Degradation Analysis, Fault Diagnosis and Remaining Life Prediction of Integrated Mast and Transmitter Receiver Module

Frequently installed on latest destroyers, integrated mast (I-mast) conducts tasks including coast and air-space surveillances. I-mast is a complex multi-domain system with various mechanical and electrical subsystems and components. In the perspective of diagnosis and maintenance, it is important to technologically manage this system for long operating time periods and eventually increase its survivability. We explore the prognostics and health management (PHM) process of I-mast and transmitter receiver module (TRM) using the framework of Modelica-based system simulation. With Modelica, one can reuse components employed in a model, easily model a system expressed in mathematical language, and conduct a multi-dimensional, multi-physics analysis. First, failure mode effects and criticality analysis (FMECA) was conducted to extract the major failure and degradation factors of an I-mast structure and TRM under the vessel’s vibrating and operating conditions. To quantitatively assess the risk priority number (RPN), we propose the use of design of experiments (DoE) and analysis of variance (ANOVA). To preprocess the vibration acceleration signals, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to identify major features from statistical multi-components. Subsequently, based on the diagnosis of fault states, the prediction of remaining useful life (RUL) of I-mast and TRM has been discussed in the context of PHM.