Engine health monitoring
AssigneeROLLS-ROYCE plc
InventorPaul Broughton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle is provided that has a rigid dressing raft 200. The rigid dressing raft 200 provides a part of a fluid and/or electrical system to the vehicle. The rigid dressing raft comprises elongate fibers 232, which may provide strength to the raft. The fibers 232 are electrically conductive, and a voltage source may be applied to at least one of the fibers. The fiber 232 may form a part of an electrical measurement circuit 400, such as a wheatstone bridge, which may be used to determine the electrical resistance of the fiber 232. The electrical resistance of the fiber 232 may then be used to determine the temperature and/or stress/strain of the raft 200.
Claims16
A raft monitoring system for a vehicle, comprising:
- a rigid dressing raft including:
- a rigid material;
- at least a part of a component or system of the vehicle provided to the rigid material;
- and
- at least one electrically conductive elongate fibre element that is integral to the rigid material,
- the raft monitoring system further comprising an electrical measurement circuit electrically connected to the elongate fibre element so as to supply an electrical current thereto, and configured to determine a resistance of the elongate fibre element, the determined resistance being representative of at least one property of the rigid dressing raft.
A method of measuring a parameter of a rigid dressing raft, the method comprising:
- providing a rigid dressing raft, the rigid dressing raft having a rigid material, at least a part of a component or system provided to the rigid material, and at least one electrically conductive elongate fibre element that is integral to the rigid material;
- passing an electrical current through the electrically conductive elongate fibre element so as to thereby measure its resistance;
- and
- using the measured resistance to determine the value of a parameter of the rigid dressing raft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.