Optimized arrangement of fuel quantity measurement sensors in aircraft fuel tank and fuel quantity measurement method

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of aircraft fuel tank fuel quantity measurement design, and particularly relates to an aircraft fuel tank fuel quantity measurement sensor optimized arrangement and fuel quantity measurement method.The aircraft fuel tank fuel quantity measurement sensor optimized arrangement method is characterized by comprising the steps that a CATIA fuel tank model is preprocessed and converted into a fuel tank model in an STL format; based on the fuel tank model in the STL format, generating a bottom initial arrangement area of the fuel quantity measurement sensor; screening initial arrangeable areas at the bottom of the oil mass measurement sensor by using a top and bottom unmeasurable constraint, and carrying out intersection with an oil mass measurement sensor mounting line set; and judging the number of the oil quantity measuring sensors, generating an oil quantity measuring sensor mounting area for reference, and arranging the oil quantity measuring sensors in the oil quantity measuring sensor mounting area.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The application belongs to the technical field of design of oil measurement in aircraft fuel tank, and particularly relates to an optimized arrangement of oil measurement sensors in aircraft fuel tank and an oil measurement method. BACKGROUND

[0002] The oil quantity and its distribution in the aircraft fuel tank are important basic information of the aircraft, and stable and accurate oil measurement is of great significance to improve the overall performance of the aircraft. Therefore, a stable, reliable and high-precision measurement system needs to be designed for oil measurement in the aircraft fuel tank.

[0003] At present, in the design process of the oil measurement system in the aircraft fuel tank, the acquisition of the oil surface height, the establishment of the fuel quality characteristic database and the implementation of the fuel measurement algorithm are involved. However, the existing method is mainly for simple or regular fuel tanks, and the shape of the fuel tank becomes extremely complex due to the development of high-performance design of modern aircraft. The existing method cannot meet the needs of aircraft use and development.

[0004] In addition, the arrangement of the oil measurement sensors is the basis for the oil measurement in the aircraft fuel tank. At present, due to the lack of optimized design means for the sensor arrangement of the complex shape fuel tank, the arrangement of the oil measurement sensors for the irregular structure fuel tank mainly relies on engineering experience, lacks effective evaluation criteria, and often cannot obtain the optimal solution.

[0005] The present application is proposed in view of the above technical defects. SUMMARY

[0006] The purpose of the present application is to provide an optimized arrangement of oil measurement sensors in aircraft fuel tank and an oil measurement method to overcome or alleviate at least one aspect of the known technical defects.

[0007] The technical solution of the present application is:

[0008] In one aspect, an optimized arrangement method of oil measurement sensors in aircraft fuel tank is provided, comprising:

[0009] Pretreatment is performed on the CATIA fuel tank model to convert it into an STL format fuel tank model;

[0010] Based on the STL format fuel tank model, a bottom initial arrangeable area of the oil measurement sensor is generated;

[0011] With the top and bottom non-measurable constraints, the bottom initial arrangeable area of the oil measurement sensor is screened and intersected with the set of oil measurement sensor installation lines to perform merging;

[0012] The number of oil measurement sensors is judged to generate a reference oil measurement sensor installation area, and the oil measurement sensors are arranged in the measurement sensor installation area.

[0013] According to at least one of the embodiments of the present application, the method for optimizing the arrangement of the fuel quantity measurement sensor in the aircraft fuel tank further comprises:

[0014] According to the selected sensor position, the measurement error of the fuel quantity measurement sensor is determined.

[0015] According to at least one of the embodiments of the present application, in the method for optimizing the arrangement of the fuel quantity measurement sensor in the aircraft fuel tank, the CATIA fuel tank model is preprocessed, and after being converted into an STL format fuel tank model, the STL format fuel tank model is subjected to selection, cutting, repair and point-line-surface construction functions.

[0016] According to at least one of the embodiments of the present application, in the method for optimizing the arrangement of the fuel quantity measurement sensor in the aircraft fuel tank, when the number of fuel quantity measurement sensors is determined and the reference fuel quantity measurement sensor installation area is generated, the aircraft attitude, sensor spacing, unmeasurable range and continuity are considered.

[0017] In another aspect, a method for measuring the fuel quantity in an aircraft fuel tank is provided, comprising:

[0018] A database representing an angle range is read to identify the change range of the aircraft attitude, and the database is compressed by setting the cutting method, cutting step and difference error requirement to obtain a fuel quality characteristic database containing angle, volume quality and barycenter coordinate information;

[0019] The method for optimizing the arrangement of the fuel quantity measurement sensor in the aircraft fuel tank according to claim 4 optimally arranges the fuel quantity measurement sensor, adds the result of the optimal arrangement of the fuel quantity measurement sensor to the fuel quality characteristic database, obtains the corresponding relationship between the fuel level height of the fuel quantity measurement sensor and the fuel quantity under different aircraft attitudes, and calculates the fuel quantity in the aircraft fuel tank.

[0020] According to at least one of the embodiments of the present application, in the method for optimizing the arrangement of the fuel quantity measurement sensor in the aircraft fuel tank, identifying the change range of the aircraft attitude is identifying the permutation and combination of the pitch angle and roll angle of the aircraft. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the method for optimizing the arrangement of the fuel quantity measurement sensor in the aircraft fuel tank provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0022] Figure 2 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the calculation result of the method for optimizing the arrangement of the fuel quantity measurement sensor in the aircraft fuel tank provided by the embodiments of the present application.

[0023] In order to better illustrate the embodiments, some contents of the drawings may be omitted, enlarged or reduced, and are only used for exemplary description, and cannot be understood as a limitation on the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] In order to make the technical solutions of the present application and their advantages clearer, the technical solutions of the present application will be further clearly, completely and specifically described below with reference to the drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only some embodiments of the present application, which are only used to explain the present application, but not to limit the present application. It should be noted that, for the convenience of description, only parts related to the present application are shown in the drawings, and other related parts can be referred to the general design.

[0025] In addition, unless otherwise defined, the technical terms or scientific terms used in the present application description should be the general meanings understood by the general technical personnel in the field of the present application. The "includes" used in the present application description indicates that the concept appearing before the word covers the concepts listed after the word and its equivalents, and does not exclude other associated concepts.

[0026] The basic principles of the oil quantity measurement sensor arrangement optimization are the basis for the optimization design, which includes the constraint conditions of the sensor arrangement, the requirements of the oil quantity measurement on the sensor arrangement, and the principles of the optimization design, etc., and specifically includes the following aspects:

[0027] The principle of feasible installation position of the oil quantity measurement sensor determines the feasible position of the oil quantity measurement sensor arrangement, which is the input for the optimization design of the sensor arrangement.

[0028] The principle of the distance between the built-in oil quantity measurement sensor and the tank wall. Due to the requirements of installation and removal, lightning protection, etc., the built-in oil quantity measurement sensor must maintain a certain distance from the tank wall. The existence of this distance makes it impossible to install the oil quantity measurement sensor at the lowest point or the highest point of the tank, which has a certain impact on the bottom and top unmeasurable oil quantity, and indirectly constitutes one of the factors affecting the number and arrangement of the oil quantity measurement sensor.

[0029] The principle that the oil quantity measurement sensor arrangement should meet the requirements of the bottom and top unmeasurable oil quantity. When the oil surface is lower or exceeds the sensing area of the oil quantity measurement sensor, the oil quantity measurement will have bottom or top unmeasurable oil quantity. How to make this unmeasurable oil quantity meet the design requirements under various common aircraft flight attitudes needs to optimize the number and installation position of the oil quantity measurement sensor, and ensure that the bottom and top unmeasurable oil quantity meets the design requirements under various common aircraft flight attitudes, which is an important factor that should be considered in the optimization of the number and arrangement of the oil quantity measurement sensor.

[0030] The oil quantity measurement sensor measures the continuity principle. For the oil quantity measurement sensor installed in the flat and large-span oil tank with a short length, if the oil quantity measurement sensor is arranged improperly, the oil surface measurement may be discontinuous when the flight oil surface angle is large. Therefore, the oil quantity measurement sensor should be arranged to ensure the continuity of the oil quantity measurement under the common flight attitude of the aircraft.

[0031] The arrangement of the oil quantity measurement sensor should ensure that the attitude error is small under the common flight attitude of the aircraft. When the fault state of the oil surface angle information cannot be obtained or the error of the oil surface angle calculation is large, the fuel mass characteristics corresponding to the height value of the oil quantity measurement sensor under the ground state are directly inquired, the values of each oil quantity measurement sensor are averaged to obtain the measurement result, and the error between the oil quantity measurement result and the true result is the attitude error of the oil quantity measurement. Therefore, the arrangement of the oil quantity measurement sensor needs to ensure that the attitude error is small under the common flight attitude of the aircraft.

[0032] The optimization of the number and arrangement of the oil quantity measurement sensor should aim to meet the accuracy design requirements with as few as possible. In the optimization of the number and arrangement of the oil quantity measurement sensor, the number of the oil quantity measurement sensor should be reduced as much as possible under the premise of meeting the accuracy design requirements, so as to reduce the system weight and achieve the purpose of optimization design. This is the design principle of the optimization algorithm of the number and arrangement of the oil quantity measurement sensor.

[0033] It can be seen that the arrangement optimization of the oil quantity measurement belongs to a multi-constraint optimization design problem, and there is no strict mathematical relationship between the design variables and the design target, which brings difficulties to the determination of the arrangement optimization algorithm. How to determine a reasonable arrangement optimization strategy according to the constraint characteristics of the arrangement optimization of the oil quantity measurement sensor and how to determine a reasonable optimization algorithm according to the relationship characteristics of the design variables and the design target are the keys to solving this problem.

[0034] The embodiment of the application provides an optimization arrangement of an oil quantity measurement sensor in an aircraft oil tank and an oil quantity measurement method, which aims to analyze the influence of design constraints on the input conditions and optimization results of the arrangement optimization of the oil quantity measurement sensor, determine a reasonable arrangement optimization strategy of the oil quantity measurement sensor, establish a reasonable and reliable arrangement optimization model of the oil quantity measurement sensor by combining a model framework of the arrangement optimization, analyze the relationship characteristics of the design variables and the design target in the optimization model, determine a reasonable arrangement optimization algorithm of the oil quantity measurement sensor by combining the research on existing non-analytical optimization algorithms, and realize the optimization arrangement of the oil quantity measurement sensor and the oil quantity measurement.

[0035] Based on the CATIA oil tank model, the STL format oil tank model can be obtained through automatic preprocessing, and the result can be imported into the platform to extract the oil model automatically according to the oil model extraction method.

[0036] Based on the fuel tank model in STL format, aiming at the structural features and flight features of the fuel tank, the volume, area discretization principle is studied, the fuel tank volume, center of gravity, inertia moment calculation method is studied, the fuel weight, center of gravity, inertia moment of each fuel tank with the oil surface height and oil surface angle is established, and the fuel quality characteristic database is constructed. The fuel quality characteristic database is output in the form of EXCEL table.

[0037] When calculating the volume, center of gravity and inertia moment of the fuel tank, a horizontal plane can be used to divide the oil entity into slices along the height direction from the oil plane, so that the entity is divided into several entity slices with a given height. After completing the volume discretization, each section is discretized to obtain the area value and center point position of each slice, and then the volume of each slice unit is calculated to find the corresponding relationship between the oil surface height and the volume of the remaining fuel in the fuel tank.

[0038] In terms of section step selection, the fuel tank model is divided by equal oil volume, not by equal height. In local area, the position where the cross-sectional area or cross-sectional area change rate suddenly changes is found, which is taken as the division position. Equal oil volume division can reflect the overall change characteristics of the fuel tank model. The step size is smaller in the area with larger cross-sectional area, and the step size is larger in the area with smaller cross-sectional area, which can highlight the local mutation characteristics of the fuel tank model.

[0039] For the optimization method of the fuel quantity measurement sensor in the aircraft fuel tank, as shown in Figure 1 , the specific reference is as follows:

[0040] The CATIA fuel tank model is preprocessed and converted into an STL format fuel tank model. The STL format fuel tank model is selected, cut, repaired and point-line-surface constructed.

[0041] Based on the STL format fuel tank model, the bottom initial layout area of the fuel quantity measurement sensor is generated, that is, the full set of fuel quantity measurement sensor layout area.

[0042] With the top and bottom constraints, the bottom initial layout area of the fuel quantity measurement sensor is screened, and the intersection of the fuel quantity measurement sensor installation line set is merged.

[0043] The number of fuel quantity measurement sensors is judged, considering the aircraft attitude, sensor spacing, unmeasurable range and continuity, the fuel quantity measurement sensor installation area is generated for reference, and the fuel quantity measurement sensor is arranged in the measurement sensor installation area.

[0044] Finally, the measurement error of the oil quantity measurement sensor can be determined according to the selected sensor position. In one specific example, the optimized arrangement result of the oil quantity measurement sensor in the aircraft fuel tank is shown as follows: Figure 2

[0045] For the method of measuring the oil quantity in the aircraft fuel tank, the following is specifically referred to:

[0046] The database representing the angle range is read to identify the change range of the aircraft attitude, i.e. the arrangement combination of the pitch angle and the roll angle of the aircraft. The database is compressed by setting the cutting mode, the cutting step and the difference error requirement to obtain the fuel quality characteristic database containing the information of the angle, the volume mass, the center of gravity coordinates and the like.

[0047] Based on the method of optimizing the arrangement of the oil quantity measurement sensor disclosed in the above embodiment, the result of the optimized arrangement of the oil quantity measurement sensor is added to the fuel quality characteristic database to obtain the corresponding relationship between the oil level height of the oil quantity measurement sensor and the oil quantity under different aircraft attitudes, so as to calculate the oil quantity in the aircraft fuel tank.

[0048] Compared with the current technical solution, the technical solution of the present application clearly defines the six optimization principles of the optimized arrangement of the oil quantity measurement sensor, so that the method of optimizing the arrangement of the oil quantity measurement sensor in the aircraft fuel tank is more suitable for engineering application. The region division method and the sensor arrangement optimization strategy have guiding significance in the design process.

[0049] Based on the principle analysis of each module of the oil quantity measurement system and the detailed analysis of the STL file characteristics, the research on the key technologies of the optimized arrangement of the oil quantity measurement sensor, the establishment of the fuel quality characteristic database and the oil quantity measurement simulation, the method of optimizing the arrangement of the oil quantity measurement sensor in the aircraft fuel tank disclosed in the above embodiment and the oil quantity measurement method form a software platform to facilitate the use, enhance the universality and reliability. The oil tank model automatic acquisition module, the oil quantity measurement sensor arrangement optimization module and the fuel quality characteristic database establishment module are developed by using the object-oriented Visual C++ platform and the OSG programming technology. The simulation platform which can stably run in the Windows XP / 2003 / 2007 environment is developed.

[0050] So far, the technical solution of the present application has been described in combination with the preferred embodiments shown in the drawings. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the protection scope of the present application is obviously not limited to these specific embodiments. Without deviating from the principles of the present application, those skilled in the art can make equivalent changes or replacements to the related technical features. The technical solutions after the changes or replacements will fall within the protection scope of the present application.​

Claims

1. A method of optimizing the placement of fuel quantity measuring sensors in an aircraft fuel tank, the method comprising: The method comprises the following steps: ​ Preprocessing the CATIA fuel tank model and converting it into an STL format fuel tank model; Based on the STL format fuel tank model, generating an initial bottom arrangeable area of the fuel quantity measurement sensor; With the top and bottom unmeasurable constraints, screening the initial bottom arrangeable area of the fuel quantity measurement sensor, and performing intersection and merging with the installation line set of the fuel quantity measurement sensor; Judging the number of fuel quantity measurement sensors, generating a reference fuel quantity measurement sensor installation area, and arranging the fuel quantity measurement sensor in the measurement sensor installation area.

2. The method of optimizing the placement of fuel quantity measuring sensors in an aircraft fuel tank of claim 1, wherein, The method further comprises the following steps: According to the selected sensor position, judging the measurement error of the fuel quantity measurement sensor.

3. The method for optimizing the arrangement of the fuel quantity measurement sensor in the aircraft fuel tank according to claim 2, wherein After preprocessing the CATIA fuel tank model and converting it into an STL format fuel tank model, the STL format fuel tank model is subjected to selection, cutting, repair, and point-line-surface construction functions.

4. The method for optimizing the arrangement of the fuel quantity measurement sensor in the aircraft fuel tank according to claim 3, wherein When judging the number of fuel quantity measurement sensors and generating a reference fuel quantity measurement sensor installation area, the aircraft attitude, sensor spacing, unmeasurable range, and continuity are considered.

5. A method of measuring the quantity of fuel in an aircraft fuel tank, characterised in that, The method comprises the following steps: Reading a database representing an angle range to identify the change range of the aircraft attitude, compressing the database by setting the cutting method, cutting step, and difference error requirement, and obtaining a fuel quality characteristic database containing angle, volume quality, and barycenter coordinate information; The method for optimizing the arrangement of the fuel quantity measurement sensor in the aircraft fuel tank according to claim 4, wherein the results of the optimization arrangement of the fuel quantity measurement sensor are added to the fuel quality characteristic database to obtain the corresponding relationship between the oil level height of the fuel quantity measurement sensor and the fuel quantity under different aircraft attitudes, so as to calculate the fuel quantity in the aircraft fuel tank.

6. The method for optimizing the arrangement of the fuel quantity measurement sensor in the aircraft fuel tank according to claim 5, wherein Identifying the change range of the aircraft attitude is identifying the arrangement combination of the pitch angle and the roll angle of the aircraft.

Images