Structure health monitoring system and method
First Claim
1. A method for monitoring structural health of an apparatus, said method comprising:
- obtaining sensor data indicative of the structural integrity of a component of said apparatus;
obtaining a feature baseline, said feature baseline reset upon a repair of said component;
processing said sensor data and said feature baseline to obtain an initial damage estimate for said component;
obtaining a damage estimate baseline, said damage estimate baseline determined independent of said repair of said component;
generating a final damage estimate in response to said initial damage estimate and in response to said damage estimate baseline; and
formatting said final damage estimate into at least one displayable damage representation.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A structure health monitoring (“SHM”) system according to the invention can be deployed in an onboard environment, such as an aircraft, to provide an ongoing damage assessment of structural components on the aircraft. The SHM system reduces or eliminates time consuming and costly manual inspections of aircraft. The SHM system can leverage known sensor technologies to collect sensor data indicative of the structural health of the monitored components. The sensor data is processed and baselined with sensor feature baselines and damage estimate baselines to provide an accurate final damage estimate for the monitored component. The final damage estimate can be further processed or formatted for compatibility with aircraft maintenance systems.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring structural health of an apparatus, said method comprising:
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obtaining sensor data indicative of the structural integrity of a component of said apparatus; obtaining a feature baseline, said feature baseline reset upon a repair of said component; processing said sensor data and said feature baseline to obtain an initial damage estimate for said component; obtaining a damage estimate baseline, said damage estimate baseline determined independent of said repair of said component; generating a final damage estimate in response to said initial damage estimate and in response to said damage estimate baseline; and formatting said final damage estimate into at least one displayable damage representation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A structure health monitoring system for an apparatus, said structure health monitoring system comprising:
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means for obtaining sensor data indicative of the structural integrity of a component of said apparatus; means for obtaining a feature baseline that is resetable upon a repair of said component; means for processing said sensor data and said feature baseline to obtain an initial damage estimate for said component; means for obtaining a damage estimate baseline determined independent of said repair of said component; means for generating a final damage estimate in response to said initial damage estimate and in response to said damage estimate baseline; and means for formatting said final damage estimate into at least one displayable damage representation. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification