GE’s “digital twin” to help US Military Sealift Command anticipate breakdowns

February 7, 2018

The US Military Sealift Command has selected General Electric for work on a pilot program which will help detect “performance degradation that leads to potential failure”.

GE’s Predix Asset Performance Management (APM) pilot program will be used onboard two dry cargo ammunition ships, William McLean (T-AKE 12) and Medgar Evers (T-AKE13), with the aim of improving performance and mission readiness.

The first phase of the pilot program will see GE deliver the Motor Fleet APM solution that will enable high-speed data sampling to analyze the electrical signature of the critical marine equipment and provide predictive analytics.

To do this, GE will build a digital twin, a virtual replica built on the data collected from marine equipment, such as variable frequency drives, propulsion motors, diesel engines and generators.

The system will then compare the real-time asset performance against its digital twin’s data profile, spotting data variance – often a sign of performance degradation that leads to potential failure – and inform operators to solve the problem before it occurs, increasing asset reliability and availability, and reducing maintenance needs and its associated operational expenditures.

“Building on the strong partnership we have with the Military Sealift Command will allow us to continue to share both our physics and digital based capabilities, improving their asset availability, efficiency and operations,” said John Mansfield, chief digital officer for GE Aviation’s Digital Solutions. “We’re taking the field data for each vessel and modeling the overall health of their systems so they can make informed decisions to significantly increase their mission readiness.”

All remote monitoring and diagnostics will be performed in GE’s Power Conversion’s Houston Remote Monitoring & Diagnostic center in collaboration with the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPARWAR) where they will determine asset health and take immediate actions to avoid asset failure.