Vehicle dynamics control using integrated vehicle structural health management system

• US 9,064,357 B1
• Filed: 05/10/2012
• Issued: 06/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: McCormick, Patrick Joseph
• Primary Examiner(s): Edwards, Jerrah
• Application Number:
  US13/469,030
• Time in Patent Office: 1,139 Days
• Field of Search: 701/3, 701/29.1
• 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 45/00 Aircraft indicators or protectors not otherwise provided for camouflage F41H3/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 1/246 using integrated gratings, e.g. Bragg gratings
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 5/0016 of aircraft wings or blades
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/20 Investigating the presence of flaws
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 15/01 characterised by the use of electric means
• 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 system and methods for alleviating an anomaly in a structure are presented. At least one anomaly detector structural member is embedded in the structure. A measurement signal is sent to the anomaly detector structural member and a feedback signal is received from the anomaly detector structural member in response to the measurement signal. A difference between the measurement signal and the feedback signal is calculated to determine a change in the structure, and at least one non-optimal event is identified in real-time if the change exceeds an event threshold.

Claims

1. A method for alleviating an anomaly in a structure, the method comprising:

embedding at least one anomaly detector structural member in the structure;

sending a measurement signal to the at least one anomaly detector structural member;

receiving a feedback signal from the at least one anomaly detector structural member in response to the measurement signal;

calculating in real-time a difference between the measurement signal and the feedback signal to determine a real-time change in the structure;

identifying at least one non-optimal event in real-time if the real-time change exceeds an event threshold; and

altering in real-time dynamics control laws of a controller of the structure to control according to a new set of variables based on the real-time change in the structure to provide updated dynamics control laws.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising activating a control mechanism in real-time based on the updated control laws to alleviate a structural anomaly in the structure due to the at least one non-optimal event in response to an active control command.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one anomaly detector structural member comprises a plurality of anomaly detector structural members that are linearly configured along the structure and comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of:

a Bragg-grating embedded in an optical fiber, and a carbon nanotube.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the structure comprises an aircraft.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one non-optimal event comprises an in-flight operation.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the event threshold comprises a Vehicle Structural Health (VSH) threshold determined by a predictive algorithm based on the measurement signal.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying of the at least one non-optimal event comprises identifying at least one member selected from the group consisting of:

a wind shear, a vibration, a flutter, a flexure, a linear displacement, an angular displacement, and a structural fatigue.

20. The method of claim 2, wherein activating the control mechanism comprises:

a flow control actuation, or actuation of a shaped memory alloy.

8. A system for alleviating an anomaly in a structure in real-time, the system comprising:

a structure;

at least one anomaly detector structural member embedded in the structure;

a measurement signal generator operable to send a measurement signal to the at least one anomaly detector structural member;

a sensor operable to receive a feedback signal from the at least one anomaly detector structural member in response to the measurement signal;

a structural health metrics calculator operable to calculate in real-time a difference between the measurement signal and the feedback signal to determine a real-time change in the measurement signal;

an event identifier module operable to identify at least one non-optimal event in real-time if the real-time change exceeds an event threshold;

a controller operable to alter in real-time dynamics control laws to control according to a new set of variables based on the real-time change in the structure to provide updated dynamics control laws; and

a control initiation module operable to activate a control mechanism based on the updated dynamics control laws in response to an active control command in real-time to alleviate a structural anomaly in the structure due to the at least one non-optimal event.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the at least one anomaly detector structural member comprises a plurality of anomaly detector structural members that are linearly configured along the structure and comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of:

a Bragg-grating embedded in an optical fiber, and a carbon nanotube.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the sensor comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of:

a Bragg light measurement sensor, an Fe2O3 bridge across a carbon nanotube, and a strain gauge.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the structure comprises an aircraft.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein activating the control mechanism comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of:

a control surface actuation, a lift surface actuation, a flow control actuation, actuation of shaped memory alloys, actuation via active structural materials, and a propulsive power alteration.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the non-optimal event comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of:

structural stress from wind shear, structural stress from gust, vibration, flutter, flexure, linear displacement, angular displacement, and structural fatigue.

14. The system of claim 8, further comprising a measurements database, a threshold database, and a control laws database.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising a processing module operable to update the measurements database and the threshold database in real-time.

16. A flight control method for actively preventing a non-optimal event in an aircraft structure in-flight, the method comprising:

receiving a feedback signal from at least one anomaly detector structural member embedded in the aircraft structure in response to a measurement signal;

calculating in real-time a difference between the measurement signal and the feedback signal to determine a real-time change in the aircraft structure;

identifying at least one non-optimal event in real-time if the change exceeds an event threshold in-flight;

altering in real-time dynamics control laws of a controller of the aircraft structure to control according to a new set of variables based on the change in the structure to provide updated dynamics control laws; and

alleviating a structural anomaly due to the at least one non-optimal event based on the updated dynamics control laws by activating at least one flight control surface in real-time in response to a control command.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the identifying of the at least one non-optimal event comprises identifying of at least one member selected from the group consisting of:

a stress from wind shear on a lift surface, a stress from a debris impact on a lift surface, a stress from a gust on a lift surface, a vibration, a flutter, a fuselage flexure, an excessive bending of the fuselage, a propulsion system anomaly, an excessive linear displacement, an excessive angular displacement, a structural fatigue, a control surface anomaly, and a lift surface anomaly.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the at least one anomaly detector structural member comprises a plurality of anomaly detector structural members that are linearly configured along the structure and comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of:

a Bragg-grating embedded in an optical fiber, and a carbon nanotube.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the feedback signal is sensed by at least one sensor selected from the group consisting of:

a Bragg light measurement sensor, an Fe2O3 bridge across a carbon nanotube, and a strain gauge.