Metal fatigue analytics and alert systems

• US 9,430,540 B2
• Filed: 01/06/2016
• Issued: 08/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2014
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Garratt, Andrew M., Humphreys, Andrew D., Keen, Martin G., McNamara, John J. P.
• Primary Examiner(s): FREJD, RUSSELL WARREN
• Application Number:
  US14/988,904
• Publication Number:
  US 20160132574A1
• Time in Patent Office: 237 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/25 Integrating or interfacing systems involving database management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/26 Visual data mining; Browsing structured data
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2205/02 using a vehicle scan tool
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/006 Indicating maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• 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 5/0841 Registering performance data recording measured values G01D; information storage G11B

Abstract

The disclosure is directed to metal fatigue analytics and alert systems. A system in accordance with an embodiment includes: a first database on a vehicle, the database storing a list of at least one metal part in the vehicle and corresponding metal batch information for each metal part in the list; a second database on a server remote from the first database, the second database storing metal batch information for at least one batch of metal from which faulty metal parts have been constructed; a comparing system for comparing the metal batch information stored in the first database with the metal batch information stored in the second database; and a messaging system for generating a failure alert message when the comparing system finds a match between the metal batch information stored in the first database and the metal batch information stored in the second database.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a first database on a vehicle, the first database storing a list of at least one metal part in the vehicle and corresponding metal batch information for each metal part in the list;

a second database on a server remote from the first database, the second database storing metal batch information for at least one batch of metal from which faulty metal parts have been constructed;

a comparing system for comparing the metal batch information stored in the first database with the metal batch information stored in the second database; and

a messaging system for generating a failure alert message when the comparing system finds a match between the metal batch information stored in the first database and the metal batch information stored in the second database.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle comprises an aircraft.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the faulty metal parts comprise metal parts suffering from metal fatigue.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the server comprises a cloud-based server.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an alert system for notifying, in response to receipt of the failure alert message, a set of parties that a potential metal fatigue issue may be present in the vehicle.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the comparing system compares the metal batch information stored in the first database with the metal batch information stored in the second database continuously or on a predetermined schedule.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the second database is updated in real time to include new metal batch information for at least one batch of metal from which faulty metal parts have been constructed.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the messaging system transmits the failure alert message directly to an operator of the vehicle.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the metal batch information stored in the first database comprises, for each metal part, a batch number of the metal part, a manufacturer of the metal part, and a location of manufacture of the metal part, and wherein the metal batch information stored in the second database comprises, for each faulty metal part, a batch number of the faulty metal part, a manufacturer of the faulty metal part, and a location of manufacture of the faulty metal part.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a predictive analytics system for;

determining patterns in the metal batch information stored in the second database; and

preemptively identifying metal parts as being susceptible to metal fatigue based on the patterns.

11. A method, comprising:

storing, in a first database on a vehicle, a list of at least one metal part in the vehicle and corresponding metal batch information for each metal part in the list;

storing, in a second database on a server remote from the first database, metal batch information for at least one batch of metal from which faulty metal parts have been constructed;

comparing the metal batch information stored in the first database with the metal batch information stored in the second database; and

generating, by a messaging system, a failure alert message when the comparing system finds a match between the metal batch information stored in the first database and the metal batch information stored in the second database.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the vehicle comprises an aircraft.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the faulty metal parts comprise metal parts suffering from metal fatigue.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

notifying, in response to receipt of the failure alert message, a set of parties that a potential metal fatigue issue may be present in the vehicle.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the comparing system compares the metal batch information stored in the first database with the metal batch information stored in the second database continuously or on a predetermined schedule.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the second database is updated in real time to include new metal batch information for at least one batch of metal from which faulty metal parts have been constructed.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the messaging system transmits the failure alert message directly to an operator of the vehicle.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the metal batch information stored in the first database comprises, for each metal part, a batch number of the metal part, a manufacturer of the metal part, and a location of manufacture of the metal part, and wherein the metal batch information stored in the second database comprises, for each faulty metal part, a batch number of the faulty metal part, a manufacturer of the faulty metal part, and a location of manufacture of the faulty metal part.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

a predictive analytics system for;

determining patterns in the metal batch information stored in the second database; and

preemptively identifying metal parts as being susceptible to metal fatigue based on the patterns.

20. A computer program product comprising program code embodied in at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which when executed, enables a computer system to implement a method, the method comprising:

storing, in a first database on a vehicle, a list of at least one metal part in the vehicle and corresponding metal batch information for each metal part in the list;

storing, in a second database on a server remote from the first database, metal batch information for at least one batch of metal from which faulty metal parts have been constructed;

comparing the metal batch information stored in the first database with the metal batch information stored in the second database; and

generating, by a messaging system, a failure alert message when the comparing system finds a match between the metal batch information stored in the first database and the metal batch information stored in the second database.