Farshid BazmiFarshid Bazmi’s method for diagnosing helicopter engine faults won a gold medal in the aerospace category at the Seoul International Invention Fair.

Research into helicopter engine safety earns award for engineers

A team based at the University of Windsor was awarded a gold medal for its research into improving the reliability and safety of helicopter engines at the Seoul International Invention Fair.

Farshid Bazmi, a postdoctoral fellow in mechanical engineering, professor Afshin Rahimi, and industry partner Moein Foroud of AviationTech Solutions, proposed a new method of diagnosing fouling faults in turboshaft engines.

“Fouling is caused by the adhesion of fine materials to the compressor blades, which changes the shape and function of the airfoil,” Dr. Bazmi said. “Our model-based method aims to increase accuracy and speed at the simulation of compressor performance in off-design situations.

“Our method promises more reliability, higher precision, power assurance, higher efficiency, and reduced risk.”

The project, funded in part by a Mitacs Accelerate grant on Fault Diagnosis for Gas Turbine Engine Systems Using Model-Based Techniques, earned top honours in the aerospace category at the fair, held Nov. 16 to 19 in the capital of South Korea.