Multiphysics Coupling Simulation for Electrostatic Sensing and Online Monitoring

An aircraft engine is critical, and proper maintenance is highly recommended. Aero-engine failure diagnosis is based on condition-based monitoring, but the exhaust path parameters throughout the flight process are not used effectively. The exhaust of aircraft engine parameters are hot gases and particles of the unburnt fuel or erosion of the parts inside the engine. The electrostatic monitoring technology is extensively used for charge detection of exhaust particles. The problems faced by electrostatic sensing technology for effective fault analysis are the influence of the fluid flow parameters, position of the particles, and concentration of the particles. For this purpose, the Multiphysics coupling approach is proposed in this paper. The Multiphysics coupling scheme enables the investigation of the influence of these parameters on the electrostatic monitoring technology for fault monitoring of aero-engine. The Multiphysics coupling numerical Model of the aero-engine is developed with the optimal parameters of a probe-type electrostatic sensor. The COMSOL Multiphysics software is utilized for coupling flow field, heat transfer, particle tracing, and electrostatic physical parameters. The developed model is simulated at Mach number 0.3 for fluid flow parameters, and then ten particles of 10µm diameter are released randomly from the inlet. The position of particles shows that the particles are moving with the path followed by fluid flow parameters, and the output signal of the electrostatic sensor detects the charge created by the particles. Further, online fault monitoring by applying an electrostatic sensor was analyzed by adding a single particle with a higher diameter of 50µm. The addition of foreign particles increased the output voltage of the electrostatic sensor. This rapid change in the output signal of the electrostatic sensor confirmed the sensitivity of the developed model for fault monitoring of an aero-engine.