Life Assessment of a Sea-Recoverable Small Turbojet Engine Designated for UAV Application

A small turbojet engine is subjected to sea recovery trials for assessment of its life. The engine operates at very high rotor speeds and its integrity needs to be maintained while delivering the required performance for different flight missions. The UAV is launched from ground stations or from ship decks with the help of booster rockets and is recovered over sea. The engine should be capable of reuse after injection of saline water and sand from the sea. Therefore, life assessment of the engine and its components plays an important role while qualifying the engine for the UAV application. Simulated sea dunking tests of the full-scale engine was carried out followed by tear-down examination to assess the extent of corrosion and damage in its components and deterioration in engine performance if any. These tests were found very useful in setting the life from safety and reliable point of view. The engine is cleared for field trials where they would experience real operating conditions and service environment. This paper highlights the sea recovery tests of the engine and the basis on which the life is assessed. Also the paper covers the engine refurbishment procedure which is a practice to refit the engine after every sea recovery.