Engine vibration is monitored by airborne vibration monitoring equipment.

They are
used to analyse the health of the engine. As the engine contains rotating compressors
and turbines, any dynamic imbalance due to wear and tear leads to damage. Engine
vibration monitoring helps identify the imbalance by measuring the vibration. Since
the engine produces vibration

Atypical avm system uses small accelerometers whc works with principles of piezo
electric effects. This is connected to amplifiers/ filters are shown on flight deck
instruments. The selection of Avm system depends on the cost,benefits, the data to be
collected and maintenance. Many factors are involved in futher devolopement of the
syatem “:

Signal quality which depens on the position, mounting and connection to the
transducers.

Transducers are of displacement, velocity or acceleration type. The commonly used

one is accelerometer type with ceramic or crystal piezoelectric materials. Directional
sensitivity is a major factor for transducer selection in the absence of temperature
effects.

Since the transducer being a high impedance device, signal transmission over a long is
difficult. Low noise cable along with circuit designs minimises the interference
effects.

Connectors used should be minimum and couplings should be secure against

movements.

Signal processing methods include integration of acceleration to calculate velocity

and displacement. Displacement is used at low frequencies while velocity and
vibration is taken for higher frequencies. Rotor speed falls in the frequency range for
velocity. Common filter used to remove known vibrations is tracking filter based
system. A narrow band filter is used to tie filter pass frequencies to rotor speeds.

One of the recent developments was the usage of phase reference signals in addition
to tachometer tracking which help detect fan rotor imbalance without a test bed or
ground running.

A successful usage of vibration monitoring system includes policies made up from the
engine workshop to the flight crew feedback and reaction to identified events. Co-
ordination and better understanding of the system usage will make it a successful one.