METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING THE THRUST ON A VEHICLE

• US 20130311112A1
• Filed: 10/24/2012
• Published: 11/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Airbus Operations GmbH (Airbus SE)
• Original Assignee: Airbus Operations GmbH (Airbus SE)
• Inventors: Hegenbart, Matthias, Somda, Nabankele-Martial
• Granted Patent: US 9,593,989 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/41
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 27/406 Suspension arrangements specially adapted for supporting thrust loads, e.g. thrust links
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 31/00 Power plant control systems; Arrangement of power plant control systems in aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 43/00 Arrangements or adaptations of instruments arrangements of cameras B64D47/08; aeronautical measuring instruments per se G01C
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 1/00 Measuring force or stress, in general measuring force due to impact G01L5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 5/133 for measuring thrust of propulsive devices, e.g. of propellers aeroplanes B64C; marine propulsion B63H; jet-engines F02K

Abstract

A method for determining the thrust of at least one engine, which is held on a supporting structure of a vehicle, includes the steps of acquiring the elongation of at least one structural element onto which the thrust of the at least one engine acts, by means of at least one strain gage; calculating the force causing the elongation in the at least one structural element, taking into account the materials characteristics of the structural element; and determining the thrust of the at least one engine as an effective force component in the direction of thrust of the vehicle. It is thus not necessary to carry out an estimate of the thrust on the basis of other physical variables such as shaft speeds, pressure or exhaust gas temperature of engines.

Claims

1. A method for determining the thrust of at least one engine held on a supporting structure of a vehicle, comprising:

acquiring the elongation of at least one structural element onto which the thrust of the at least one engine acts, by at least one strain gage;

calculating the force causing the elongation in the at least one structural element, taking into account the materials characteristics of the structural element; and

determining the thrust of the at least one engine as an effective force component in a predetermined direction of thrust of the vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one structural element is selected from a group of structural elements, with the group consisting of:

an elongated thrust element by way of which the at least one engine introduces the thrust into the supporting structure,

a part of a supporting structure,

a flange for mounting an elongated thrust element,

a front suspension means of an engine, and

a rear suspension means of an engine.

3. The method of claim 1, comprising the acquisition of the elongations of a plurality of structural elements.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the thrust of a plurality of engines of the vehicle as an addition of determined thrust values of individual engines.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein acquiring the elongation of the at least one structural element involves acquiring a plurality of elongation values on the same structural element by means of a group of strain gages, and averaging the individual elongation values acquired.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising checking the plausibility of the measured elongation values.

7. An apparatus for determining the thrust of at least one engine held on a supporting structure of a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

at least one wire strain gage for acquiring the elongation of at least one structural element;

an electronics unit connected to the at least one wire strain gage and adapted for recording the elongation acquired by the at least one wire strain gage and for calculating the force causing the determined elongation of a structural element monitored by the at least one strain gage, taking into account the materials characteristics of the structural element.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the electronics unit is adapted from at least one group of a plurality of strain gages for acquiring elongations, and for averaging the acquired elongations of a group.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the electronics unit is adapted from at least one group of a plurality of wire strain gages for acquiring elongations, and by comparing the acquired elongations with a predetermined value range for checking the plausibility of the acquired elongations.

10. A vehicle comprising:

at least one engine held on a supporting structure of the vehicle, and

at least one apparatus for determining the thrust of the at least one engine, the apparatus comprising;

at least one wire strain gage for acquiring the elongation of at least one structural element;

an electronics unit connected to the at least one wire strain gage and adapted for recording the elongation acquired by the at least one wire strain gage and for calculating the force causing the determined elongation of a structural element monitored by the at least one strain gage, taking into account the materials characteristics of the structural element.

11. The vehicle of claim 10, further comprising a display unit for displaying the determined thrust.