Systems and methods for wind tunnel operation

• US 10,460,588 B2
• Filed: 09/06/2016
• Issued: 10/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Chi, Raymond Sungtah, Waymire, Russell William
• Primary Examiner(s): Edun, Muhammad N
• Assistant Examiner(s): Murphy, Jerold B
• Application Number:
  US15/257,332
• Publication Number:
  US 20180068551A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,148 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 5/0016 of aircraft wings or blades
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 5/0041 by determining deflection or stress
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 5/0066 by exciting or detecting vibration or acceleration vibration testing of structures G01M7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 9/02 Wind tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/00 Computer-aided design [CAD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/02 using wired connections, e.g. plugboards
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/182 Level alarms, e.g. alarms responsive to variables exceeding a threshold
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/823 where the data is sent when the measured values exceed a threshold, e.g. sending an alarm
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom

Abstract

A system for monitoring a model in a wind tunnel is provided. The system includes a plurality of sensors attached to a model in a wind tunnel. Each sensor of the plurality of sensors is configured to measure an attribute of the model. The system also includes a computing device in communication with the plurality of sensors. The computing device is programmed to receive a plurality of signals from the plurality of sensors, store a first threshold and a second threshold based on normalized alarm limits associated with at least one of the plurality of sensors, analyze the plurality of signals based, at least in part, on the first threshold and the second threshold, determine that a potentially negative condition is occurring based on the analysis, and alert a user to the potentially negative condition.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring a model in a wind tunnel, said system comprising:

a plurality of sensors attached to a model in a wind tunnel, wherein each sensor of said plurality of sensors is configured to measure an attribute of the model including at least one of strain, stress, lift, weight, drag, and thrust; and

a computing device in communication with said plurality of sensors, wherein said computing device includes a processor in communication with a memory, wherein said computing device is programmed to;

receive a plurality of signals from said plurality of sensors, wherein the plurality of signals represent measurements of the attributes of the model;

store a first threshold and a second threshold based on normalized alarm limits associated with at least one of said plurality of sensors;

analyze the plurality of signals based, at least in part, on the first threshold and the second threshold;

determine that the second threshold has been exceeded; and

transmit one or more messages to instruct the wind tunnel to shut down without user interaction.

2. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said computing device is further programmed to:

determine that the first threshold has been exceeded; and

initiate a short alarm, wherein the short alarm is at least one of an audible alarm and a visual alarm.

3. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said computing device is further programmed to:

determine that the first threshold has been exceeded a predetermined number of times in a first predetermined period of time;

initiate at least one of an audible alarm and a visible alarm; and

store the plurality of signals received for a second predetermined period of time before and after the alarm was initiated, wherein the stored plurality of signals is associated with a warning tag.

4. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first threshold is a distance from the second threshold, and wherein said computing device is further programmed to:

determine that the first threshold has been exceeded by a predetermined portion of the distance between the first threshold and the second threshold;

initiate at least one of an audible alarm and a visible alarm; and

store the plurality of signals received for a second predetermined period of time before and after the alarm was initiated, wherein the stored plurality of signals is associated with a warning tag.

5. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said computing device is further programmed to:

initiate at least one of an audible alarm and a visible alarm;

store the plurality of signals received for a second predetermined period of time before and after the alarm was initiated, wherein the stored plurality of signals are associated with an alert tag;

determine one or more changes to conditions in the wind tunnel so that at least the second threshold is no longer exceeded; and

transmit one or more messages to the wind tunnel to implement the one or more changes to the conditions in the wind tunnel without user interaction, so that at least the second threshold is no longer exceeded.

6. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said computing device is further programmed to store the plurality of signals received for a second predetermined period of time before and after the alarm was initiated, wherein the stored plurality of signals are associated with an alert tag.

7. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said computing device is further programmed to store the first threshold and the second threshold based on one or more user inputs.

8. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said computing device is further programmed to:

receive the plurality of signals in a plurality of channels, wherein each channel of the plurality of channels includes signals from one or more sensors of the plurality of sensors; and

store a first threshold and a second threshold associated with each channel of the plurality of channels.

9. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the computing device is further programmed to:

calculate a steady state for one sensor of the plurality of sensors;

calculate a dynamic stat for the one sensor;

continually compare the steady state to the dynamic state; and

determine that an operating condition where damage may occur to at least one of the model and the wind tunnel is occurring based on the comparison.

10. A wind tunnel structural health monitor (WTSHM) computer device for monitoring a model in a wind tunnel, said WTSHM computer device comprising a processor in communication with a memory, said processor programmed to:

receive a plurality of signals from a plurality of sensors, wherein each sensor of the plurality of sensors is configured to measure an attribute of a model in the wind tunnel, wherein the plurality of signals represent measurements of the attributes of the model including at least one of strain, stress, lift, weight, drag, and thrust;

store a first threshold and a second threshold based on normalized alarm limits associated with at least one of the plurality of sensors;

analyze the plurality of signals based, at least in part, on the first threshold and the second threshold;

determine that the second threshold has been exceeded;

determine one or more changes to operating conditions in the wind tunnel without making changes to the model so that at least the second threshold is no longer exceeded; and

transmit one or more messages to the wind tunnel to implement the one or more changes to the operating conditions in the wind tunnel without user interaction, so that at least the second threshold is no longer exceeded.

11. A WTSHM computer device in accordance with claim 10, wherein the processor is further programmed to:

determine that the first threshold has been exceeded; and

initiate a short alarm, wherein the short alarm is at least one of an audible alarm and a visual alarm.

12. A WTSHM computer device in accordance with claim 10, wherein the processor is further programmed to:

determine that the first threshold has been exceeded a predetermined number of times in a first predetermined period of time;

initiate at least one of an audible alarm and a visible alarm; and

store the plurality of signals received for a second predetermined period of time before and after the alarm was initiated, wherein the stored plurality of signals is associated with a warning tag.

13. A WTSHM computer device in accordance with claim 10, wherein the first threshold is a distance from the second threshold, and wherein the processor is further programmed to:

determine that the first threshold has been exceeded by a predetermined portion of the distance between the first threshold and the second threshold;

initiate at least one of an audible alarm and a visible alarm; and

store the plurality of signals received for a second predetermined period of time before and after the alarm was initiated, wherein the stored plurality of signals is associated with a warning tag.

14. A WTSHM computer device in accordance with claim 10, wherein the processor is further programmed to:

initiate at least one of an audible alarm and a visible alarm; and

store the plurality of signals received for a second predetermined period of time before and after the alarm was initiated, wherein the stored plurality of signals are associated with an alert tag.

15. A WTSHM computer device in accordance with claim 10, wherein the processor is further programmed to:

initiate at least one of an audible alarm and a visible alarm;

store the plurality of signals received for a second predetermined period of time before and after the alarm was initiated, wherein the stored plurality of signals are associated with an alert tag; and

transmit one or more messages to instruct the wind tunnel to shut down without user interaction.

16. A WTSHM computer device in accordance with claim 10, wherein the processor is further programmed to:

receive the plurality of signals in a plurality of channels, wherein each channel of the plurality of channels includes signals from one or more sensors of the plurality of sensors; and

store a first threshold and a second threshold associated with each channel of the plurality of channels.

17. A method for monitoring a model in a wind tunnel, said method implemented using a wind tunnel structural health monitor (WTSHM) computer device, said WTSHM computer device comprising a processor in communication with a memory, said method comprising:

receiving a plurality of signals from a plurality of sensors, wherein each sensor of the plurality of sensors is configured to measure an attribute of a model in the wind tunnel, wherein the plurality of signals represent measurements of the attributes of the model including at least one of strain, stress, lift, weight, drag, and thrust;

storing a first threshold and a second threshold based on normalized alarm limits associated with at least one of the plurality of sensors;

analyzing the plurality of signals based, at least in part, on the first threshold and the second threshold;

determining that the second threshold has been exceeded;

determining one or more changes to operating conditions in the wind tunnel without making changes to the model so that at least the second threshold is no longer exceeded; and

transmitting one or more messages to the wind tunnel to implement the one or more changes to the operating conditions in the wind tunnel without user interaction, so that at least the second threshold is no longer exceeded.

18. A method in accordance with claim 17 further comprising:

determining that the first threshold has been exceeded a predetermined number of times in a first predetermined period of time;

initiating at least one of an audible alarm and a visible alarm; and

storing, in the memory, the plurality of signals received for a second predetermined period of time before and after the alarm was initiated, wherein the stored plurality of signals are associated with a warning tag.

19. A method in accordance with claim 17, wherein the first threshold is a distance from the second threshold, and wherein the method further comprises:

determining that the first threshold has been exceeded by a predetermined portion of the distance between the first threshold and the second threshold;

initiating at least one of an audible alarm and a visible alarm; and

storing the plurality of signals received for a second predetermined period of time before and after the alarm was initiated, wherein the stored plurality of signals is associated with a warning tag.

20. A method in accordance with claim 17 further comprising:

initiating at least one of an audible alarm and a visible alarm; and

storing the plurality of signals received for a second predetermined period of time before and after the alarm was initiated, wherein the stored plurality of signals are associated with an alert tag.