An energy flow approach to fault propagation analysis

A complex system such as an aircraft engine, is composed of several components or subsystems which interact with each other in several ways. These constituent components/subsystems and their interactions make up the whole system. When a fault condition arises in one of the components, not only that component behavior changes but the interaction of that component with the other system constituents may also change. This might result in spreading the effect of that fault to other components in a domino like effect, until the overall system fails. This paper presents a modular methodology to analyze propagation of faults from one subsystem to the other subsystems. The application domain focuses on an aero propulsion system of the turbofan type.