초록 ▼

A method for operating a debris monitoring system comprises continuously sensing the passage of particulates through a gas turbine engine to produce a time-domain sensor signal. The time-domain sensor signal is Fourier transformed to produce a frequency domain sensor signal. The frequency domain sen

A method for operating a debris monitoring system comprises continuously sensing the passage of particulates through a gas turbine engine to produce a time-domain sensor signal. The time-domain sensor signal is Fourier transformed to produce a frequency domain sensor signal. The frequency domain sensor signal is partitioned into bins corresponding to particulate composition categories. At least one feature is identified within each bin, and is used to determine the amount of particulate flow in each particulate composition category.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A signal processing method for an inlet debris monitoring system, the method comprising: retrieving time-domain signals from inlet debris sensors responsive to debris passing through an engine of an aircraft;Fourier transforming the time-domain signals to produce a frequency domain sensor signal;

1. A signal processing method for an inlet debris monitoring system, the method comprising: retrieving time-domain signals from inlet debris sensors responsive to debris passing through an engine of an aircraft;Fourier transforming the time-domain signals to produce a frequency domain sensor signal;subdividing the frequency domain signal into bins corresponding to different particulate compositions; andanalyzing a feature of the frequency domain signal to determine particulate quantity and composition. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the feature of the frequency domain signal comprises amplitude, power, or power spectrum rate of change. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing is performed on the aircraft. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing is performed at a location remote from the aircraft. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the bins comprise frequency ranges of the frequency domain sensor signal. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the frequency ranges are dynamically updated. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the particulate composition determined comprises particulate size. 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: preprocessing either the time-domain signals or the frequency-domain sensor signal. 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: analyzing the time-domain signal to determine debris ingestion times and quantities. 10. A method for operating a debris monitoring system, the method comprising: continuously sensing the passage of particulates through a gas turbine engine to produce a time-domain sensor signal;Fourier transforming the time-domain sensor signal to produce a frequency domain sensor signal;partitioning the frequency domain into frequency range bins corresponding to particulate composition categories;identifying a plurality of primary features within each bin; anddetermining the amount of particulate flow in each particulate composition category from the primary features identified within each corresponding bin. 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: identifying at least one secondary feature derived from the primary features across multiple bins; andevaluating the determination of particulate flow using the secondary feature. 12. The method of claim 10 further comprising: identifying a plurality of time-domain features of the time-domain sensor signal; anddetermining the time and extent of debris events using the time-domain features. 13. The method of claim 10, wherein the particulate composition categories reflect size of particulates. 14. The method of claim 10, wherein continuously sensing the passage of particulates comprises monitoring particulate passage through an inlet of the gas turbine engine. 15. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of primary features includes at least one of power, amplitude, phase, and power spectrum rate of change. 16. The method of claim 10, wherein the bins comprise frequency ranges of the frequency domain sensor signal. 17. An inlet debris monitoring system comprising: an inlet debris sensor located at an inlet of a gas turbine engine to produce a sensor signal in response the passage of debris through the gas turbine engine;a filter which removes noise and non-debris components from the sensor signal;a signal analysis module which Fourier transforms the sensor signal, subdivides the sensor signal into bins, and identifies features of the sensor signal in each bin; anda decision module which determines mass flow rate and particulate composition from the features in each bin. 18. The inlet debris monitoring system of claim 17, wherein the sensor is a electrostatic sensor which senses the passage of charged debris particles through a conductive ring. 19. The inlet debris monitoring system of claim 17, wherein the sensor is an analog sensor, and further comprising a signal conditioner and an analog-to-digital converter located between the sensor and the signal analysis module. 20. The inlet debris monitoring system of claim 17, further comprising at least one additional inlet debris sensor located at the inlet of the gas turbine engine to produce an additional sensor signal. 21. The inlet debris monitoring system of claim 20, wherein the signal analysis module separately identifies features of the sensor signal and the additional sensor signal, and wherein the decision module evaluates the features of both. 22. The inlet debris monitoring system of claim 20, wherein the signal analysis module identifies features derived from both the sensor signal and the additional sensor signal. 23. The inlet debris monitoring system of claim 22, wherein one of the features is a particulate speed determined from signal phase differences between the plurality of inlet debris signals.