Patent ID: 9587512
Date: 2017-03-07
CPC Classifications: B64D,F01D,F05D,G01M,Y02T

Claim:
1. A method for balancing an unbalanced gas turbine engine of an airplane, comprising: (a) attaching a vibration sensor to an unbalanced gas turbine engine of an airplane; (b) acquiring vibration sensor data from the vibration sensor during a flight of the airplane; (c) converting the vibration sensor data output from the vibration sensor into vibration data points, said vibration data points comprising amplitude and phase data; (d) calculating respective unbalance states for said vibration data points; (e) identifying unbalance states calculated in step (d) which differ from each other by at least a threshold amount; (f) calculating a mean unbalance state having a magnitude and an angle using unbalance states identified in step (e); and (g) balancing the unbalanced gas turbine engine by attaching or removing at least one balancing mass summing to a mass-length equivalent of said mean unbalance state at a phase angle 180 degrees from the angle associated with said mean unbalance state.