Ground Ring Attenuates Electric Field Sensor Sensitivity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft engines face engine damage and power loss due to ice accretion on surfaces during flight, despite existing countermeasures, as heat transfer and airflow cause ice crystals to adhere to heated engine surfaces.
Innovation Solution
An electric field sensor system with an insulating substrate, electrodes, vias, and a ground ring, aerodynamically and thermally matched to engine surfaces, generates a time-varying electric field to detect ice crystal accretion, providing real-time data on ice accumulation without interfering with normal ice buildup.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If heating systems are used to prevent ice accretion on engine surfaces, then ice protection is improved, but false detections from external electric fields may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The ground ring acts as an intermediary element between the sensor electrodes and the external environment. It selectively shields the sensor from external electric fields (such as those from power lines) while allowing the sensor to detect ice accretion on the engine surface, thus resolving the contradiction between protection reliability and detection accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The ground ring provides selective shielding with different properties for different directions: it blocks external electric fields from certain directions while maintaining sensor sensitivity to ice accretion detection in other directions. This localized quality differentiation resolves the contradiction by allowing the sensor to function accurately in its intended environment
2Measurement precision
If the sensor is made highly sensitive to detect ice crystals, then detection capability is improved, but sensitivity to external electric fields increases causing false readings
Solution Approach 1:
The ground ring serves as a mediating structure that filters harmful external electric fields while permitting the sensor to maintain high sensitivity to ice crystal detection. It creates a controlled electromagnetic environment that enhances detection capability without exposing the sensor to interfering fields
Solution Approach 2:
The ground ring extracts or removes the harmful component (external electric field interference) from the sensor's operational environment, allowing the sensor to operate at high sensitivity levels without being affected by external electromagnetic disturbances
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 system effectively monitors and detects ice crystal accretion on aircraft engine surfaces, preventing sudden power loss and damage by providing real-time data and potentially activating a heater to melt accumulated ice, thus ensuring aircraft stability and performance.
Implementation Method 1
The ground ring is disposed around the electrodes and the vias and is configured to attenuate a sensitivity of the sensor to electric fields outwards of the ground ring
Implementation Method 2
generates a time-varying electric field to detect ice crystal accretion
Data Source
AI summary
An electric field sensor includes an insulating substrate, a plurality of electrodes, an insulator, a plurality vias, and a ground ring. The electrodes are disposed on the substrate. The insulator is disposed over the electrodes. The vias are coupled to the electrodes and extend through the substrate at a right angle to the electrodes. The ground ring is disposed around the electrodes and the vias and is configured to attenuate a sensitivity of the sensor to electric fields outwards of the ground ring.