AIRCRAFT HEALTH MONITORING SYSTEM

THE COMPANY HAS DEVELOPED A UNIQUE, THIN-FILM SENSOR DESIGN THAT WHEN INTEGRATED WITH A STRUCTURAL MEMBER COULD DETECT FATIQUE CRACKS, CORROSION, AND ICE ACCRETION AS WELL AS EXTERNAL PRESSURE VARIATIONS INDICATIVE OF AN IMPENDING WINGSTALL. THESE SENSORS AND SIGNAL PROCESSING SOFTWARE CAN BE INTEGRATED INTO AN ADVANCED HEALTH MONITORING SYSTEM (HMS) TO EXTEND SIGNIFICANTLY THE LIFE SPAN OF THE AGING, COMMERICIAL AIRCRAFT FLEET. BASED ON THE CONCEPT OF SMART STRUCTURES, THE HMS IS DESIGNED TO EMULATE THE HUMAN NERVOUSSYSTEM. AN ARRAY OF SENSORS ("NERVES") LOCATED THROUGHOUT THE AIRCRAFT STRUCTURE WILL BE CONNECTED BY A COMMON DATA BUS OR NETWORK TO A SIGNAL PROCESSING CHIP ("BRAIN"). THE HMS WILL CONTINUOUSLY SCAN SENSOR ARRAYS INTEGRAL WITH THE AIRCRAFT SKIN. BY MONITORING THE STRUCTURAL VIBRATION SIGNATURES INDUCED UNDER NORMAL AERODYNAMIC LOADING, THE HMSWILL DETERMINE STRUCTURAL ABNORMALITIES THROUGH PATTERN ]RECOGNITION TECHNIQUES. WHEN AN ABNORMALITY IS DETECTED, THE SYSTEM WILL IDENTIFY IT, LOG THE TIME AND LOCATION, AND ISSUE A WARNING. THIS SYSTEM HAS THE POTENTIAL FOR LIFETIMEMONITORING OF STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES AND PROVIDING REAL-TIME,NON-DESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION IN FLIGHT. IN ADDITION TO EXTENDING THE LIFE OF COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT, THIS TECHNOLOGY MAY ALSO FIND APPLICATION IN MONITORING STRAIN IN LARGE STRUCTURES, SUCH AS BUILDINGS, SHIPS, STORAGE TANKS, DAMS, BRIDGES, AND IN MONITORING EARTHQUAKES.