SYSTEM FOR ACTIVE DATA ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT IN A GAS TURBINE ENGINE

• US 20200136936A1
• Filed: 10/30/2018
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rtx Corporation
• Original Assignee: United Technologies Corporation (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Inventors: Haye, Sheridon Everette
• Granted Patent: US 10,958,542 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 2045/0085 Devices for aircraft health monitoring, e.g. monitoring flutter or vibration
• CPC Class Codes: F01D 17/02 Arrangement of sensing elements
• CPC Class Codes: F01D 21/003 Arrangements for testing or measuring for measuring vibrations G01H
• CPC Class Codes: F01D 5/26 Antivibration means not restricted to blade form or construction or to blade-to-blade connections or to the use of particular materials
• CPC Class Codes: F02C 9/00 Controlling gas-turbine plants; Controlling fuel supply in air- breathing jet-propulsion plants controlling air intakes F02C7/057; controlling turbines F01D; controlling compressors F04D27/00; controlling in general G05
• CPC Class Codes: F05D 2260/80 Diagnostics
• CPC Class Codes: F05D 2270/334 Vibration measurements
• CPC Class Codes: G01H 1/006 of the rotor of turbo machines
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 15/14 Testing gas-turbine engines or jet-propulsion engines
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/024 by adaptive sampling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• 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

Abstract

An aircraft sensor system includes a first sensor configured to detect a parameter of an aircraft system and a first micro electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) disposed local to a first component within the aircraft system. The first MEMS is communicatively connected to a controller, and is configured to trigger in response to a corresponding parameter exceeding a threshold. The controller is connected to an output of the first sensor and includes a non-transitory memory storing instructions configured to cause the controller to increase a sampling rate of the first sensor to a sampling rate corresponding to the first component for at least a predetermined length of time in response to the first MEMS being triggered.

Claims

1. An aircraft sensor system comprising:

a first sensor configured to detect a parameter of an aircraft system;

a first micro electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) disposed local to a first component within the aircraft system, the first MEMS being communicatively connected to a controller, and being configured to trigger in response to a corresponding parameter exceeding a threshold; and

the controller being connected to an output of the first sensor and including a non-transitory memory storing instructions configured to cause the controller to increase a sampling rate of the first sensor to a sampling rate corresponding to the first component for at least a predetermined length of time in response to the first MEMS being triggered.

2. The aircraft sensor system of claim 1, wherein the first sensor is a vibration sensor.

3. The aircraft sensor system of claim 1, wherein the first sensor is disposed on a gas turbine engine housing and is configured to sense a parameter of a gas turbine engine.

4. The aircraft sensor system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of MEMS including the first MEMS, with each MEMS in the plurality of MEMS being local to a distinct component from each other MEMS in the plurality of MEMS.

5. The aircraft sensor system of claim 4, wherein each MEMS in the plurality of MEMS is connected to the controller and is configured to trigger in response to a corresponding parameter of the component to which the MEMS is local to exceeding a threshold.

6. The aircraft sensor system of claim 5, wherein the controller is configured to increase the sampling rate of the first sensor to a sampling rate corresponding to each MEMS in the plurality of MEMS for at least a predetermined length of time in response to the corresponding MEMS being triggered.

7. The aircraft sensor system of claim 6, wherein the sampling rate corresponding to each MEMS is distinct from each the sampling rate corresponding to each other MEMS in the plurality of MEMS.

8. The aircraft sensor system of claim 6, wherein the sampling rate corresponding to at least two MEMS in the plurality of MEMS is identical.

9. The aircraft sensor system of claim 4, wherein each MEMS in the plurality of MEMS has a length in its longest dimension ranging from 20 micrometers to 1 millimeter.

10. The aircraft sensor system of claim 1, wherein the predefined length of time has a length in the range of 100-400 ms.

11. A method for operating an aircraft sensor system comprising:

a controller receiving a first signal from a first micro electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) disposed local to a first component, wherein the first signal indicates that a first event has occurred; and

the controller increasing a sampling rate of a system sensor from a first sampling rate to a second sampling rate for at least predefined time period in response to receiving the signal.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the second sampling rate is at least sufficient to compensate for a structural vibratory mode of the first component.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the controller receives a second signal from a second micro electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) disposed local to a second component simultaneous with the first signal, wherein the second signal indicates that a second event has occurred, and the controller increasing the sampling rate of the system sensor from the first sampling rate to a higher of the second sampling rate and a third sampling rate, each of the second sampling rate and the third sampling rate corresponding to one of the first and second component.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the predefined time period begins upon receipt of the first signal.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the predefined time period begins when the first signal ceases being received.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the first event is a vibration at the first component exceeding a predetermined threshold.

17. An aircraft comprising:

at least one overall system sensor communicatively coupled to a controller;

a plurality of micro electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) disposed throughout the aircraft, each of the MEMS being local to a corresponding aircraft component, and being communicatively coupled to the controller; and

the controller being configured to define a sampling rate of the at least one overall system sensor.

18. The aircraft of claim 17, wherein the controller is further configured to increase the sampling rate of the overall system sensor to an increased sampling rate in response to receiving a signal from one of the MEMS in the plurality of MEMS, wherein the increased sampling rate corresponds to a parameter of the component to which the one of the MEMS is local.

19. The aircraft of claim 18, wherein the at least one overall system sensor includes a vibration sensor.

20. The aircraft of claim 18, wherein the controller is a full authority digital aircraft controller (FADEC).