Icing Resistant Sensor Port Inlet Assembly Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Water condensation in fuel tanks can lead to ice formation around sensor ports, causing damage due to expansion, which can render sensors unreliable or inoperable.
Innovation Solution
A sensor port device with a shaped volume, such as a cone shape, featuring small surface area edges and openings for fluid flow, combined with an anti-wetting film and a screen to prevent ice formation and propagation, is designed to resist ice plug formation and facilitate fluid flow around the sensor port.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If water fills the sensor port completely, then the sensor port is sealed, but the pressure sensor diaphragm is damaged when water freezes due to expansion
Solution Approach 1:
The inlet assembly is divided into multiple sections with different geometric features (conical section, cylindrical section, edges) that serve different functions in preventing ice formation and propagation
Solution Approach 2:
Different surfaces of the inlet assembly have different properties - the conical section has large surface area to reject ice plugs, while the edges have small surface area to resist ice formation, and the anti-wetting film provides hydrophobic properties to prevent water adhesion
2Reliability
If the inlet assembly has a conical shaped volume, then ice plug formation is resisted, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple ice-resistant features (conical shape, edges, anti-wetting film, openings) are combined into a single inlet assembly structure that works together to prevent ice formation and propagation
3Object-affected harmful factors
If edges with small surface areas are disposed on the inlet assembly, then ice formation is resisted, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The surface area parameter of the edges is minimized to a specific value that balances ice resistance with manufacturability, rather than using infinitely sharp edges
4Productivity
If openings are disposed in the inlet assembly for fluid flow, then fluid flow is facilitated, but ice propagation may be enabled
Solution Approach 1:
The conical section acts as an intermediary structure between the openings and the sensor port, using its geometry to reject ice plugs while allowing fluid flow through the openings
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 solution effectively prevents ice formation and ejection of ice plugs from the sensor port, ensuring the sensor's reliability and functionality by utilizing a cone-shaped geometry and anti-wetting film to inhibit ice growth and fluid flow to clear debris.
Implementation Method 1
An anti-wetting film may be disposed on at least one surface of the inlet assembly or over all surfaces of the inlet assembly
Implementation Method 2
if the water completely fills the sensor port, it may damage the pressure sensor diaphragm when the water freezes due to the expansion properties of ice
Data Source
AI summary
A system for an icing resistant sensor port assembly includes shaped and patterned features for resisting the formation and propagation of ice around a sensor port, such as for a pressure sensor in an aircraft fuel tank. Water may be present in fuel tanks due to condensation and other factors. The water, being heavier than fuel, such as jet fuel, sinks to the bottom of the tank and may be present around the sensor port. If the water completely fills the pressure port, it may damage the sensor. In various embodiments, an inlet assembly having a cone-shaped countersink, sharp edges that reduce surface area, anti-wetting coatings, and slots to allow fluid flow within the inlet assembly, among other features, may be used to help resist ice formation and propagation around a sensor port.