Structural health management system and method for enhancing availability and integrity in the structural health management system

• US 20060106550A1
• Filed: 10/29/2004
• Published: 05/18/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Nutaro, Joseph J., Wilt, Nicholas J., Thompson, Steven R., Morin, Brent A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,263,446 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/34
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2203/0073 Fatigue
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/0258 Structural degradation, e.g. fatigue of composites, ageing of oils
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/0421 Longitudinal waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/0428 Mode conversion
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/048 Transmission, i.e. analysed material between transmitter and receiver
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/106 one or more transducer arrays
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/2694 Wings or other aircraft parts
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/11 by measuring attenuation of acoustic waves

Abstract

A structural health management system is disclosed. The structural health management system comprises a zone of sensors. A first sensor data collector is coupled to a first subset of the sensors in the zone; and a second sensor data collector coupled to a second subset of the sensors in the zone. In the present invention, loss of a sensor data collector does not result in the loss of ability to perform nondestructive testing in an entire zone.

Claims

1. A method for operating a structural health management system comprising:

gathering data from a first zone of sensors and a second zone of sensors, each of the sensors mounted on a test material;

sending data from at least a first subset of sensors of the first zone of sensors to a first sensor data collector; and

sending data from at least a second subset of sensors of the second zone of sensors to the first sensor data collector.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

sending the data from the first sensor data collector to a processor; and

analyzing the data using the processor.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of gathering data comprises:

generating elastic waves in the test material by pulsing each sensor;

receiving the elastic waves, the received elastic waves potentially altered by formations internal to the material; and

converting the received elastic waves to electrical signals representative of the structural health of the test material.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the step of generating elastic waves in the test material comprises generating an elastic wave in an aircraft skin.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

sending data from a third subset of sensors of the first zone of sensors to a second sensor data collector;

sending data from the first subset of sensors to a processor from the first sensor data collector;

sending data from the third subset of sensors to the processor from the second sensor data collector;

comparing the data from the first sensor data collector and the second sensor data collector; and

indicating a possible error condition if the data from the first sensor data collector and the data from the second sensor data collector differ by a predetermined amount.

6. A method operating a structural health monitoring system comprising:

sending signals from a first subset of a zone of sensors to a first sensor data collector; and

sending signals from a second subset of the zone of sensors to a second sensor data collector.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising the steps of:

sending the data from the first sensor data collector and the second data collector to a processor; and

analyzing the data using the processor.

8. The method of claim 6 further comprising the steps of:

generating elastic waves in the test material by pulsing each sensor;

receiving the elastic waves, the received elastic waves altered by formations internal to the material; and

converting the received elastic waves to electrical signals representative of the structural health of the test material.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the step of generating elastic waves in the test material comprises generating a wave in an aircraft skin.

10. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

comparing the signals from the first subset and the second subset in the processor; and

indicating a potential fault in the system if the first set of data and the second set of data differ by a predetermined threshold.

11. The method of claim 6 further comprising collecting data from the first subset in the first sensor data collector upon failure of the second sensor data collector.

12. A structural health management system comprising:

a plurality of sensors mounted on a structure, the plurality of sensors arranged in two or more zones; and

one or more sensor data collectors, each sensor data collector coupled to sensors from at least two zones.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein each of the plurality sensors is an ultrasonic transducer for use in ultrasonic testing.

14. The system of claim 12 wherein the structure is a section of an aircraft.

15. The system of claim 12 wherein a first subset of sensors in a first zone is associated with a first sensor data collector and a second subset of sensors in the first zone are coupled to a second sensor data collector.

16. The system of claim 12 where each of the one or more sensor data collectors are coupled to a processor, the processor operable to receive data from each of the one or more sensor data collectors and perform a damage assessment.

17. The system of claim 13 wherein each of the sensors collect data in an ultrasonic test and sends the data via the sensor data collectors to a processor coupled to the sensor data collectors, the processor configured to analyze the data to locate flaws in the structure.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the processor is further operable to compare a first set of data from a first zone coupled to a first sensor data collector and a second set of data from the first zone coupled to a second sensor data collector and signal an error condition of the first set of data and the second set of data vary by a predetermined amount.

19. A structural health management system comprising:

a plurality of sensors mounted on a structure, the plurality of sensors arranged in two or more zones; and

a sensor data collector coupled to sensors from at least two zones.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein each of the plurality sensors is an ultrasonic transducer for use in ultrasonic testing.

21. The system of claim 19 wherein the structure is a section of an aircraft.

22. The system of claim 19 where the sensor data collector is coupled to a processor, the processor operable to receive data from the sensor data collector and perform a damage assessment.

23. The system of claim 20 wherein each of the plurality of sensors collects data in an ultrasonic test and sends the data via the sensor data collector to a processor coupled to the sensor data collector, the processor configured to analyze the data to locate flaws in the structure.

24. A structural health monitoring system comprising;

a plurality of sensors distributed as one or more zones of sensors mounted on a structure, the sensors configured to collect data;

a sensor data collector coupled to a subset of the sensors, the sensor data collector configured to receive data from the subset of sensors to which it is coupled; and

a processor coupled to the sensor data collector, the processor configured to receive data from the sensor data concentrator.

25. The system of claim 24 wherein the subset of sensors comprises all of the sensors in a first zone of sensors.

26. The system of claim 24 wherein the subset of sensors comprises sensors selected from two or more zones of sensors.

27. The system of claim 24 wherein one or more sensors from a first zone of sensors are coupled to a first sensor data collector and a one or more sensor from a second zone of sensors are coupled to the first sensor data collector.

28. The system of claim 24 wherein the sensors of a first zone of sensors are coupled to two or more sensor data collectors.

29. The system of claim 24 wherein a first portion of sensors from a first zone of sensors are coupled a first sensor data collector and a second portion of sensors from the first zone of sensors are coupled to a second sensor data collector.

30. The system of claim 29 wherein:

the first portion of sensors collects a first set of data regarding the structure of the material;

the second portion of sensors collects a second set of data regarding the structure of the material;

the first sensor data collector receives the first set of data from the first portion of sensors;

the second sensor data collector receives the second set of data from the second portion of sensors; and

the processor receives the first set of data and the second set of data, the processor analyzes the first and second data to determine if the first set of data and the second set of data match with in a predetermined criteria, wherein a match verifies the integrity of the system.

31. The system of claim 24 wherein a first portion of sensors from a first zone of sensors are coupled a first sensor data collector and a second portion from the first zone of sensors are coupled to a second sensor data collector.

32. The system of claim 29 wherein the second sensor data collector sends data from the second portion of sensor from the first zone of sensors to a processor upon failure of the first sensor data collector.

33. The system of claim 24 wherein the sensors are ultrasonic transducers configured to perform ultrasonic tests upon the structure.

34. The system of claim 33 where in the structure is an aircraft skin.

35. The system of claim 24 wherein the material is an aircraft skin.

36. The system of claim 35 wherein the sensors are ultrasonic transducers configured to produce lamb waves with in the aircraft skin and receive signals indicative of internal structures and flaws within the aircraft skin.