METHOD FOR DIAGNOSING A HORIZONTAL STABILIZER FAULT

• US 20160140783A1
• Filed: 06/28/2013
• Published: 05/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: GE Aviation Systems Limited (GE Aerospace)
• Original Assignee: GE Aviation Systems Limited (GE Aerospace)
• Inventors: CATT, Christopher Joseph, ROBBINS, Mark John
• Application Number:
  US14/901,649
• Publication Number:
  US 20160140783A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 2045/0085 Devices for aircraft health monitoring, e.g. monitoring flutter or vibration
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 45/0005 Devices specially adapted to indicate the position of a movable element of the aircraft, e.g. landing gear
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 5/60 Testing or inspecting aircraft components or systems
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0816 Indicating performance data, e.g. occurrence of a malfunction

Abstract

A method of diagnosing a horizontal stabilizer system fault in an aircraft, where the method includes receiving data relevant to a characteristic of the pitch of the aircraft during flight, comparing the received data to a reference pitch characteristic, diagnosing a fault in the horizontal stabilizer system based on the comparison, and providing an indication of the diagnosed fault.

Claims

1. A method of diagnosing a horizontal stabilizer system fault in an aircraft, the method comprising:

receiving data, from a sensor operably coupled to the horizontal stabilizer system, relevant to a characteristic of a pitch of the aircraft during flight;

comparing, by a controller, the received data to a reference pitch characteristic;

diagnosing, by a controller, a fault in the horizontal stabilizer system based on the comparison; and

providing an indication of the diagnosed fault.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the received data is related to at least one of the following pitch characteristics:

median pitch trim positions, median pitch trim rates, number of pitch trim position outliers, minimum pitch trim rates, a difference in trim up and down commands, or a difference in expected change in pitch and an actual change in pitch.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference pitch characteristic is a threshold characteristic.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the diagnosing the fault comprises the comparison indicating the received data is out of bounds.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the received data is relevant to multiple pitch characteristics.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the comparing comprises comparing the multiple pitch characteristics to corresponding multiple reference pitch characteristics.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the received data comprises data for a number of flights.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the diagnosing the fault comprises diagnosing the fault with a sensor or recorder when the comparisons indicate thresholds are satisfied by multiple relevant characteristics over multiple flights.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the received data is related to autopilot minimum trim rates, a difference between the number of trim up and down commands, and a difference between an actual and expected change in pitch.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the diagnosing the fault comprises diagnosing the fault with automatic trim when the comparisons indicate the relevant characteristics satisfy corresponding reference pitch characteristic thresholds.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the received data comprises data for a number of flights.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the received data comprises a median pitch trim position of the aircraft or a median pitch trim rate of the aircraft.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the diagnosing the fault comprises diagnosing the fault with a sensor calibration when the comparing indicates thresholds are satisfied over multiple flights.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein a controller of the aircraft receives the data, compares the received data, diagnoses the fault, and provides the indication.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the controller utilizes an algorithm to diagnose the fault.

16. The method of claim 2, wherein the reference pitch characteristic is a threshold characteristic.