxes which use pressurized lubrication systems must show a capability to continue operation for a period of 30 minutes after suffering a loss of oil. However, this has not always been met in service with current designs. This report has been commissioned by EASA in order to assess the key factors that affect the lubrication system and its run-dry capability. It forms the output for EASA contract EASA.2011.C23 HELMGOP - HELicopter Main Gearbox loss of Oil Performance optimisation. The report presents methods for assessing the reliability of pressurized lubrication systems and the ability to continue powered operation for an extended period having suffered loss of oil. The research includes an assessment of MGB design and architecture, lubrication systems and reliability techniques. Safety risk modelling was conducted which included fault tree analysis of MGB oil system related accidents and incidents. Work has been carried out to assess alternative lubrication methods/techniques that may allow gearboxes to operate for longer than 30 minutes in the event of a lubrication system failure. It is therefore recommended that the requirement for run-dry capability to be increased. This reflects not only the increasing range that off-shore helicopters must travel, but also the advances in lubrication technology that have been achieved. The certification standards for civil helicopters are less prescriptive than those for military types, and it is suggested that more detail be added to advisory material with regard to running lubrication tests. i Contents Abstract Abbreviations List of Tables List of Figures 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. Background 1 1.2. Project Objectives 1 1.3. Report Format 2 PART ONE: Deliverables of HELMGOP TASK 1 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 4 2.1. Design and Architecture of MGB 4 2.1.1 Design configurations and thermal behaviour 4 2.1.2 Design reliability 10 2.2. MGB Lubrication 19 2.2.1 Analysis of lubrication system oil starvation 19 2.2.2 Possible intervention concepts to oil starvation 21 2.2.3 Concept of vapour/mist phase lubrication (VMPL) 25 2.2.4 Experiments on VMPL 26 2.3. MGB Reliability and Risk Assessment 30 2.4. MGB Testing and Certification 34 2.4.1 Testing helicopter MGB oil system performance 34 2.4.2 Comparison of airworthiness requirements for gearbox run dry testing 36 PART TWO: Deliverables of HELMGOP TASK 2 3. REVIEW OF MGB LUBRICATION SYSTEM RELIABILITY (Task 2a) 37 3.1. Applying Fault Trees for MGB Oil System Relevant Accidents and Incidents 37 3.1.1 Formal helicopter accidents reports pool 37 3.2. List of Primary and Secondary MGB Failure Modes Due to Loss of Oil 39 3.2.1 Definitions 39 3.2.2 Fault tree analysis findings 39 3.3. Review of various approaches to MGB reliability assessment 44 3.3.1 Aviation Safety Risk model 44 3.3.2 Eurocontrol Integrated Risk Picture 45 3.3.3 Causal Model for Air Transport Safety 46 3.4. Applying the influence Diagram approach to HELMGOP 49 3.5. Reliability Review of Sample MGB designs 50 3.5.1 Basic helicopter lubrication system description and design 51 3.5.2 Key lubrication system failure modes 51 3.5.3 Type A, Type B and Type C lubrication system reliability 51 3.5.4 Design Comparison 53 ii 4. APPROACHES TO MGB LUBRICATION SYSTEM RELIABILITY ANALYSIS (Task 2b) 54 4.1. MGB lubrication System Reliability Assessment Using Monte Carlo Techniques 54 4.2. Component-based Functional Analysis of MGB Lubrication System Reliability 58 4.2.1 Failure types of Helicopter MGB lubrication system 58 4.2.2 The need to analyse at the level of individual components of MGB oil system 59 4.2.3 The Influence Diagram approach: Suitability for the current problem 59 4.2.4 The need of a generic model of analysis 60 4.2.5 Aim of applying the ID approach within HELMGOP 60 4.2.6 Data sources for ID analysis model 60 4.2.7 Description of the ID model for MGB lubrication system reliability analysis 60 4.2.8 Model Justification 61 4.2.9 Types of input to model 67 4.2.10 Model recognition of input 68 4.2.11 Application: Computer-based analysis of helicopter MGB lubrication system 72 4.2.12 Results and analysis of the ID model application 73 PART THREE: Deliverables of HELMGOP TASK 3 5. TESTING METHODOLOGY FOR GEARBOX RUN DRY CABABILITY EVALUTION 83 5.1. Introduction to tests 83 5.2 Objective 83 5.3 Performance Measure 83 5.4. Test rigs Description 83 5.5. Test Plans and sequence 87 6. EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF GEARBOX RUN DRY CAPABILITY 89 6.1. Main findings of experimental tests 89 6.2. Comparison of thioether mist lubrication against oil dip lubrication 90 6.3. Comparison of gear rotation direction on thioether lubrication 92 6.4. Comparison of mist lubrication at using oil and thioether and air cooling 93 6.5. Tests Conclusions 93 PART FOUR: HELMGOP Project Discussion and Conclusions 7. DISCUSSION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS 95 7.1. General 95 7.2. Lubrication Technologies 96 7.3. Safety and Reliability assessment 97 7.4. Airworthiness requirements 99 7.4.1 Civil approach to certification of lubrication system 99 7.4.2 Military approach to certification of lubrication system 100 8. RESEARCH CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 102 8.1. Lubrication Technologies 102 8.2. Safety and Reliability assessment 102 8.3. Airworthiness Requirements 103 Acknowledgements References, Appendices, and Enclosures iii Abbreviations AC : Advisory Circular ART : Advanced Rotorcraft Transmission ASRM : Aviation Safety Risk Model BBN : Bayesian Belief Network BCAR : British Civil Airworthiness Requirements CATS : Causal model for Air Transport Safety CHTGM : Committee on Helicopter Transmission Gear Materials CM : Certification Memorandum CS : Certification Specification DSA : Design Safety Analysis EASA : European Aviation Safety Agency FAA/R : Federal Aviation Administration / Requirement HELMGOP : HELicopter Main Gearbox loss of Oil Performance optimisation HFACS : Human Factors Analysis and Classification System HSS : Helicopter Safety Study ID : Influence Diagram MACHINE : Model of Accident Causation using Hierarchical Influence Network Elicitation MCS : Monte Carlo Simulation MGB : Main Gear Box MTBF/R : Mean time between failure / removal RIF : Risk Influencing Factor SSI : Structural Significant Item TCCA : Transport Canada Civil Aviation TSB : Transportation Safety Board VIM-VAR : Vacuum Induction Melt – Vacuum Arc Remelt VMPL : Vapour/Mist Phase Lubrication XPS : X-ray Photoelectron iv List of Tables Table 1 : Main technical parameters of helicopter transmission developments 8 (Yin et al 2011) Table 2 : Various MGB configurations typically used to join input from two engines 9 (Yin et al 2011) Table 3 : Historic failure modes relating to design/ improvements of the 12 transmission and their associated primary risk reduction measures (Astridge 1996b) Table 4 : Historic failure modes relating to transmission performance monitoring 13 provisions and their primary risk reduction measures (Astridge 1996b) Table 5 : Postulated failure modes, not found in the catastrophic data, and their 13 associated primary risk reduction measures (Astridge 1996b) Table 6 : The C matrix of helicopter engines 14 Table 7 : The F matrix of helicopter engines 15 Table 8 : Strength Analysis method and its required typical material properties (Yin 16 et al 2011) Table 9 : Failure modes, effects, and causes of the transmission parts (Tongbo and 17 Gaiqi. 2011) Table 10 : Steady-State MGB run dry experimental and calculated temperatures 20 (Coe. 1984) Table 11 : Relative impact of some of the reliability problems of the civil helicopter 31 (Dougherty and Barrett. 1978)