The group, established in 2002, caters to the need of Remaining Life Assessment (RLA) of the main and auxiliary equipment of thermal, hydro and gas-based power plants. Services such as RLA of major equipment like steam turbines, hydro turbines, thermal and hydro generators, condensers, transformers and other auxiliary equipment are offered. State-of-the-art facilities, equipment and computational facilities available in different laboratories of the Corporate R&D Division are utilized in carrying out the multi-disciplinary and diverse work related to RLA.

Expertise Available:

	Extensive non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques required for RLA
	Ventilation and cooling studies on generators
	Vibration, noise, and natural frequency tests
	Transformer oil and paper analysis for RLA
	Fracture mechanics based RLA
	In-situ metallographic replication
	Special FEM-based techniques for creep and fatigue life expenditure assessment
	Borosonic examination of rotor bores
	In-situ NDT of end-retaining rings

Major Achievements:

	Complete RLA of 210 and 500 MW thermal power plants
	Complete RLA of hydro power plants of different ratings

The group is involved in analysis and troubleshooting of problems like vibration, noise and wear at site and during testing at plants. The group has also developed condition monitoring systems and devices like Grounding Brush Monitor for solving site problems. Extensive data bank on site problems is also maintained by the group.

Expertise Available:

	Vibration Measurement and Analysis
	Rotor Dynamic Analysis
	Noise Measurement and Analysis
	Analysis of Wear of Components
	Ferrographic Oil Analysis
	Dynamic Analysis of Structures

Major Facilities/Software:

	Vibration Measurement and Analysis Equipment
	Automated Diagnostics of Rotating Equipment
	Single/Dual Channel FFT Analyser and Measurement System (Schnek, Bruel & Kjaer, IRD, Onosokki and Bently Nevada makes)
	Multi-channel Instrumentation Tape Recorder
	Noise Measurement and Analysis Equipment
	Pulse System (Bruel & Kjaer make)
	Noise Level Meter (Bruel & Kjaer and Onosokki makes)
	Hammer Kit for Natural Frequency Test
	Optical Microscope for Bearing Failure Analysis
	Shock Pulse Meter for Rolling Bearing Fault Detection and Vacuum Leak Detection
	Rotor Dynamics Software   " ARMD " – Flexural and Torsion    " TM50 " – Flexural    " Trotas " – Torsion
	Combined Flexural and Torsion suited for Multi-gear System
	Dynamic Analysis Software " ANSYS "
	Modelling Software " IDEAS ”

In the present days of competitive industrial environment, the time taken to manufacture a new product at competitive price is a real challenge. In order to meet such challenges, the concept of Virtual Reality (VR) plays a key role in the production of Virtual Prototype (VP) in artificial environment from CAD data without utilising material and manufacturing resources. 

In order to meet such challenges, VP/VR Center has been setup in October 2002 at the Corporate R&D Division with the following objectives

	Development of digital prototypes of product models
	Performing assembly/disassembly of product models
	Development of interactive walkthroughs for product models and power plants

The centre is a centralised facility catering to the needs of all units of BHEL

Major Ongoing Projects:

	Development of 3 kW Polymer Electrolyte Membrane(PEM) Fuel Cell stack
	Development of 1 kW Alkaline Fuel Cell stack

Major Facilities:

The centre is equipped with the following hardware:

	ONYX 3200 graphics computer equipped with 4 CPUs, 8 GB RAM with IR3 graphics engine
	Two numbers of OCTANE 2 workstations with 8 GB RAM each
	Six numbers of SGI330 workstations
	BARCO 808s 3-gun stereo projector
	Immersive peripherals like HMD, WANDA 3D mouse, Ascension Flock of Birds Tracker, 18-sensor Cyber Glove, Crystal Eyes and Emitters
	Denon 3D surround sound system

All the above systems have been interconnected using a gigabit LAN.

The centre is presently equipped with following software:

	Division Reality (1 license)
	Division Mock-up (2 licenses)
	I-deas to Division translator (1 license)
	Vis Mock-up (1 license)
	Vis Publish (1 license)
	Vis Conference (1 license)
	I-deas modeler and assembly on IRIX platform (1 license)
	I-deas artisan series (2 licenses)

The group is engaged in design, development and commercialization of electronic products in addition to the maintenance of electronic equipment and systems at the Corporate R&D Division. The group extends need-based servicing support to BHEL plants. The group is equipped with laboratory facilities to carry out the testing of analog and digital electronic systems.

Major Achievements:

	Design, development and engineering of Inverter Charger Cards for Solar Lanterns as per specifications laid down by the Union Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES)
	Supply of about 87300 Inverter Charger Cards for Solar Lanterns to BHEL’s Component Fabrication Plant (CFP), Rudrapur
	Engineering, testing and supply of 10 nos. of Controllers for 200 kW Wind Electric Generators for Ramagiri Wind Farm
	Engineering, testing and supply of six Auto Synchronisers to BHEL, Bhopal
	Active participation during commissioning of 20 tonne Universal Testing Machine at CFFP, at BHEL-Haridwar, and extending subsequent yearly calibration support
	Geared up for engineering, testing and supply of Gravimetric Feeder Controllers