Method and device for monitoring a parameter of a rocket engine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10267265-B2
Application number	US-201515301496-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 2, 2015
Priority date	Apr 3, 2014
Publication date	Apr 23, 2019
Grant date	Apr 23, 2019

Abstract

An obtaining step for obtaining a measurement of the monitored parameter as measured by a sensor and corresponding to an operating point of the engine, the operating point being defined by at least one regulation parameter of the engine; an estimation step for estimating a value of the monitored parameter for this operating point on the basis of a regulated value or a filtered setpoint value of the at least one regulation parameter of the engine defining the operating point; a comparison step for comparing an error between the measurement of the monitored parameter and its estimate relative to at least one threshold determined on the basis of an uncertainty on the error evaluated for the operating point; and a notification step for sending a notification in the event of the at least one threshold being crossed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of monitoring a parameter of a rocket engine, the method comprising:
obtaining a measurement of the monitored parameter as measured by a sensor and corresponding to an operating point of the engine, the operating point being defined by at least one regulation parameter of the engine;
estimating a value of the monitored parameter for this operating point on the basis of a regulated value or of a filtered setpoint value of said at least one regulation parameter of the engine defining the operating point;
determining at least one threshold based on an uncertainty on an error evaluated for the operating point, the uncertainty including an uncertainty in estimating the monitored parameter and an uncertainty in measuring the monitored parameter;
comparing an error between the measurement of the monitored parameter and its estimate relative to the at least one threshold; and
sending a notification in the event of said at least one threshold being crossed,
wherein during the comparing, account is also taken of the rate of change of the operating point of the engine, and
wherein during the comparing:
the error between the measurement of the monitored parameter and its estimate weighted by the response of a predefined second order filter at a step representative of the setpoint value or of the filtered setpoint value of said at least one regulation parameter is compared with a “high” first threshold, and
the error between the measurement of the monitored parameter and its estimate weighted by the response of a predefined first order filter at said step is compared with a “low” second threshold.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the estimating the value of the monitored parameter is performed using an artificial neural network having as its input the regulated value or the filtered setpoint value for said at least one regulation parameter of the engine.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein during the comparing, the operating point used for evaluating the uncertainty on the error is determined from:
the regulated value of said at least one regulation parameter; or
the filtered setpoint value of said at least one regulation parameter; or
the setpoint value of said at least one regulation parameter.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the operating point is defined by at least one of the following regulation parameters:
a pressure of a combustion chamber of the engine; and
a mixture ratio at the inlet of a pump of the engine.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the monitored parameter is a parameter selected from:
a pressure of the engine;
a temperature of the engine;
a speed of rotation of an element of the engine;
a flow rate of a fluid flowing in the engine; and
a vibratory behavior of the engine.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the uncertainty on the error takes account at least of an uncertainty selected from an uncertainty in estimating the monitored parameter and an uncertainty in measuring the monitored parameter.

7. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the uncertainty on the error takes account of an uncertainty in estimating the monitored parameter, which uncertainty is determined as a function:
of an uncertainty on the input of the artificial neural network;
of an uncertainty on the neural network;
of an uncertainty on the training database used for constructing the neural network.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions for executing steps, when executed on a computer, comprising:
obtaining a measurement of the monitored parameter as measured by a sensor and corresponding to an operating point of the engine, the operating point being defined by at least one regulation parameter of the engine;
estimating a value of the monitored parameter for this operating point on the basis of a regulated value or of a filtered setpoint value of said at least one regulation parameter of the engine defining the operating point;
determining at least one threshold based on an uncertainty on an error evaluated for the operating point, the uncertainty including an uncertainty in estimating the monitored parameter and an uncertainty in measuring the monitored parameter;
comparing an error between the measurement of the monitored parameter and its estimate relative to the at least one threshold; and
sending a notification in the event of said at least one threshold being crossed,
wherein during the comparing, account is also taken of the rate of change of the operating point of the engine, and
wherein during the comparing:
the error between the measurement of the monitored parameter and its estimate weighted by the response of a predefined second order filter at a step representative of the setpoint value or of the filtered setpoint value of said at least one regulation parameter is compared with a “high” first threshold, and the error between the measurement of the monitored parameter and its estimate weighted by the response of a predefined first order filter at said step is compared with a “low” second threshold.

9. A device for monitoring a parameter of a rocket engine, the device comprising:
an obtaining module for obtaining a measurement of the monitored parameter as measured by a sensor and corresponding to an operating point of the engine, the operating point being defined by at least one regulation parameter of the engine;
an estimator module for estimating a value of the monitored parameter for this operating point on the basis of a regulated value or of a filtered setpoint value of said at least one regulation parameter of the engine defining the operating point;
a determining module for determining at least one threshold based on an uncertainty on the error evaluated for the operating point, the uncertainty including an uncertainty in estimating the monitored parameter and an uncertainty in measuring the monitored parameter;
a comparator module for comparing an error between the measurement of the monitored parameter and its estimate relative to the at least one threshold; and
a notification module for sending a notification in the event of said at least one threshold being crossed,
wherein the comparator module also takes into account the rate of change of the operating point of the engine, and
wherein the comparator module:
compares the error between the measurement of the monitored parameter and its estimate weighted by the response of a predefined second order filter at a step representative of the setpoint value or of the filtered setpoint value of said at least one regulation parameter with a “high” first threshold, and
compares the error between the measurement of the monitored parameter and its estimate weighted by the response of a predefined first order filter at said step with a “low” second threshold.

10. A rocket engine comprising:
a device for monitoring a parameter of a rocket engine, the device comprising:
an obtaining module for obtaining a measurement of the monitored parameter as measured by a sensor and corresponding to an operating point of the engine, the operating point being defined by at least one regulation parameter of the engine;
an estimator module for estimating a value of the monitored parameter for this operating point on the basis of a regulated value or of a filtered setpoint value of said at least one regulation parameter of the engine defining the operating point;
a determining module for determining at least one threshold based on an uncertainty on the error evaluated for the operating point, the uncertainty including an uncertainty in estimating the monitored parameter and an uncertainty in measuring the monitored par

Assignees

• Safran Aircraft Engines

Inventors

• Romet Antoine
• Le Gonidec Serge
• Malikov Dimitri
• Gazagnes Jonathan

Classifications

• G05B23/024

  Quantitative history assessment, e.g. mathematical relationships between available data; Functions therefor; Principal component analysis [PCA]; Partial least square [PLS]; Statistical classifiers, e.g. Bayesian networks, linear regression or correlation analysis; Neural networks · CPC title

• G05B23/0221

  Preprocessing measurements, e.g. data collection rate adjustment; Standardization of measurements; Time series or signal analysis, e.g. frequency analysis or wavelets; Trustworthiness of measurements; Indexes therefor; Measurements using easily measured parameters to estimate parameters difficult to measure; Virtual sensor creation; De-noising; Sensor fusion; Unconventional preprocessing inherently present in specific fault detection methods like PCA-based methods · CPC title

• F05D2260/821

  Parameter estimation or prediction · CPC title

• F02K9/56

  Control · CPC title

• G05B23/0235

  based on a comparison with predetermined threshold or range, e.g. "classical methods", carried out during normal operation; threshold adaptation or choice; when or how to compare with the threshold · CPC title