U.S. Army, Guard Set Up Maintenance Research Center

The U.S. Army and the South Carolina National Guard are partnering with the University of South Carolina to research more efficient ways of maintaining helicopter drive trains. The Army’s Aviation and Missile Command and the state Guard have set up a Condition-Based Maintenance Research Center in the university’s College of Engineering and Computing. Backed by nearly $5 million in U.S. Defense Dept. grants, the center will focus on mechanical diagnosis and prognosis of helicopter drive trains and predictive maintenance of them. The effort is aimed at making Boeing AH-64 Apaches and Ch-47 Chinooks and Sikorsky Aircraft H-60 Black Hawks safer and more economical to operate. The South Carolina Guard is a U.S. leader in efforts to develop and deploy predictive maintenance techniques.       For related news