Of Vibration - Based Helicopters Health and Usage Monitoring Methods

The purpose of this paper is to review the work that has been done in the past years by various researchers in vibration based health and usage monitoring and to identify the principal features and signal-processing algorithm used to this purpose. The damage detection concepts and the signal analysis techniques will be reviewed and categorized. Latest advances in signal processing methodologies that are of relevance to vibration based damage detection (e.g., Wavelet Transform and Wigner-Ville distribution) will be highlighted. These vibration signal-processing methods play an important role in early identification of incipient damage that can later develop in a potential threat to the system functionality, and even a flight accident. In aerospace applications, HUMS capabilities are to minimize aircraft operation cost, reduce maintenance flights, and increase flight safety.