Development of a Computer Based Gas Turbine Instruments Test system

Due to the significant importance of gas turbine engines as it is the core of the aircr aft, the engine health status should be tested periodically. Testing methodologies are needed to conduct the engine tests required as a part of airworthiness certification. In this project, a Data Acquisition System (DAQ) was developed as a turboshaft engi ne (GTD 350) testing system. This system was developed to monitor the engine parameters for determining its condition. A PIC 16F877A microcontroller was used as the heart of the DAQ. Internal Analog to Digital Converters (ADC) acquired data from analog sig nals. The analog signals gathered from temperature, tacho generator, throttle, and pressure sensors were transformed into digital format, and then the corresponding data was sent serially to Personal Computer (PC) through a microcontroller serial port. The visual basic program was designed to convert, scale, and display these data. Furthermore, the system was designed to analyze, compare the displayed data with standard stored data, and provides automatically a troubleshooting list whenever upnormal data oc curred. The developed test system had been applied successfully and the results are accurate, reliable, and acceptable.