Aircraft Landing Gear Damper Health Monitoring via Sensor Feedback
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems lack the ability to assess the functional capability and predict the failure of vibration damping components, such as aircraft landing gear dampers, leading to premature failure and unnecessary maintenance due to undetectable subtle onset of failure and lack of self-testing mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A health monitoring system utilizing sensors like pressure transducers, accelerometers, and optional thermocouples connected to a processor module that collects and processes data to determine the health of dampers, predicting future health states and performance capabilities through a diagnostic algorithm.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If passive or active dampers are used to reduce oscillation and shimmy, then landing gear stability is improved, but the ability to detect and predict damper failure is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism by installing sensors (accelerometers, pressure transducers, temperature sensors) on the damper and landing gear assembly that continuously monitor operational parameters and feed this data back to a processing system. This enables real-time assessment of damper health and prediction of potential failures, resolving the contradiction by providing both stability through damping and reliability through continuous monitoring feedback.
Solution Approach 2:
The monitoring system enables the damper to essentially self-diagnose its own health status. Through embedded sensors and processing algorithms, the system autonomously detects anomalies, assesses functional capability, and predicts failure without requiring external inspection, thus maintaining both the damping function and the ability to detect failure.
2Reliability
If maintenance is performed based on visual observation or ancillary damage detection, then maintenance actions can be taken, but maintenance may be premature or unwarranted due to inability to detect subtle failure onset
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical/visual inspection methods with electronic sensing and data processing systems. Accelerometers, pressure transducers, and temperature sensors substitute for visual observation, enabling detection of subtle failure indicators through electrical and electronic means. This substitution provides accurate maintenance timing by detecting early failure signs that are imperceptible to human senses.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces sensors and processing algorithms as intermediaries between the damper's physical state and the maintenance decision-making process. These intermediaries translate subtle physical changes (vibration patterns, pressure variations, temperature changes) into actionable health assessments, preventing both premature and delayed maintenance by providing accurate failure prediction.
3Ease of operation
If crew perception of aircraft vibration is used to identify landing gear shimmy, then maintenance actions can be triggered, but unwarranted maintenance occurs due to inability to distinguish vibration sources
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the vibration monitoring function by placing sensors at specific locations on the landing gear assembly (on the damper itself and on the gear structure). This spatial segmentation enables the system to distinguish between vibrations originating from the damper (indicating shimmy) and vibrations from other sources (such as engine or wing vibrations), resolving the contradiction by maintaining simple detection while improving identification accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a new dimension to vibration detection by using multiple sensors oriented in different directions and locations. Instead of relying on single-point crew perception, the system uses multi-dimensional sensor data (acceleration in multiple axes, pressure changes, temperature) to precisely identify vibration sources, eliminating false alarms while maintaining ease of operation through automated analysis.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for health monitoring of a damper associated with a landing gear is described which includes receiving sensor data from a pressure transducer and an accelerometer and optionally a thermal sensor operably mounted on or near the damper, a computer system, and applying, using the computer system, a diagnostic algorithm to the sensor data to induce and predict the health of the damper.