Coil-Shaped Sensor Wire for Aircraft Duct Leakage Monitoring
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing aircraft leakage monitoring elements are prone to damage or malfunction due to lateral movement caused by thermal expansion, leading to incorrect readings or displacement from the monitored region.
Innovation Solution
A coil-shaped sensor wire with multiple windings, comprising a first and second electrical conductor insulated by a temperature-dependent insulator, allows for length changes due to thermal expansion without lateral movement, ensuring the element remains functional and in position.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a leakage monitoring element is designed with variable length to compensate for thermal expansion, then it can adapt to duct length changes, but it moves freely laterally and may be damaged or malfunction due to interaction with adjacent components
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor wire is designed in the shape of a coil with multiple windings instead of a straight or simple loop configuration. This curved/coiled structure allows the monitoring element to accommodate length changes through expansion and compression of the coil windings while maintaining a compact form factor that prevents lateral movement and interaction with adjacent components, thereby resolving the contradiction between adaptability and reliability
2Adaptability or versatility
If a leakage monitoring element is designed with variable length to compensate for thermal expansion, then it can adapt to duct length changes, but it may be moved out of the monitored region
Solution Approach 1:
The coil-shaped configuration with multiple windings concentrates the length adjustment within a compact cylindrical volume. When the duct expands or contracts, the coil expands or compresses axially while maintaining its lateral dimensions, ensuring the monitoring element remains positioned over the monitored duct region without being displaced, thus resolving the contradiction between adaptability and measurement precision
3Adaptability or versatility
If a leakage monitoring element is designed as a loop or wave shape to compensate for length changes, then it can adapt to thermal expansion, but it expands significantly in directions perpendicular to its longitudinal axis
Solution Approach 1:
The coil configuration allows length compensation through axial expansion and compression of the helical windings without significant lateral expansion. The mathematical geometry of the coil structure confines the dimensional changes primarily to the longitudinal axis, maintaining a compact lateral profile, thus resolving the contradiction between adaptability and volume control
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
The coil-shaped configuration enables reliable compensation for length changes and assembly tolerances, enhancing the monitoring element's lifespan and preventing malfunctions by minimizing interaction with adjacent components, while maintaining a compact design.
Implementation Method 1
By expansion or compression in the direction of its longitudinal axis, the coil-shaped section of the aircraft leakage monitoring element can compensate in a simple manner for changes in length of the duct region, to be monitored, of the aircraft duct system caused e.g. by thermal expansion
Implementation Method 2
The leakage monitoring elements normally comprise a sensor wire, which reacts, with a change of its physical properties, for example its electrical resistance, to the contact with a fluid escaping from a duct region to be monitored
Data Source
AI summary
A duct system comprises a duct region to be monitored and an aircraft leakage monitoring element (2). The aircraft leakage monitoring element comprises a sensor wire which is designed, at least in one section, in the shape of a coil with a plurality of windings.