Aircraft Total Temperature Probe Icing Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Incorrect measurements of total temperature by aircraft temperature probes can occur due to icing conditions, which can degrade the reliability of engine control systems by providing biased data, and existing deicing methods are not foolproof.
Innovation Solution
A method and device that monitor the total temperature, altitude, and Mach number to detect simultaneous conditions indicating an incorrect measurement, automatically declaring such measurements invalid and preventing their use in engine control systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If temperature probes are heated to prevent icing, then measurement accuracy is improved, but the system cannot guarantee complete protection against icing conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements continuous feedback monitoring by comparing measured total temperature against expected values derived from altitude and Mach number. This feedback mechanism detects when heating systems fail or when icing occurs despite heating, allowing the system to identify and flag inaccurate measurements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary calculations of expected total temperature based on current flight conditions (altitude and Mach number) before comparing against actual probe measurements. This preliminary action establishes a reference framework that enables early detection of measurement anomalies.
2Reliability
If multiple temperature probes are installed on the aircraft, then redundancy is improved, but the complexity of the measurement system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses a single set of sensors (altitude and Mach number sensors) to serve multiple functions: both for flight control and for detecting probe icing conditions. By deriving expected temperature from these multi-purpose measurements, the system avoids adding dedicated temperature sensors while maintaining detection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses existing flight data (altitude and Mach number) to self-validate temperature probe measurements. Rather than requiring additional independent temperature sensors for verification, the system enables the existing sensors to validate their own measurements through cross-comparison with calculated expected values.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables real-time, reliable detection and prevention of incorrect total temperature measurements caused by icing, ensuring accurate engine control by invalidating measurements that meet specific criteria and confirming their validity upon deicing.
Implementation Method 1
These temperature probes comprise temperature-sensitive components which change resistance in response to temperature changes
Implementation Method 2
the probes are heated in order to prevent such icing which can compromise their reliability
Data Source
AI summary
A method and a device for automatically detecting an incorrect measurement of a total temperature on an aircraft. The detection device comprises several monitoring units configured to monitor the variations of the measured total temperature, provided by a temperature probe, and current values of the Mach number and of the altitude of the aircraft over a predetermined monitoring period of time, and a detection unit configured to detect an incorrect measurement of the total temperature when said monitoring units simultaneously detect particular conditions relative to said variations.