Mast moment sensing for an aircraft
AssigneeArcher Aviation Inc.
InventorAlan Buehne
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In one embodiment described herein is a mast moment sensor system for a rotorcraft comprising a rotor shaft bearing strain sensor. In some embodiments the mast moment sensor system is configured to compute a rotor mast moment using the rotor shaft bearing strain information. In one embodiment herein the rotor shaft bearing strain sensor comprises a fiber optic strain sensor.
Claims22
1-8. (canceled)
A system for measuring a mast moment of a component of an aircraft, comprising:
- at least two fiber optic strain sensors axially-aligned and separated by an axial distance along the component, wherein each strain sensor is configured to measure strain resulting from a radial load;
- and
- at least one processor configured to receive data from the at least two fiber optic strain sensors and compute the mast moment based on the received data.
A method for measuring a mast moment of a component of an aircraft, comprising:
- measuring, by at least one first fiber optic sensor at a first location along the component, a first strain resulting from a radial load;
- measuring, by at least one second fiber optic sensor at a second location along the component, a second strain resulting from the radial load;
- wherein the first location and the second location are axially-aligned and separated by an axial distance along the component;
- and
- computing the mast moment based on the measured first strain and the measured second strain.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium configured to execute instructions for measuring a mast moment of a component of an aircraft, the instructions comprising:
- measuring, based on an output of at least one first fiber optic sensor at a first location along the component, a first strain resulting from a radial load;
- measuring, based on an output of at least one second fiber optic sensor at a second location along the component, a second strain resulting from the radial load;
- wherein the first location and the second location are axially-aligned and separated by an axial distance along the component;
- and
- computing the mast moment based on the measured first strain and the measured second strain.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.