| Entries |
| Document | Title | Date |
|---|
| 20080255775 | ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE COMPENSATION IN A STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING SYSTEM - A method and system of compensating for environmental effect when detecting signals using a structural health monitoring system includes collecting baseline data signals for one or more values of the environmental effect variable from signals transmitted along selected paths between transducers in an array attached to the structure. A threshold is selected based on the baseline data for determining if the signal is detected. Current data signals are collected and matched to the best fit baseline data. The value of the environmental effect variable is determined on the basis of the matching. A signal is detected according to the selected threshold. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080255776 | METHOD FOR CALCULATING PROBABILISTIC DAMAGE SIZES IN STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING SYSTEMS - A method for calculating the probable damage size in a structure includes defining a configuration of an array of transducers mounted on the structure. Any pair of the transducers includes an actuator and a sensor, and each pair defines a propagation path in the structure. All propagation paths that are affected by being touched by a damage of the structure, and all adjacent paths that are untouched and thereby unaffected by the damage, are identified. A range of sizes of the damage is determined, and a probability density of the damage versus damage size is calculated on the basis of the transducer array configuration and the affected and unaffected propagation paths identified. On the basis of the probability density, a most probable damage size is determined, and the probability of the damage being greater or less than the most probable damage size is also determined. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080255777 | OPTIMAL SENSOR LOCATION FOR DAMAGE DETECTION - A method for determining optimal locations of a plurality of sensors for damage detection in a structural health monitoring system includes providing a one or more signal performance characteristics, spatial parameters describing a layout of a structure, and generating a layout for the plurality of sensors according to the signal performance characteristics and the spatial parameters. An estimated largest critical damage size that may not be detected by sensors arranged according to the first layout is determined. The layout is edited so as to reduce the estimated largest critical damage size to be less than or equal to a selected maximum size requirement. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080255778 | DETECTING DAMAGE IN METAL STRUCTURES WITH STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING SYSTEMS - A method useful in structural health monitoring (SHM) systems for detecting damages in metal structures includes extracting the zero-order symmetric and anti-symmetric mode signal components from each of a plurality of current sensor signals of an array of transducers mounted on the structure, matching the extracted signal components with corresponding signal components of a plurality of baseline sensor signals previously detected in the structure, computing respective indices I | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080270044 | Defect Review Apparatus and Method of Reviewing Defects - The present invention aims to provide a defect review apparatus capable of suppressing a reduction in throughput with a minimized deviation-amount measurement, and capable of optimizing an FOV of a monitoring image. To this end, the review apparatus for reviewing a specimen by moving the specimen to pre-calculated coordinate includes: a function to measure a deviation amount between the pre-calculated coordinates and coordinates of an actual position of the specimen; a function to optimize a coordinate correcting expression to minimize the measured deviation amount; and a function to determine that the deviation amounts have converged. When the deviation amounts have converged, the measurement for the coordinate-correcting-expression optimization is terminated. Thereby, the reduction in throughput is suppressed to the minimum level, and furthermore a FOV necessary for the specimen to be within the field of view is set according to a convergence value of the calculated deviation amount. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20080288184 | Automatic Signal Collection and Analysis for Piezoelectric Wafer Active Sensor - Disclosed is an apparatus and methodology for monitoring the health of a structure. Apparatus and methodologies are disclosed for applying a controlled signal sequence to an array of piezoelectric wafer active sensors and for analyzing echo returns from the applied signals to determine the health of the monitored structure. The applied signal may take on certain characteristics including being provided as a specially tailored chirp signal to compensate for non-linear characteristics of the monitored structure. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20080312846 | Sensor Infrastructure - A device for use in detecting an event in a structure includes a sensor encapsulation, the encapsulation containing a sensor, an actuator positioned substantially in-plane to the sensor within the housing and a printed circuit board in communication with at least one of the sensor and the actuator. The printed circuit board includes a microprocessor constructed and arranged to collect data from at least one of the sensor and the actuator, a signal generator constructed and arranged to provide excitation to at least one of the sensor and the actuator, and an amplifier to condition the excitation. | 12-18-2008 |
| 20090037121 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTION OF ROTOR ECCENTRICITY BASELINE SHIFT - A method to determine eccentricity of a rotor in a turbine including: collecting sensor data of rotor eccentricity for a plurality of startup operations; establishing a baseline eccentricity value using the sensor data corresponding to a selected startup operation; determining an eccentricity value using the filtered sensor data for each of a plurality of startup operations subsequent to the selected startup operation; determining a rotor eccentricity difference between the baseline eccentricity value and each of the eccentricity values for the plurality of startup operations subsequent to the selected startup operation, and reporting a rotor eccentricity condition based on the rotor eccentricity difference. | 02-05-2009 |
| 20090037122 | Prognosis adaptation method - There is provided a method for generating a probability distribution for a desired variable. A hyper parameter density function is provided, from which values are randomly selected. The selected hyper parameter value is used to compute an input variable value. A value is randomly selected from each input variable probability density function. These values are input into a physics model to compute an output value. This process is repeated to generate numerous output values, which are then used to construct an output value probability density function. After the output value probability density function is constructed, output value sensor data is obtained. The output density function is updated using the sensor data and a probabilistic evaluation of the hyper parameters. Improved predictions are iteratively made with the updated output distribution. | 02-05-2009 |
| 20090043516 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING DAMAGE IN ARMOR STRUCTURES - Detection of damage in armor structures, using networks of piezoelectric transducers. In particular, piezoelectric transducers can be placed at various points on the armor structure, effectively creating a number of paths between pairs of transducers. Each of these paths can be queried by transmitting an ultrasonic stress wave from one transducer to the other, and analyzing changes in the stress wave. The signal from the received stress wave can be time gated to remove crosstalk, and the resulting time gated signal can be analyzed for characteristics of damage. For instance, if the time gated signal is sufficiently attenuated, it can be determined that the armor structure has sustained damage to at least that region traversed by this particular path. | 02-12-2009 |
| 20090082976 | Methods of Analysing Apparatus - Engine health monitoring is used to assess the health of an engine, such as a gas turbine engine. Blades mounted on a shaft produce a modal response when excited. The shaft has an order related component that varies with the rotational velocity of the shaft. Modal responses are increased when the natural frequency range of the selected blade mode intersects with one of the order related components. By applying a short time chirp-Fourier transform with a frequency speed that is a function of a rate of change in the rotational velocity of the shaft a selected signal can be isolated. Cracks in the blades can be detected from the isolated signal. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090093976 | METHOD FOR CHARACTERIZING THE ENDURANCE LIMIT OF A PART FROM ITS SURFACE PROFILE - The invention concerns a method for characterizing the endurance limit of a part from the state of its surface including the following steps: reading geometrical data describing the surface profile of the zone the endurance limit of which is to be determined, applying said data to a computing model so as to work out an estimate of the field of mechanical stresses in said zone of said part, deducing from said estimate of the field of stresses at least one quantity characteristic of the endurance behaviour of the part. | 04-09-2009 |
| 20090099790 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CREATING AT LEAST ONE PARAMETER FOR ALGORITHMICALLY EVALUATING DAMAGE IN A STRUCTURE - A method for creating at least one input parameter for an algorithmic system to evaluate damage in a structure may include: (a) Determining a plurality of damage index factors using first signal information relating to a first signal transmitted through the structure before the damage is imposed, and second signal information relating to a second signal transmitted through the structure after the damage is imposed. (b) determining a plurality of condensed damage index factors using the plurality of damage index factors. (c) Correlating selected of the condensed damage index factors with selected measured dimensions relating to the damage to determine a correlation index for selected combinations of the condensed damage index factors and the dimensions. (d) Selecting the at least one input parameter from among the selected condensed damage index factors having a correlation index meeting at least one predetermined criterion. | 04-16-2009 |
| 20090150092 | ELECTRIC ULTIMATE DEFECTS ANALYZER DETECTING ALL DEFECTS IN PCB/MCM - A method and a system of testing electronic components assemblies, each assembly comprising a multiplicity of tracks, each connecting a multiplicity of ports. The system may enable applying heat energy upon at least one part of the at least one track; measuring energy diffusion within a predefined time interval of the heated part of the track; calculating at least one distribution energy diffusion profile associated according to the measured diffusion, where the profile represents the diffusion of energy versus time; and identifying defects in the at least one track, according to the analysis of the diffusion profile. | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090177412 | DETECTION APPARATUS AND METHOD UTILIZING MEMBRANES AND RATIO OF TRANSMEMBRANE PRESSURES - The failure of an upstream filtration membrane, or the presence of a foulant in a fluid is detected using a membrane-based detector. The fluid or an effluent from the filtration membrane is directed to permeate through a first permeable membrane, and from the first membrane to permeate through a second permeable membrane. A ratio between (P | 07-09-2009 |
| 20090177413 | System For Monitoring Foreign Particles, Process Processing Apparatus And Method Of Electronic Commerce - A system for monitoring foreign matter includes a manufacturing line having plural process processing apparatuses, a production management system which manages the processing of workpieces in the manufacturing line, plural optical heads which monitor foreign matter in relation to at least one of the workpieces, and which provide an output signal indicative thereof, and at least one image signal processing unit provided in a lesser number than a number of the plural optical heads for processing the output signal therefrom. | 07-09-2009 |
| 20090187353 | Crack growth evaluation apparatus, crack growth evaluation method, and recording medium recording crack growth evaluation program - An element damage determination unit calculates a cumulative value of a damage value using a Manson-Coffin law for a plurality of finite elements of a continuum based on a result of a stress/distortion analyzing process, and determines whether or not the cumulative value of the damage value is equal to or exceeds a threshold. A calculation unit obtains first correspondence information indicating the correspondence between the number of cycles of a load and a growth rate of a crack occurring in the continuum based on the determination result. A Manson-Coffin law change unit changes a Manson-Coffin law based on the first correspondence information and second correspondence information indicating the correspondence between an actual measurement value of the number of cycles of a load applied to the continuum and an actual measurement value of the growth rate of a crack occurring in the continuum at that time. | 07-23-2009 |
| 20090210171 | MONITORING DEVICE AND MONITORING METHOD FOR A SENSOR, AND SENSOR - A monitoring device for a sensor of a motor vehicle, in particular a fuel cell motor vehicle, includes: a first sensor monitoring module for monitoring an operation of the sensor for faults; a second sensor monitoring module for monitoring the operation of the sensor for faults; a third sensor monitoring module for monitoring an operation of the second sensor monitoring module; a first data processing unit, which includes the first sensor monitoring module and is able to be coupled to the sensor; a second data processing unit, which is coupled to the first data processing unit, the second data processing unit being arranged such that a fault response signal is able to be output when a faulty operation of the sensor is detected. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090222221 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING DAMAGE, DEFECT, AND REINFORCEMENT IN FIBER REINFORCED POLYMER BONDED CONCRETE SYSTEMS USING FAR-FIELD RADAR - A non-contact, far-field radar nondestructive testing (NDT) method is disclosed that is capable of detecting at least one of defects, damages, and reinforcement conditions in near-surface region of multi-layer systems using monostatic inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) measurements and applicable to various types of structural elements. The method includes the steps of conducting far-field monostatic ISAR measurements, executing an imaging algorithm, and executing a progressive image focusing algorithm. | 09-03-2009 |
| 20090259411 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SELF-CONTAINED STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING FOR COMPOSITE STRUCTURES - A system and method for structural health monitoring (SHM) of a physical structure, such as an aircraft component. The system may comprise a central data acquisition module and a plurality of wireless, self-contained sensor wafers bonded to a surface of the physical structure. The central data acquisition module and the sensor wafers may be communicably coupled in a hierarchical order. If any of the sensor wafers detects a structural fault, it may be stored in a memory of the central data acquisition module for retrieval by maintenance personnel. If one or more of the sensor wafers malfunctions, the central data acquisition module may reconfigure the hierarchical order in which the sensor wafers communicate to exclude the malfunctioning sensor wafer or wafers. The sensor wafers may include a sensor, circuitry, a wireless antenna, and a power source. | 10-15-2009 |
| 20090281738 | TIRE INSPECTION DEVICE - A tire inspection device generates an analyzing wavelet for wavelet transformation correlating time, corresponding to tire surface position, and frequency, based on a frequency representing a characteristic portion of a predetermined tire surface structure. After this, the tire inspection device generates and stores an integer numeric filter from the created analyzing wavelet, detects the tire surface structure, carries out wavelet transformation on a signal obtained by the detection by using the numeric filter as the analyzing wavelet, and outputs the transformation result as the characteristic information representing the characteristic portion. | 11-12-2009 |
| 20090287426 | ELASTOMERIC CONDUCTOR AND SHIELD FAULT DETECTION - The systems and methods described herein provide for the early detection of wire/cable faults. For example, a system may detect electrical/electronic faults with power lines, data lines, communication lines, coaxial cables, and the like (generally referred to herein as “lines”, “wires”, and “cables”) by providing sacrificial materials including a conductive material external to the lines. A processor may be coupled to the conductive material to transmit a control signal along the conductive material of the line to determine whether the line is degrading. That is, when the sacrificial material wears away and exposes the conductive sacrificial material in the line, that conductive material may begin to experience faults. The faults in the external conductive material may serve as precursors to the overall degradation of the line. Thus, the line may be repaired or replaced prior to the degradation of the line itself. | 11-19-2009 |
| 20100010751 | System and method for gemstone cut grading - A system for grading the cut of a diamond utilizes a number of appearance metrics to generate scores for a number of cut components that affect cut quality. These cut components include brightness, fire, scintillation, overweight, durability, polish, and symmetry. The cut grading system employs a cut grading algorithm that processes the individual scores obtained for the cut components to generate an overall cut grade for the diamond. The scoring methodology and the cut grading algorithm are designed to emulate actual observation grading such that the overall cut grade represents a fair indication of the cut quality of the diamond. In one practical embodiment, the cut grading system is fully automated and computer-implemented. | 01-14-2010 |
| 20100010752 | System and method for gemstone cut grading - A system for grading the cut of a diamond utilizes a number of appearance metrics to generate scores for a number of cut components that affect cut quality. These cut components include brightness, fire, scintillation, overweight, durability, polish, and symmetry. The cut grading system employs a cut grading algorithm that processes the individual scores obtained for the cut components to generate an overall cut grade for the diamond. The scoring methodology and the cut grading algorithm are designed to emulate actual observation grading such that the overall cut grade represents a fair indication of the cut quality of the diamond. In one practical embodiment, the cut grading system is fully automated and computer-implemented. | 01-14-2010 |
| 20100023277 | ION-BASED TRIPLE SENSOR - An ion-based triple sensor is disclosed. The ion-based triple sensor may include an ion sensing unit, configured to measure an ionic current intensity, a pressure sensing unit, configured to measure a pressure, and a temperature sensing unit, configured to measure a temperature. The ion-based triple sensor may further include a signal processing unit coupled to the ion sensing unit, the pressure sensing unit and the temperature sensing unit. The signal processing unit may include a filtering component, configured to filter at least one of the ion, pressure and temperature measurements, and a data acquisition component, configured to sample the filtered measurements and communicate the samples to a controller. | 01-28-2010 |
| 20100036618 | REDUCING THE RINGING OF ACTUATOR ELEMENTS IN ULTRASOUND BASED HEALTH MONITORING SYSTEMS - A method and apparatus are present for monitoring a structure. A signal is sent into the structure, wherein the signal has a limited duration and a varying frequency. A response to the signal is received and the response is compared to a baseline to form a comparison. | 02-11-2010 |
| 20100063750 | MULTI-ROLLER REGISTERED REPEAT DEFECT DETECTION OF A WEB PROCESS LINE - A manufacturing system includes rollers having synchronization marks to indicate complete rotations. Synchronization mark readers read the synchronization marks of the plurality of rollers and output roll synchronization signals. An encoder outputs a position signal indicative of a down-web distance of the web. An inspection system inspects the web and outputs anomaly data identifying positions of anomalies on the web. A synchronization unit receives the position signal from the encoder and the plurality of roll synchronization signals from the synchronization mark readers and converts the occurrence of each of the roll synchronization signals into down-web positions within a coordinate system associated with web process line. An analysis computer processes the anomaly data and the synchronization signals to identify repeated anomalies and to determine which of the rollers caused the repeated anomalies. | 03-11-2010 |
| 20100070203 | METHOD FOR DETERMINING REHEAT CRACKING SUSCEPTIBILITY - System, computer software and method for determining a susceptibility to reheat cracking of a sample of material, which includes a welded area. The method includes measuring a length of the sample, applying a first stress to the sample to achieve a predetermined elongation of the sample, exposing the elongated sample to a predefined heat treatment, applying a second stress to the sample until the sample breaks at least into two different pieces, and determining the susceptibility of the broken sample to reheat cracking. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100070204 | DAMAGE INDEX PREDICTING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PREDICTING DAMAGE-RELATED INDEX - A damage index predicting system is for predicting a damage-related index of solder joints of an electronic device having the solder joints that electrically connect an electronic component to a mounting circuit board and one or more detection solder joints that are designed so as to have a shorter life than the solder joints. The system includes: a database configured to store a fracture relationship between the detection solder joints and the solder joints; a fracture detector configured to detect fracture of the detection solder joints; and a processor configured to calculate a prediction value of the damage-related index of the solder joints based on information relating to the fracture of the detection solder joints obtained by the fracture detector and the fracture relationship stored in the database. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100076698 | COMBUSTION ANOMALY DETECTION VIA WAVELET ANALYSIS OF DYNAMIC SENSOR SIGNALS - The detection of combustion anomalies within a gas turbine engine is provided. A sensor associated with a combustor of the engine measures a signal that is representative of combustion conditions. A sampled dynamic signal is divided into time segments to derive a plurality of data points. The sampled dynamic signal is transformed to a form that enables detection of whether the sensed combustion conditions within the combustor are indicative of any combustion anomalies of interest. A wavelet transform is performed to calculate wavelet coefficients for the data points and at least one region of interest is targeted. The amplitude of each wavelet coefficient within each targeted region is normalized by a baseline signal. The normalized amplitudes of the wavelet coefficients are used to determine whether any combustion anomalies have occurred by comparing the normalized amplitudes of the wavelet coefficients within each target region to a predetermined threshold amplitude. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100076699 | WAFER DEFECT DETECTION SYSTEM AND METHOD - Random defects and repeaters accommodated on a wafer are detected using slice information obtained by scanning a plurality of wafer slices; analyzing defect information using a first set of filters selected to detect random defects, thereby generating a first set of defects per slice, analyzing the defect information using a second set of filters selected to detect repeaters, thereby providing a second set of defects per slice; analyzing a plurality of the second sets of defects per slice using a third set of filters selected to detect repeater families, thereby providing a set of repeaters per wafer; and optionally combining the set of repeaters per wafer with a plurality of the first sets of defects per slice, thereby generating one or more defect maps indicative of random defects and/or repeaters. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100082269 | DETECTOR SYSTEM FOR FIXING TO A CAN BODYMAKER AND METHOD TO DYNAMICALLY MEASURING RAM ALIGNMENT IN A CAN BODYMAKER - A real time detector system for monitoring ram alignment in a can bodymaker measures ram ( | 04-01-2010 |
| 20100106430 | METHOD AND SYSTEMS FOR ESTIMATING REMAINING SERVICE LIFE OF A COMPONENT SUBJECT TO STRESS - A method is described for determining when a ceramic component on a platform should be replaced. The method includes determining the parameters v | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100114502 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ARTICLE MONITORING - A system for monitoring a condition of an article comprises a controller; at least one sensor for detecting a characteristic of the article; a signal processor for processing signals from the at least one sensor; a feature extractor that can extract at least one of a range of article conditions from the output from the signal processor and that can evaluate at least one of a range of article conditions, the feature extractor providing feature extractor output to the controller; an operation detector receiving data of detected features of the elements being monitored, the operation detector providing output to the controller; a central system storing historical data about the condition of an article, the off-line processor providing output to the controller. Wherein the controller analyzes the output from the feature extractor, the operation detector, and the central system can provide a system output of the condition of the article. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100114503 | STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING SYSTEM HAVING MEMORY ON STRUCTURE - Storage of information, such as baseline information and structure ID, in a memory that is mounted on the structure, rather than inside the diagnosis hardware. This allows for faster and more convenient information retrieval. In particular, this approach allows for a more modular system in which different diagnosis hardware or other analyzers can be simply plugged into a structure's sensor network, whereupon they can quickly download any desired structure-specific information (e.g., baseline information, structure ID, and other useful information) from the on-structure memory. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100131209 | METHOD OF PREDICTING THE LOCATION OF MICROBIOLOGICALLY INFLUENCED CORROSION OF UNDERGROUND ITEMS - A method of predicting the location of microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) of underground items is disclosed. Soil criteria favorable for the growth of microbiological organisms involved with MIC are selected. Soil types are then selected that satisfy one or more of the selected soil criteria. Next, geographic areas are identified where the selected soil types are present. Finally, underground items are located in these identified areas containing the selected soil types. The method can involve validating the accuracy of the prediction by examining the landscape for vegetation indicative of the presence of the expected soil type, and culturing soil samples from areas predicted to have MIC and areas not predicted to have MIC, in order to compare the presence of microbiological organisms in each. | 05-27-2010 |
| 20100145631 | MONITORING OF CONVEYOR BELTS - A system for monitoring a conveyor belt having magnetically permeable cords, has an AC magnetic field generator for generating an alternating magnetic field to magnetize the cords, in use; a magnetic field sensing unit for sensing the alternating magnetic field provided, in use, by the cords and for providing signals representative of the alternating magnetic field; arid a processor for processing the signals to monitor continuous parts of the cords. The system further has a DC magnetic field generator for erasing an AC field previously generated by the AC magnetic field generator, the AC magnetic field generator being positioned between the DC magnetic field generator and the magnetic field sensing unit. The processor also determines the speed of travel of the belt, and the position in space of a lateral edge of the belt. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100161244 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MONITORING STRUCTURAL HEALTH - A method includes performing a first damage prediction with a computational model using at least data from a first multitude of damage sensors on a structure, performing a second damage prediction with the computational model using at least data from a second multitude of load sensors associated with the structure, and selectively performing a damage monitoring action in response to the first damage prediction and the second damage prediction to determine a structural health A system includes a computing device configured to perform a first damage prediction using at least data from a multitude of damage sensors on a structure, a second damage predication using at least data from a multitude of load sensors associated with the structure, so as to selectively perform a damage monitoring action in response to the first damage prediction and the second damage prediction to determine a structural health of the structure. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100161245 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ROTOR BLADE HEALTH MONITORING - A system for rotor blade health monitoring include time of arrival (TOA) sensors and a controller comprising a processor configured for obtaining TOA signals indicative of times of arrival of rotating rotor blades from the respective TOA sensors and for determining initial features from the TOA signals; and a feature level fuser configured for fusing the initial features received from the processor for use in evaluating health of the rotating rotor blades. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100235110 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO PREDICT FATIGUE LIVES OF ALUMINUM ALLOYS UNDER MULTIAXIAL LOADING - A system to predict a fatigue life of an aluminum alloy is disclosed herein. The system comprises a computer-readable medium cooperative with micromechanics-based fatigue life models for cyclic multiaxial loading. The fatigue life models predict the fatigue life by processing information received by the system relating to the aluminum alloy and the stress state present in the aluminum alloy. The received information comprises at least one of: a critical shear plane, a damage factor, a hardening factor defined by at least one of a plurality of uniaxial cyclic hardening factor parameters related to probabilistics of defects and microstructure characteristics in the aluminum alloy, an additional hardening factor related to non-proportionality, and thermophysical and mechanical properties of the aluminum alloy. The defects and microstructure characteristics can be calculated using mathematical modeling of casting, solidification and heat treatment processes or by an extreme value statistics based on metallography measurements. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100235111 | MANAGING NON-DESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION DATA - A method, apparatus and program product manage non-destructive evaluation (“NDE”) data. NDE data and inspection information for at least a portion of an asset are received and at least one alignment algorithm to align the NDE data to a simulated model of the at least a portion of the asset is determined based upon at least one of the NDE data and the inspection information. The NDE data is automatically aligned to the simulated model with the at least one alignment algorithm and a display representation that visually represents the aligned NDE data on the simulated model is generated. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100235112 | MANAGING NON-DESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION DATA - Embodiments of the invention include methods to manage non-destructive evaluation (“NDE”) data. The method includes receiving NDE data for at least a portion of an asset along with inspection information associated with the at least a portion of the asset, and determining at least one alignment algorithm to align the NDE data to a simulated model of the at least a portion of the asset based on at least one of the NDE data or the inspection information. The method further includes automatically aligning The NDE data to the simulated model with the at least one alignment algorithm and analyzing the aligned NDE data on the simulated model to determine coverage of the simulated model by the NDE data. Additional methods include retrieving NDE data that has previously been aligned to the simulated model and determining coverage or determining trends associated with indications thereof. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100235113 | DIGITAL PROCESSOR SENSOR LOOP DETECTOR AND METHOD - A digital processor for use in a conveyor belt rip detector, which provides excitation signals at a selected frequency to inverted and noninverted sensor loops on a conveyor belt and then detects corresponding received signals from the sensor loops. The digital processor then performs FFTs on the corresponding received signals to provide respective received signal frequency spectrums. Next magnitude and phase values of the selected frequency in the respective received signal frequency spectrums are used to determine a qualitative state of the sensor loops. The selected frequency has a lowest detected ambient noise level, and the magnitude value is a normalized magnitude value. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100292938 | Automated Inspection System and Method for Nondestructive Inspection of a Workpiece Using Induction Thermography - Automated inspection system and method are provided for nondestructive inspection and evaluation of an electrically-conductive workpiece based on induction thermography. A movable carriage ( | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100305875 | PIPELINE IN-LINE INSPECTION SYSTEM - Disclosed herein is an in-line inspection system for providing recorded measurements of internal deviations of pipeline walls. It is particularly adapted for use with pipelines carrying gas or liquid (fluids) to diagnose pipeline defects including partial obstructions by dents, out-of-round portions, or valves which reduce the available cross section and carrying capacity of the line as well as restrict the insertion of other in-line inspection technologies. Moreover, certain embodiments are light, maneuverable, and designed to be useable by any individual to obtain immediate results. Such embodiments offer new business models for providing inspection services and should result in sharply reduced inspection costs. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100312493 | CORROSION INSPECTION AND MONITORING SYSTEM - A system for in-situ near-real-time detection and monitoring of corrosion in structures with the ability to directly track the presence and growth of corrosion on a structure by measurement of material loss in the structure attained by analysis of high frequency wave propagation dynamics. The Corrosion Inspection and Monitoring (CIM) system utilizes low-weight in-situ transducers and unique data reduction software for detection and monitoring of corrosion in structural systems in near real-time for corrosion related damage. The CIM system provides a corrosion monitoring and tracking tool that can be deployed in the field with the structural system, and no maintenance personnel are needed for corrosion analysis. | 12-09-2010 |
| 20100318303 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MEASURING DEFLECTION OF A HOLLOW COMPONENT OF A WIND ENERGY SYSTEM FROM A NORMAL POSITION - The invention relates to a method for measuring deflection of a substantially elongated hollow component (B) of a wind energy system from a normal position, extended such that it can be used to determine the deflection of the hollow component (B) of a of a wind energy system from a normal position in a simple and accurate manner, and to reliably monitor the same. To this end, the invention proposes that at least one distance sensor ( | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100324836 | CORROSION AND EROSION CORROSION TYPE DETERMINATION FROM PARAMETRIC SHAPE REPRESENTATION OF SURFACES - Different types of localized corrosion, erosion corrosion and other types of corrosion may be detected and identified by examining or viewing a solid surface where corrosion is occurring or has occurred to obtain an image therefrom. The image is then represented as a three-dimensional mathematical surface, which is then fit to a parametric surface composed of one or more curved and/or polygonal surfaces. Representative parameters are determined from the parametric surface. The corrosion type is identified by the best fit of the parameters known to be correlated (or caused by) a particular type of corrosive activity or agent for a given substrate. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20110040499 | APPARATUS FOR DETECTING PERIODIC DEFECT AND METHOD THEREFOR - An apparatus for detecting periodic defects includes a sensor that obtains signals to evaluate properties of an area having a length longer than an expected defect period on a target sample; a small area selector that separates a plurality of small areas whose area length is shorter than that of the area so that all distance intervals adjacent to one another are equal in a periodic defect arrangement direction to determine positions of the plurality of small areas, and selecting signals corresponding to the positions of the plurality of small areas from outputs from the sensor; an evaluation index calculator that calculates a similarity evaluation index between signal patterns among a plurality of signals selected by the small area selector; a set value changer that changes the positions of the small areas and the distance interval, and repeating computational processings of the small area selector and the evaluation index calculator; and a period judgment device that judges the distance interval as a period when the evaluation index is higher than a value set beforehand. | 02-17-2011 |
| 20110054807 | ANALYZING APPARATUS, ANALYZING METHOD AND A NON-TRANSITORY STORAGE MEDIUM - An analyzing apparatus comprising a processor of a controller and a memory that stores programs executable by the processor to: receive a test result on a test item from a measurement unit; analyze the test result to determine whether the test result indicates an abnormality on the test item; if the test result is determined to indicate an abnormality on the test item, update a history database in which a history of abnormality determinations made on the test item is recorded; review the history database to determine whether a frequency of abnormality determinations made on the test item exceeds a predetermined frequency for the test item; and if the frequency of abnormality is determined to exceed the predetermined frequency for the test item, alert a user on a possible problem is disclosed. An analyzing method and a non-transitory storage medium are also disclosed. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110060536 | Method and Apparatus for Inspecting Crack in Ceramic Body - The invention is defined as a method and apparatus for non-destructive inspection including detection, quantification, and location of a surface or subsurface crack in a body made of advanced technical ceramics. The method and apparatus can detect all cracks in a ceramic body, including microscopic cracks, with a high sensitivity, accuracy and reliability, by measuring changes in electrical resistances through a plurality pairs of electrodes affixed on surfaces of the ceramic body. The extent of the cracks can be quantified and expressed as numerical data, and the location of the cracks can be identified. An automated inspection process enables a convenient, real-time, cost-effective crack inspection. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20110071769 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING STRUCTURAL DAMAGE DEPTH, AND METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TREATMENT - A correlation is preliminarily obtained between a depth of damage and a ratio between a temperature gradient in temperature distribution on a surface of an area containing the damage and a temperature difference between a maximum temperature and a minimum temperature in the temperature distribution. The temperature distribution on the surface of the area containing the damage in the structure is then measured. Once the temperature distribution on the structure surface is obtained, attention is focused on temperature distribution between two points including the damaged area, so that a temperature difference between a maximum temperature and a minimum temperature in the distribution is obtained, and further a temperature gradient of an interval exhibiting temperature variation equal to or higher than a predetermined level is obtained. The ratio between the temperature difference and the temperature gradient thus obtained is computed, and the depth of the damage corresponding to the ratio is determined based on the correlation obtained in the first step. The depth of the damage can be estimated by the processing above. | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110071770 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MONITORING THE STATE OF STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS - The invention relates to a structural component, to a system and to a method for monitoring the integrity of a structure or a structural component. The structural component according to the invention has at least one elongated air duct which can be connected to a vacuum source and to a device for detecting the volumetric flow of air and/or the air pressure in the air duct, wherein, when the structure is intact in the region of the air duct, the air pressure in the air duct essentially corresponds to the air pressure of the vacuum source and there is essentially no volumetric flow of air through the air duct but, when a structural defect occurs in the region of the air duct, air from the region surrounding the structure or structural component enters the air duct and increases the air pressure and volumetric flow of air in the air duct in an identifiable manner. | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110082650 | METHOD FOR UTILIZING FABRICATION DEFECT OF AN ARTICLE - A method for utilizing fabrication defect of an article comprises steps of obtaining a defect image from a fabrication process for fabricating the article, wherein the defect image comprises a defect and fabricated circuit patterns around the defect; obtaining coordinates of the defect; retrieving a layout of the article comprising design circuit patterns; extracting a contour of the defect from the defect image; superposing the contour of the defect on the layout according to the coordinates of the defect; and determining whether the defect causes a open failure or a short failure on the layout by analyzing overlaps between the contour of the defect and the design circuit patterns. Therefore, the article's health can be monitored during the fabrication process, not until the end of the fabrication process. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110118990 | DAMAGE SENSORS AND PROCESSING ARRANGEMENTS THEREFOR - A damage sensing system, and a method of sensing damage using the system, are described. The system comprises: a plurality of tuned circuits arranged in parallel, each tuned circuit having a different resonant frequency; and processing means for discriminating the response of the different tuned circuits according to their respective different resonant frequencies, for example by processing changes in the respective Q-factors of the respective tuned circuits; wherein each of the plurality of tuned circuits comprises a respective damage sensor, each damage sensor comprising at least one direct write resistive element applied to an area of a substrate by a direct write process. Each tuned circuit may comprise a common resistor in series with the respective damage sensor. The plurality of the tuned circuits may be coupled to the processing means by a shared single pair of external connections. | 05-19-2011 |
| 20110137576 | Process Excursion Detection - A method for analyzing defect information on a substrate, including logically dividing the substrate into zones, and detecting defects on the substrate to produce the defect information. The defect information from the substrate is analyzed on a zone by zone basis to produce defect level classifications for the defects within each zone. The zonal defect level classifications are analyzed according to at least one analysis method. The defect level classifications are preferably selected from a group of defect level classifications that is specified by a recipe. Preferably, the at least one analysis method includes at least one of zonal defect distribution, automatic defect classification, spatial signature analysis, and excursion detection. The defect level classifications preferably include at least one of individual defect, defect cluster, and spatial signature analysis signature. In one embodiment the defect information is logically divided into configurable zones after the defects on the substrate have been detected. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110144925 | System and Method for Detecting Clutch-Related Faults in an Automatic Transmission - A fault diagnostic method for an automatic transmission may include monitoring an operating state of a trim system configured to selectively supply clutch engagement pressure and exhaust to at least one clutch control valve, determining an expected operating state of the trim system based on current operating conditions of the transmission, and generating a fault signal if the monitored operating state of the trim system is different from the expected operating state of the trim system. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110144926 | Process for Predicting the Emergence of Longitudinal Cracks During Continuous Casting - A process for predicting longitudinal cracks during continuous casting of steel slabs. The local strand temperature is measured by thermocouples distributed in the mould wall. In this process, the risk of the strand rupturing as a result of longitudinal cracking is assessed statistically taking into account the current temperature values measured by the thermocouples arranged in the mould and the temperature values determined when no cracks are present. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110166799 | Trending of vibration data taking into account torque effect - In vibration based mechanical diagnostics, algorithms may extract some feature of a component which may be used as a statistic of the components' health. A measured condition indicator corresponding to the analysis of the components' health may be a function of transmission error (TE). Because there exists a relationship between TE and the CI for a component that is faulted, the CI is correlated with power transmitted. In drive train components, power may be proportional to measured torque. In terms of diagnostics or trending of a component, it is desirable to reduce the scatter in the measured CI and account for this torque. The relationship between measured CI and torque may be captured over time. An increase in the correlation of torque with the CI would indicate an increase of TE which indicates the propagation of a fault. | 07-07-2011 |
| 20110178725 | METHOD OF ASSISTING DECISION-TAKING CONCERNING THE AIRWORTHINESS OF AN AIRCRAFT - The aircraft includes
| 07-21-2011 |
| 20110178726 | PIPELINE INSPECTION - The present application provides for examining a pipeline, such as a hydrocarbon pipeline. It finds particular application with the examination of pipelines located in harsh environments. An external facility, such as a remote station and/or a central station, transmits topography data to a data taking head configured to examine the pipeline. Based upon the topography data, one or more data taking heads examine the pipeline and generate pipeline data and/or position data, which may be used to identify one or more characteristics of the pipeline. This data may be transferred to a remote station, such as a truck, which may analyze the data to determine where to perform maintenance on the pipeline, for example. A human operator may observe the data taking heads from the remote station and respond to problems encountered by the data taking head. | 07-21-2011 |
| 20110184662 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR INSPECTING MULTI-LAYER RETICLES - A method of and system for inspecting multi-layer reticles. The method includes: selecting a multi-layer reticle having an array of cells arranged in R rows and C columns; defining a full inspection region that includes all cells of the array of cells; and when R is equal to one (or is greater than two) and C is greater than two (or is equal to one) and a cell of the array of cells is a dummy cell in a first or last position of a row (or of a column) of the array of cells, then reducing the full inspection region to generate a shrunken inspection region that does not include the dummy cell, and then inspecting the shrunken inspection region for defects. If the dummy cell is between two non-dummy cells, then the dummy cell is a copy of one of the non-dummy cells, but is not inspected. | 07-28-2011 |
| 20110191034 | Portable System for Immotive Multiphasic Motive Force Electrical Machine Testing - A portable test device ( | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110208443 | SENSOR APPARATUS - A sensor apparatus of the present invention includes a first output terminal for outputting a sense signal, and a failure diagnosis circuit for determining whether a failure diagnosis object section is normal or abnormal, to output a failure detection signal from a second output terminal in the case of determining abnormality. The time required for an output concerning the failure detection signal from the failure diagnosis object section to reach the second output terminal is shorter than the time required for an output concerning the sense signal from the failure diagnosis object section to reach the first output terminal, thus leading to improvement in reliability under abnormal condition. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110224918 | APPLICATION-SPECIFIC REPEAT DEFECT DETECTION IN WEB MANUFACTURING PROCESSES - Techniques are described for inspecting a web and controlling subsequent conversion of the web into one or more products. A system, for example, comprises an imaging device, an analysis computer and a conversion control system. The imaging device images the web to provide digital information. The analysis computer processes the digital information to identify regions on the web containing anomalies. The conversion control system subsequently analyzes the digital information to determine which anomalies represent actual defects for a plurality of different products. The web inspection system may preferentially apply different application-specific defect detection recipes depending on whether a given anomaly is a repeating or random anomaly | 09-15-2011 |
| 20110231112 | System and Method for Damage Diagnosis - The object of the invention is to provide a damage diagnostic system that uses a damage detection system that obtains propagation intensity distribution data, which is expanded in the two dimensions frequency and propagation time, by converting the output value from an oscillation detection sensor that was obtained when oscillation is performed by an oscillator, and for one mode or two or more modes that are selected from the fundamental mode and higher mode of Lamb waves, obtains certain characteristic values from the data, for example three indices, which are the slope of the mode dispersion of the A1 mode (rate of change of the propagation time with respect to the frequency), the amount of decrease in the propagation time of the A1 mode, and the amount of increase in the propagation time of the S0 and S1 modes, and outputs the measurement results. The measurement results are displayed on a display device. | 09-22-2011 |
| 20110246095 | APPARATUS FOR DETECTING ERRONEOUS CABLE STRIPPING - An apparatus for detecting erroneous cable stripping includes an auxiliary bracket having a stripping blade coupled thereto to cut a part of a sheath of a cable to strip the cable, a sensor attached to the auxiliary bracket to sense bending deformation of the auxiliary bracket occurring when tensile force is applied to the cable to strip the cable, and a central processing unit configured to receive a signal sent in response to bending deformation of the auxiliary bracket and determine whether the cable has been stripped erroneously or not. The apparatus prevents erroneously stripped cables from being inserted into automobiles and home appliances, thereby reducing the possibility of malfunction caused by harnesses. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110257903 | ROTATING ARRAY PROBE SYSTEM FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING - A device is disclosed for performing non-destructive inspection and testing (NDT/NDI) of an elongated test object, wherein the inspection system includes: a test object conveyor for conveying the test object along a longitudinal conveyance path; a probe assembly including phased-array probes, the probe assembly being configured to induce signals in the test object and sense echoes reflected from the test object; a probe assembly conveyor configured to movably support the probe assembly, to move the probe assembly on a circumferential path about the test object; and a control system coupled to the test object conveyor and to the probe assembly conveyor and configured to allow data acquisition by and from the phased-array probes while, simultaneously, the test object moves along the longitudinal path and the phased-array probes move on the circumferential path. The test system may include phased-array probes of different types to optimize detecting faults or cracks in the test object which extend in different directions. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110276279 | FAULT DIAGNOSTICS ARRANGEMENT FOR ELECTRIC DRIVE SYSTEM, AND ELECTRIC DRIVE SYSTEM - An exemplary electric drive system has a plural number of electric drive subsystems. Each subsystem having a fault diagnostics arrangement, where the arrangement includes a respective control board for each subsystem. Event data of each subsystem is recorded on the respective control board, and one of the respective control boards of the electric drive system is a main control board of the electric drive system. Event data of a subsystem is transferred from the respective control board to the main control board through a data transfer medium. | 11-10-2011 |
| 20110301873 | PREDICTIVE ROLLING BEARING MAINTENANCE - A method of predicting a fault in a rolling bearing, the rolling bearing including inner and outer rings and rolling bodies evenly angularly distributed therebetween, the method comprising: processing (in the DSP system | 12-08-2011 |
| 20120078535 | ABNORMALITY DETERMINATION APPARATUS - An abnormality determination apparatus includes: a detecting unit repeatedly detecting a state quantity, which correlates with an operating state of an evaluation target device, at time intervals; and a determining unit determining whether there is an abnormality on the basis of multiple pieces of data about the state quantity, detected by the detecting unit and stored. The apparatus counts the number of the stored data as a total storage number after there occurs a situation that no data are stored, permits the determining unit to execute abnormality determination on the condition that the total storage number has reached a first threshold in a first trip after the situation occurs, and permits the determining unit to execute abnormality determination on the condition that the total storage number has reached a second threshold that is smaller than the first threshold in a second trip or later after the situation occurs. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120084019 | Fracture Fatigue Entropy Determination - A method and apparatus are disclosed for approximating in real time the fracture fatigue entropy (FFE) of a metallic object subjected to cyclic loading. Such objects experience fatigue, which can lead to failure after a number of loading cycles. The disclosed invention allows for real time monitoring of the entropy increase in a metallic object under cyclic loading, and allows for removing the object from service before fatigue fracture occurs. Through use of the present invention, users may keep metallic objects in service for longer periods, because such objects may be safely taken closer to the fatigue fracture point. The invention therefore can effectively extend the useful life of many critical components and reduce downtime resulting from repair or premature replacement. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120089347 | Displacement Generator for Fatigue Analysis of Floating Prduction and Storage Unit Process and Utility Piping - In one or more embodiments, a method is disclosed for performing fatigue analysis for a given process and utility piping geometry having one or more restraint locations disposed about a floating vessel. The method can include the steps of generating one or more bending moment polynomials from bending moment data associated with the floating vessel; generating a slope polynomial from each of the bending moment polynomials by integrating each of the one or more bending moment polynomials; generating a displacement polynomial from each of the slope polynomials by integrating each of the one or more slope polynomials; solving the slope polynomial integration constants; and solving the displacement polynomial integration constants to provide slope and displacement polynomials representing the floating vessel response to excitations while at sea. In one or more embodiments, a system is disclosed for performing fatigue analysis for a given process and utility piping geometry having one or more restraint locations disposed about a floating vessel. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120123699 | FLAW-DETECTION APPARATUS AND FLAW-DETECTION METHOD - Noise included in detection signals is distinguished with a simple configuration. Provided is a flaw-detection apparatus ( | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120130651 | AUTONOMOUS FITNESS FOR SERVICE ASSESSMENT - The equipment comprises at least one computer and a material features acquisition system operable to detect a plurality of material features. The features are then evaluated according to rules that capture the multidiscipline knowledge of experts and are already inputted into the computer. The computer iterations are processed until an acceptable conclusion is made regarding the condition of the material under evaluation. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120136588 | Endoscope Integrity Tester Including Context-Sensitive Compensation and Methods of Context-Sensitive Integrity Testing - Computer systems and software for controlling an endoscope integrity tester. The pressurization and humidity measurement and calculations, and the resulting determination of passage or failure is automated and controlled to eliminate concerns of human error in the detection process. Further, the computer system is capable of adapting its calculations to specific endoscopes and particular testing changes to further improve accuracy by being context-sensitive. | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120136589 | NUCLEAR-POWER-PLANT SOUNDNESS EVALUATION SYSTEM - A nuclear-power-plant soundness evaluation system includes a stress-distribution calculating unit that outputs a stress distribution and an identified crack generating part; a crack-growth prediction unit that predicts how the crack will grow from the crack generating part; and a soundness maintenance unit that has a maintenance database in which crack-growth prediction results and maintenance measures are associated and reads out from the maintenance database a maintenance measure corresponding to the crack-growth prediction result and presents the read-out maintenance information to a user. | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120143520 | ABNORMALITY DETERMINATION APPARATUS FOR ANGLE DETECTION DEVICE - The abnormality determination apparatus, which is for determining presence of an abnormality in an angle detection device configured to output an output signal having a value equivalent to a rotational angle of a rotating body, includes a smoothing means configured to receive the output signal of the angle detection device to smooth a dependent variable of a function whose independent variable is the rotational angle equivalent value, and a parameter calculation means for calculating an abnormality determination parameter based on the dependent variable smoothed by the smoothing means. The function is such that an integrated value of the rotational angle equivalent value over a predetermined time section is always positive or negative, and is configured to vary the dependent variable continuously in accordance with continuous variation of the independent variable in at least a part of the predetermined time section. | 06-07-2012 |
| 20120179390 | DISTRIBUTED FIBRE OPTIC DIAGNOSIS OF RISER INTEGRITY - A subsea riser integrity diagnosis system comprising: one or more fibres deployed along a riser, preferably along the whole length subject to any potential failure, or alternatively deployed over the interval most subject to failure, a fibre optic sensor interrogation apparatus optically coupled to the fibre(s) and operable to detect changes in temperature (DTS), vibration (CRN), or strain (FBG) sensed by the fibre optic strain sensor, and a central processor means adapted to receive multiple measurement data from the interrogation apparatus and operable to determine from the received data the current status of temperature, pressure, vibration, strain or other parameters along the riser and to determine if the status is within safe limits or whether any number of potentially damaging events has occurred and to inform the operator(s) for possible action to be taken to safeguard the integrity of the riser. | 07-12-2012 |
| 20120179391 | ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND DAMAGE DETECTING METHOD - There is provided with an electronic device including: an electronic board having at least one electronic component mounted via both of a target joint and a dummy joint; a vibration source to apply vibrations to the electronic board; a database configured to contain correlation between an electrical characteristic of the dummy joint and a damage value of the target joint, the damage value indicating a degree of crack growth of the target joint; a controller to drive the vibration source; an electrical characteristic measuring unit configured to measure an electrical characteristic of the dummy joint during the vibration source is driven; and a damage calculating unit configured to calculate a damage value of the target joint based on the electrical characteristic of the dummy joint measured by the electrical characteristic measuring unit and the correlation stored in the database. | 07-12-2012 |
| 20120185180 | Method and monitoring apparatus for automated surveillance of a wind turbine and a method for creating a linear model - A method for automated surveillance of at least one wind turbine is provided. A linear model is created or retrieved, which represents at least one status parameter of the wind turbine and which includes a plurality of linear coefficients and a measurement variable. The values of the linear coefficients are determined based on test measurement values for the measurement variable and the status parameter of the wind turbine. Momentary measurement values are repeatedly captured for the measurement variables and the status parameter of the wind turbine. A momentary reference value of the status parameter is determined based on the momentary measurement values for the measurement variables by using the linear model. Wind turbine status information is generated based on the deviation of the momentary measurement value from the corresponding momentary reference value of the status parameter. A monitoring apparatus and a method for creating a linear model are disclosed. | 07-19-2012 |
| 20120232807 | CONTINUOUS FLOW STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING SYSTEM AND METHOD - A continuous flow structural health monitoring system for detecting a crack in a component or structure comprises a pressure source, a fluidic circuit and a measurement system. The pressure source supplies fluid at a regulated pressure relative to ambient pressure. The fluidic circuit couples at one end to the pressure source and opens at an opposite end to ambient pressure. The pressure source produces a substantially constant and continuous flow of fluid through the fluidic circuit. The fluidic circuit has a first passage having a first surface portion of the component or structure. The measurement system monitors perturbations in the flow of fluid through the first passage to provide an indication of structural health of the component or structure. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120239311 | MISFIRE DETECTING APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE - A misfire detecting apparatus is provided wherein a misfire is detected based on a rotational speed parameter indicative of a rotational speed of an internal combustion engine. An average change amount of the rotational speed parameter in a first predetermined period and an inertia speed changing component which is generated with rotation of the engine are calculated, and a first corrected rotational speed parameter is calculated by correcting the rotational speed parameter according to the average change amount and the inertia speed changing component. A first relative speed parameter is calculated according to a difference between a first reference value and the first corrected rotational speed parameter, the first reference value being the first corrected rotational speed parameter corresponding to the rotational speed parameter which is detected at a reference timing at which a piston of a cylinder, which is subjected to the misfire determination, is positioned in the vicinity of the compression top dead center. A first determination parameter is calculated by integrating the first relative speed parameter for an integration period corresponding to 720/N degrees of a crank angle (“N” is a number of cylinders of the engine), and a misfire determination is performed based on the first determination parameter. The reference timing and a start timing of the integration period are set according to the ignition timing of the engine. | 09-20-2012 |
| 20120245860 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MONITORING HEALTH OF STATOR VANES - A system including a plurality of sensing devices configured to generate acoustic emission (AE) signals that are representative of acoustic emission waves propagating through a plurality of stator vanes is presented. The system further includes a processing subsystem that is in an operational communication with the plurality of sensing devices, and the processing subsystem is configured to generate a dynamic threshold based upon an initial threshold and the AE signals, determine whether a plurality of signals of interest exist in the AE signals based upon the dynamic threshold, extract the plurality of signals of interest from the AE signals based upon the dynamic threshold, determine one or more features corresponding to the plurality of signals of interest, and analyze the one or more features to monitor and validate the health of the plurality of stator vanes. | 09-27-2012 |
| 20120296574 | INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR CONSTRUCTION MACHINE - The present invention provides an information management system suitable for a construction machine, which drives a solenoid valve separately from normal control to thereby make it possible to perform failure diagnosis for the solenoid valve and each sensor easily and with satisfactory accuracy. A controller has a failure diagnosis mode selected by a control panel of a display device. When the failure diagnosis mode is selected by the control panel and instructions for failure diagnosis related to a specific solenoid valve of a plurality of solenoid valves are given, the controller outputs a failure diagnosis drive signal to the specific solenoid valve, inputs an output value from a sensor related to the specific solenoid valve among a plurality of sensors, and displays, based on the output value from the specific sensor, information as to whether the specific solenoid valve and the specific sensor are normal on a display device. | 11-22-2012 |
| 20130013223 | Fracture Surface Analysis System and Method of Fracture Surface Analysis - Provided is a fracture surface analysis system and method featuring excellent accuracy and reproducibility and designed to estimate fracture mechanics data in a simplified manner. A surface irregularities waveform that includes fracture surface irregularities forming a steplike shape of a fracture surface is acquired, and after an overall gradient of the surface irregularities waveform has been corrected and noise eliminated from this waveform, positions of uneven portions present on any measuring line are identified from the surface irregularities waveform and the number of uneven portions on the measuring line is counted, whereby an average distance between the uneven portions on the measuring line is then calculated, and next the fracture mechanics data relating to a stress intensity factor, crack growth rate, or stress exerted during formation of the fracture surface, is estimated from the average distance between the uneven portions. | 01-10-2013 |
| 20130041596 | Low Clearance Machined Part Mating System - A device, system, and method for generating low clearance slidably mated parts. In an exemplary embodiment, the system includes a measurement device having a non-contact micrometer capable of coincidentally indicating opposing edge data, rotational and linear air bearing slides, and a holding device. The non-contact micrometer allows for measurement of a plurality of parameters of a first part including the diameter and the difference between an edge of the first part and a reference point. The coincidental measurements are used to determine the size and geometric errors associated with the first part after suitable error elimination. In an exemplary system, a processing machine may be instructed by the measurement device to remove material from a second part so that the first part and the second part when mated together have a very low clearance tolerance level, e.g., as little as 0.00005 inches or less. | 02-14-2013 |
| 20130085684 | AUTOMATED ANALYSIS COVERAGE VERIFICATION (AACV) - The invention relates to systems and methods for verifying complete analysis coverage in a steam generator tube inspection. The analysis is conducted by an automated analysis process. The process includes setup and analysis functions. Information is entered into the setup function to identify abnormalities to be inspected and to model the steam generator tubes. The verification includes employing a software verification program to detect and identify a gap within analysis coverage for a particular abnormality or set of abnormalities for which the steam generator tube is inspected, in a particular portion of the steam generator tube. | 04-04-2013 |
| 20130090866 | DIAGNOSTIC METHOD FOR A SOOT SENSOR - A diagnostic method for a soot sensor that lies in an exhaust gas system of an internal combustion engine. First, a first temperature in the exhaust gas system is detected, and it is determined whether the detected first temperature is below a 100° C. If this is the case, a first measured value is then detected with the soot sensor and compared with a specifiable threshold value. If the first measured value exceeds the specifiable threshold value, the soot sensor is determined to be operating properly. | 04-11-2013 |
| 20130110414 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DETECTING SENSOR FAULT MODES | 05-02-2013 |
| 20130116937 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING FAULT CONDITIONS IN A DRIVETRAIN USING TORQUE OSCILLATION DATA - In one embodiment, a method is provided for detecting a fault condition in a drivetrain, including the steps of monitoring torque oscillations at a location along a drivetrain, and detecting at least one fault condition associated with a drivetrain component by evaluating torque oscillation data acquired during the monitoring. In another embodiment, a system is provided for detecting a fault condition in a drivetrain including a torque sensor coupled to a drivetrain component and configured to measure torque at a location along the drivetrain and to generate a torque oscillation signal corresponding to the measured torque, and a controller configured to receive the torque oscillation signal and evaluate the torque oscillation signal to identify at least one fault condition associated with the drivetrain component. | 05-09-2013 |
| 20130124109 | Method and Apparatus for Inspection of Corrosion and Other Defects Through Insulation - Detection of corrosion and other defects in piping is needed to prevent catastrophic pipeline failure. Sensors, systems and methods are provided to enable detection of such defects. These apparatus and methods are configured to characterize pipe protected by insulation and conductive weather protection. The sensors may utilize inductive and/or solid state sensing element arrays operated in a magnetic field generated in part by a drive winding of the sensor. Multiple excitation frequencies are used to generate the magnetic field and record corresponding sensing element responses. Relatively high excitation frequencies may be used to estimate the properties of the weather protection and sensor lift-off while lower frequencies may be used to detect internal and external pipe damage. Linear arrays may be moved to generate damage images of the pipe providing size and location information for defects. Two dimensional sensor arrays may be used to provide imaging without moving the sensor. | 05-16-2013 |
| 20130132000 | MONITORING DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE AND MONITORING DIAGNOSTIC METHOD - An abnormality monitoring process milt ( | 05-23-2013 |
| 20130132001 | TOOL AND METHOD FOR FAULT DETECTION OF DEVICES BY CONDITION BASED MAINTENANCE - The present tool and method relate to device fault detection, diagnosis and prognosis. More particularly, the present tool and method store in a database a plurality of measured indicators representative of at least one dynamic condition of the device. The present tool and method further binarize by a processor the plurality of measured indicators, and analyze the plurality of binarized measured indicators using a machine learning data tool for extracting at least one pattern from the binarized measured indicators by adding at least one different constraint to each iteration. The at least one extracted pattern is indicative of whether the device has a fault or not. | 05-23-2013 |
| 20130204542 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR MONITORING THE INTEGRITY OF A CONNECTION SYSTEM - A device is configured to monitor the integrity of a connection system between first and second fluid containing systems comprising first and second pulse generators. A pressure sensor is arranged in the first fluid containing system to detect first pulses originating from the first pulse generator and second pulses originating from the second pulse generator. The device operates a monitoring method, by generating ( | 08-08-2013 |
| 20130211738 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DIAGNOSING CRACKS IN A SOLIDIFIED SHELL IN A MOLD - The present invention relates to a system and method for diagnosing cracking in a solidified shell in a mold, in which whether longitudinal cracking has occurred in the solidified shell can be diagnosed in real time by using a variation in temperature of the solidified shell in the mold during a continuous casting process. The system comprises: a plurality of temperature sensors arranged in a matrix form in a mold, wherein the plurality of temperature sensors are divided into a first group and a second group based on where cracking occurs; and a processor configured to: calculate a temperature difference between the temperature of the first group and the temperature of the second group from the temperatures detected by the plurality of temperature sensors; and determine, using the calculated temperature difference, whether cracking has occurred in a solidified shell discharged from the mold. | 08-15-2013 |
| 20130218483 | COOLING TOWER DRAIN MONITOR - An apparatus for detecting an operating fault in a cooling tower system includes a sensor positioned in a drain of the cooling tower system. The sensor is configured to sense a characteristic of water flowing through the drain. The apparatus also includes a processing device electrically coupled to the sensor. The processing device is configured to quantify a drain water value based on the characteristic detected. The processing device is further configured to initiate an alarm if the quantified drain water value exceeds a pre-specified value. | 08-22-2013 |
| 20130231873 | RAILWAY INSPECTION SYSTEM - A railway inspection system for monitoring defects of a rail, including an inspection vehicle configured for traversing the rail, a sensor disposed on the vehicle configured for obtaining rail condition data, a memory disposed on the vehicle and storing previous rail condition data from a previous traversal of the rail, a display device disposed on the vehicle, a processor disposed on the vehicle and a non-transitory computer-readable medium disposed on the vehicle and containing instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause performance of the following steps in real-time as the vehicle traverses the rail, namely obtaining current rail condition data from the sensor, displaying on the display device representative images of the current rail condition data, retrieving the previous rail condition data from the memory, and displaying on the display device representative images of the previous rail condition data. | 09-05-2013 |
| 20130231874 | DIAGNOSTIC METHOD FOR DETECTING CONTROL VALVE COMPONENT FAILURE - The claimed method and system identifies faults and/or deterioration of components in a process control valve. The system may use different sensor combinations to provide the necessary data to compute irregular component integrity. Alerts may be generated to indicate potential component integrity problems. In particular, the system may detect potential deterioration and/or faults in actuator springs, pneumatic tubing and piping, and bellows seals. The claimed system may be communicatively coupled to a process control network to provide a more elaborate alarm system. Moreover, additional statistical methods may be used to refine the detection accuracy of the system. | 09-05-2013 |
| 20130304398 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TESTING AND DIAGNOSING MALFUNCTIONS IN A LIQUID DISPENSER - Systems and methods for testing and diagnosing malfunctions in a liquid dispenser are provided. In a general embodiment, the present disclosure provides a testing and diagnosing system including a pre-tester configured to test for and collect testing data regarding an operational status of the liquid dispenser and in communication with the liquid dispenser, a communication central module configured to receive information from the testing device and the pre-tester, and a database management system configured to operate, monitor and control the testing device, the pre-tester and/or the communication central module. | 11-14-2013 |
| 20130325366 | ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION AND DISTRIBUTION FAULT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR A VEHICLE - An electric power system includes multiple components that include a generator, a rectifier and a power management and distribution center. Multiple sensors are configured to provide actual responses relating to each of the components. Multiple simulation models are configured to simulate responses of each of the components, and multiple comparators are configured to compare the actual responses to the simulated responses and provide compared values. A diagnostic module is in communication with the comparators and is configured to determine at least one fault in each of the components. | 12-05-2013 |
| 20130338938 | Identifying wind or water turbines for maintenance - A method for identifying a wind or water turbine, or component thereof, for maintenance, comprises the steps of: determining an operating parameter value for the wind or water turbine; analyzing vibration data for the wind or water turbine; and comparing the vibration data with a threshold related to the operating parameter value. This approach means that vibration thresholds vary according to the expired life of wind or water turbine, leading to a more accurate identification of wind or water turbines which may be in need of maintenance, and which should be investigated. | 12-19-2013 |
| 20140025316 | Temperature Compensation in Wave-Based Damage Detection Systems - A method performed by a processing device, the method comprising: obtaining first waveform data indicative of traversal of a first signal through a structure at a first time; applying a scale transform to the first waveform data and the second waveform data; computing, by the processing device and based on applying the scale transform, a scale-cross correlation function that promotes identification of scaling behavior between the first waveform data and the second waveform data; performing one or more of: computing, by the processing device and based on the scale-cross correlation function, a scale factor for the first waveform data and the second waveform data; and computing, by the processing device and based on the scale-cross correlation function, a scale invariant correlation coefficient between the first waveform data and the second waveform data. | 01-23-2014 |
| 20140074409 | Method and System for Monitoring and Reporting Equipment Operating Conditions and Diagnostic Information - A method and system ( | 03-13-2014 |
| 20140088889 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER MEDIUM HAVING COMPUTER PROGRAM TO DETERMINE PRESENCE OF STRESS CORROSION CRACKING IN PIPELINES WITH PATTERN RECOGNITION - Embodiments of the present invention provide systems, methods, and computer medium having computer programs to determine presence of stress corrosion cracking in one or more pipelines or portions thereof such as pipeline joints by utilizing pattern recognition in pipeline data such as magnetic flux leakage data. A screening process, for example, does not affect or change how survey data is recorded such as in survey tools; only how it is analyzed after the survey data is completed. Embodiments of the systems, methods, and computer medium having computer programs can be used to screen for potential locations of stress corrosion cracking in one or more pipelines so that site excavation can occur for confirmation and validation of the output results. | 03-27-2014 |
| 20140107948 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROBABILISTIC FATIGUE CRACK LIFE ESTIMATION - A probabilistic estimation of fatigue crack life of a component is provided. A plurality of representations of the component is defined from material property scatter data and flaw-size scatter data, wherein each representation is defined by one possible material condition and flaw-size condition associated with the component. For each representation, a component location is selected and a determination is made whether said individual representation fails after a given number of cycles N, based on the calculation of a crack growth in the selected location. The crack growth is calculated on the basis of the material condition and the flaw-size condition in the selected location. Failure of the individual representation is determined if the crack growth is determined to be unstable. The sum total of the number of the representations that failed after N cycles is determined. A probability of failure of the component after N cycles is then determined. | 04-17-2014 |
| 20140149054 | Leak Detection Via a Stochastic Mass Balance - A method, device and assistance system for detecting leaks in an area of a supply network, wherein leaks are detected by comparing real measured values supplied by sensors with measured values ascertained using a Monte Carlo simulation and, in particular, the method ascertains irregularities, which can be attributed to anomalies such as leaks, based on a hydraulic analysis so that existing leaks can be detected. Furthermore, the method can be applied to sensors that are temporarily installed in the network, giving the network operator additional freedom in the leak detection, and can be used for other supply networks and infrastructures. | 05-29-2014 |
| 20140222352 | Condition Monitoring Of An Industrial Robot - A method for detecting a fault in a robot joint includes the steps of: performing a first torque measurement at the robot joint to thereby obtain a first set of torque values; calculating a first distribution characteristic reflecting a distribution of the first set of torque values; performing a second torque measurement at the robot joint to thereby obtain a second set of torque values; calculating a second distribution characteristic reflecting a distribution of the second set of torque values; and comparing the first and the second distribution characteristics to determine whether a fault is present or not. A difference in the distributions of torque measurements is a robust fault indicator that makes use of the repetitive behavior of the system. | 08-07-2014 |
| 20140236498 | APPARATUS FOR MONITORING WIND TURBINE BLADE AND METHOD THEREOF - Provided are an apparatus and method of monitoring a wind turbine blade. The method includes converting strain of a blade into moment, generating a reference value based on design information of the blade and statistical information of the moment, and comparing the moment with the reference value and determining a state of the blade. Accordingly, since the reference value serving as a reference of blade state determination is generated according to blade design information and moment statistical information and learning of the moment statistical information is performed, reliability of blade state determination can be improved, and thus, effective management and maintenance of the blade becomes possible. | 08-21-2014 |
| 20140257717 | TOOL ABNORMALITY DETERMINATION SYSTEM - A tool abnormality detection system corrects a monitoring range for a load on a tool in an M | 09-11-2014 |
| 20140288857 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMICALLY LOCATING A FAULT OBSERVED ON A COMPONENT - A method and system for dynamic locating of a fault observed in a defective component related to a forging operation, in which: a processor models a shaping operation of a component by forging, as per a set of successive models of the component; a processor adds a fault plotter to a first model of the set of models, in a zone corresponding to a region of the fault in the defective component to obtain a first plotted model; and a processor tracks the plotter in time from the first plotted model during the modelling to locate an origin of the fault. | 09-25-2014 |
| 20140309950 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LESS DESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION AND MONITORING OF A STRUCTURE - Methods and apparatuses for monitoring a first structure at least partially according to properties of a second structure. One such method comprises determining a first relationship between a first variable and a second variable, wherein the first variable represents sizes of actual damage to the second structure, and the second variable represents sizes of simulated damage on the second structure; determining a second relationship between a third variable and a fourth variable, wherein the third variable represents sizes of simulated damage on the first structure, and the fourth variable represents values of a damage index determined for the simulated damage on the first structure; and determining an estimate of damage to the first structure according to the first and second relationships. | 10-16-2014 |
| 20140350869 | DEVICE, METHOD, AND PROGRAM FOR CRASH SIMULATION - Device, method, and program for analyzing deformation in an object during crash simulation. A device for analyzing deformation in an object is provided. The device includes: a memory; a processor device communicatively coupled to the memory; and a module for analyzing deformation in an object coupled to the memory and the processor device to operate the following units: an acquisition unit for acquiring coordinate data along a time series at a plurality of points in the object; a calculation unit for calculating an amount of deformation feature indicating an amount of deformation in the object over time from the coordinate data at the plurality of points at each time in the time series; and a storage unit for setting the time series data for the amount of deformation feature as data for specifying a deformed state of the object, associating said data with the object, and storing the associated data. | 11-27-2014 |
| 20140358452 | METHOD FOR ESTIMATING CRACK LENGTH PROGRESSIONS - A method for estimating the crack length ã | 12-04-2014 |
| 20150025814 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR REAL TIME DRY LOW NITROGEN OXIDE (DLN) AND DIFFUSION COMBUSTION MONITORING - A system and method for monitoring and diagnosing anomalies in a diffusion or dry low NO | 01-22-2015 |
| 20150051847 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ANOMALY DETECTION - A system and method for anomaly detection is provided. The system ( | 02-19-2015 |
| 20150066389 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO MONITOR A ROTATING COMPONENT - A method is presented. The method includes selecting a first window of signals and a second window of signals from clearance signals representative of clearances between a rotating component and a stationary casing surrounding the rotating component, determining a first signed average power value corresponding to the first window of signals, and a second signed average power value corresponding to the second window of signals, determining a resultant value based upon the first signed average power value and the second signed average power value, and determining one or more defects or potential defects in the rotating component based upon the resultant value. | 03-05-2015 |
| 20150066390 | ERROR MEASURING METHOD OF GEAR - An error measuring method of gear includes: performing the single gear flank testing to the gear pair in order to produce a testing signal graph; the operation unit decomposing the testing signal graph by Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) to generate a plurality of intrinsic-mode-function graphs (IMFs), the intrinsic-mode-function graph (IMF) having a first function graph with a first range and a second function graph with a second range, the first range is greater than the second range; the operation unit selecting a plurality of third function graph from the intrinsic-mode-function graphs (IMFs), wherein the third range is greater than the second range but not greater than the first range; the operation unit combining the third function graphs to produce a graph of superposing function; the operation unit computing out a plurality of single pitch error, a plurality of adjacent pitch error and an accumulated pitch error. | 03-05-2015 |
| 20150088435 | GEAR FAULT DETECTION - Embodiments are directed to obtaining an impact energy signal associated with each of a plurality of teeth of a gear over a revolution of a shaft associated with the gear, generating, by a computing device comprising a processor, a profile of the impact energy signal, and declaring a fault associated with an identified tooth included in the plurality of teeth based on an analysis of the profile. | 03-26-2015 |
| 20150120216 | Process-Induced Distortion Prediction and Feedforward and Feedback Correction of Overlay Errors - Systems and methods for prediction and measurement of overlay errors are disclosed. Process-induced overlay errors may be predicted or measured utilizing film force based computational mechanics models. More specifically, information with respect to the distribution of film force is provided to a finite element (FE) model to provide more accurate point-by-point predictions in cases where complex stress patterns are present. Enhanced prediction and measurement of wafer geometry induced overlay errors are also disclosed. | 04-30-2015 |
| 20150127273 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND PROGRAM - Provided is an information processing apparatus including a crack leading edge candidate extraction unit configured to extract a crack leading edge candidate after progress of a crack in a structure, an elastic energy release rate calculation unit configured to calculate an elastic energy release rate that indicates an elastic energy released when the crack progresses to the extracted crack leading edge candidate, and a crack leading edge decision unit configured to decide a crack leading edge after the progress of the crack at least based on the elastic energy release rate. The crack leading edge candidate extraction unit extracts the crack leading edge candidate that satisfies a predetermined condition from crack leading edge candidates obtained in terms of a construction of the structure. | 05-07-2015 |
| 20150134272 | WIND TURBINE AND METHOD FOR EVALUATING HEALTH STATE OF BLADE THEREOF - A wind turbine including a plurality of blades, a micro inertial measurement unit installed on each blade and configured to sense a plurality of detection parameter signals at corresponding installation positions, and a monitoring system configured to monitor an operating state of the blades. The monitoring system includes a signal processing unit configured to obtain a processing parameter signal through calculation based on the detection parameter signals, a signal analyzing unit configured to analyze each analysis parameter signal, selected from the plurality of detection parameter signals and the processing parameter signal, to obtain a fault estimation signal, used to estimate whether a corresponding blade works in a fault state, and a fault evaluating unit configured to evaluate, based on a plurality of fault estimation signals, whether a corresponding blade fails or a probability that the corresponding blade fails. | 05-14-2015 |
| 20150142338 | FAULT DETECTION METHOD - With a precondition that intake temperature on an entry side of an intercooler | 05-21-2015 |
| 20150142339 | Elevator balance coefficient detection method and device - An elevator balance coefficient detection method includes the following steps: (1) connecting an electrical energy detection device to a power line of an elevator driving motor, and connecting a speed detection device to a mechanical transmission member of an elevator car; (2) measuring and recording in real time the car speed data and driving motor power data when the car and a counterweight move to a same horizontal location; and (3) based on above detection data and basic parameters of the elevator to be tested, and according to transmission relationship between the elevator's operating condition and energy during operation, calculating and obtaining the value of the balance coefficient. A corresponding device includes an elevator data acquiring system and a detection data processing system. The elevator electrical energy detection device is an AC broadband power measuring device. The elevator speed measuring device is a steel rope displacement measuring device employing a photoelectric mouse chip circuit component or a tachometer type speed measuring device. The invention has the advantages of quick measuring and high accuracy of measuring. | 05-21-2015 |
| 20150142340 | DEVICE AND SYSTEM FOR PREDICTING FAILURES OF ACTUATED VALVES - The invention relates to a system for determining a potential future failure of an actuated valve controlling fluid flow in a line by causing an angular change between two states of a stem of said valve, which comprises: (a) a sensor for, upon receipt a control command at said actuator, continuously sensing the angular position of the stem, and conveying to a monitoring unit a respective angular variation signal; and (b) a monitoring unit which comprises: (b1) a sampling unit for receiving said angular variation signal, and producing a transition vector which comprises periodical samples from said signal; (b2) a local storage for storing nominal transitional values for said actuator-valve pair; and (b3) a local comparator unit for comparing at least a portion of said transitional vector with the corresponding stored nominal transitional values, and if a difference above one or more predefined threshold values is determined, issuing an alert for a potential failure of said actuator. | 05-21-2015 |
| 20150292486 | WIND TURBINE BLADE ICE ACCRETION DETECTOR - A wind turbine blade ice accretion detector | 10-15-2015 |
| 20150294689 | MOTOR BASED FAILURE PREDICTION - Provided herein is a method, including detecting a plurality of pieces of data associated with a motor and determining a percent drag change based on the plurality of pieces of data associated with the motor. The method further includes determining a failure prediction based on the percent drag change. | 10-15-2015 |
| 20150323413 | Tap-Scan Bridge Damage Detection System - A tap-scan bridge damage detection system comprises: a mobile cart ( | 11-12-2015 |
| 20150323479 | CALCULATING METHOD OF THE CORRECTION FACTOR IN FATIGUE ASSESSMENT ON THE HEATING AND COOLING TRANSIENTS OF THE POWER PLANT - The present invention relates to a method of calculating a fatigue usage factor, in a fatigue assessment on heating and cooling operation-transient states of a power plant, which is capable of correcting a stress intensity value under an actual operational condition by multiplying a stress intensity value, which is obtained in a design operational condition, by a stress intensity correction factor. | 11-12-2015 |
| 20150328980 | METHOD FOR DIAGNOSING A FUEL TANK VENT VALVE - A method for diagnosing a fuel tank vent valve of a motor vehicle. In the method it is inferred, from a curve of a pressure p over time in a sub-chamber of the motor vehicle after a start-up of an internal combustion engine of the motor vehicle, as to whether the fuel tank vent valve is jammed open. The sub-chamber contains a fuel tank of the motor vehicle and is delimited by the fuel tank vent valve. | 11-19-2015 |
| 20150330857 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MONITORING LOADING OF AN AIR FILTER - Methods and systems for estimating the loading of an air filter are disclosed herein. The method includes receiving upstream mass air flow data indicative of a mass air flow on an upstream side of an air filter (i.e., the “dirty side of the filter”), receiving downstream air pressure data indicative of an air pressure on a downstream side of the air filter (i.e., the “clean side of the filter”), and receiving downstream temperature data indicative of a temperature on the downstream side of the air filter. The method also includes determining a differential pressure (ΔP) across the air filter indicative of a loading of the air filter based on the upstream mass air flow data, the downstream air pressure data, and the downstream temperature data. | 11-19-2015 |
| 20150338310 | DETECTING IRREGULARITIES IN A ROTATION OF ROLLER BODIES IN A ROLLER BEARING - An apparatus for detecting irregularities in a rotation of roller bodies in a roller bearing, the apparatus comprising a measurement module and a processor module. The measurement module is operable to provide a deformation signal indicative of a deformation of a surface region of a bearing ring of the roller bearing, wherein the deformation is due to the rotation of the roller bodies over the surface region. The processor module is operable to extract one or more signal quantities of interest from the deformation signal and operable to provide statistical information on the one or more extracted signal quantities of interest. | 11-26-2015 |
| 20150377766 | METHOD FOR ANALYSIS OF 3D FEATURES USING A 2D PROBABILISTIC ANALYSIS - A method for analyzing a three-dimensional stress concentrating feature of a component ( | 12-31-2015 |
| 20160018279 | APPARATUS FOR SENSING OPERATION OF AIR CUSHION AND METHOD THEREFOR - An apparatus for sensing the operation of an air cushion includes an air cushion with the inside provided with a plurality of patterns filled with air; a part for sensing the air pressure inside the air cushion so as to output a corresponding air pressure sensing signal; a part for sensing the temperature inside the air cushion so as to output a corresponding temperature sensing signal; a photographic part arranged in the lower part of the air cushion for photographing the plurality of patterns so as to output an image of each pattern; and a control unit for determining the air pressure inside the air cushion by measuring the force exerted on the air cushion in the Y-direction based on the temperature, air pressure and contact area, and by measuring the force exerted on the air cushion in the X-direction based on the displacement of the contact area. | 01-21-2016 |
| 20160069776 | Pattern Search in Analysis of Underperformance of Gas Turbine - Reference data from sensors measuring characteristics of a gas turbine are analyzed to identify underperformance of the gas turbine, which may be a predictor of an unscheduled shutdown. Time series data from the sensors are compared to annotated query data using an open-begin-end dynamic time warping algorithm. Identified subsequences are examined as possible underperformance indicators. In a related technique, multiple time series from the sensors are pairwise compared using a dynamic time warping algorithm, and computed distances between the time series are used to group the time series using a hierarchical clustering algorithm. The clusters are examined to identify underperformance indicators. | 03-10-2016 |
| 20160091397 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FAULT ANALYSIS - A system, includes machinery; and a protection monitoring system, comprising a processor configured to: analyze a trend of one or more data measurements of the machinery for one or more patterns indicative of a potential future fault within the machinery in the trend; and provide a fault prediction based upon the analysis of the trend. | 03-31-2016 |
| 20160116366 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING WITH FREQUENCY SYNCHRONIZATION - Structural health monitoring (“SHM”) methods, apparatus and techniques involve building deformation fields maps (amplitude and phase related to excitation) on the surface of the structural component under monitoring based on a network of strain measurements by fiber Bragg grating sensors. | 04-28-2016 |
| 20160138981 | SENSOR DEVICE THAT PROVIDES FORCE VERSUS ACCELERATION INFORMATION - An illustrative example embodiment of a sensing device includes a force sensor that detects a force and provides an output indicative of the detected force. An acceleration sensor detects acceleration and provides an output indicative of the detected acceleration. A processor receives the output from the force sensor and the acceleration sensor. The processor provides an indication of a relationship between the detected force and the detected acceleration. | 05-19-2016 |
| 20160154052 | DISTRIBUTED WAFER INFORMATION PROCESSING | 06-02-2016 |
| 20160168953 | PROGNOSIS AND DIAGNOSIS SYSTEM FOR A PUMP USED IN HYDRAULIC FRACTURING | 06-16-2016 |
| 20160178479 | DYNAMIC DIAGNOSTIC INDICATOR GENERATION | 06-23-2016 |
| 20160252091 | MEASURED VALUE STANDARDIZATION | 09-01-2016 |
| 20160377506 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PORTABLE ENGINE HEALTH MONITORING - In one embodiment, one or more tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media stores instructions. The instructions, when executed by one or more processors, are configured to receive engine rotation timing event signals for one or more components of the engine and vibration signals indicative of movement of the one or more components, to synchronize the engine rotation timing event signals and the vibration signals to generate synchronized vibration signals, to determine whether a fault exists by comparing the synchronized vibration signals to vibration signatures, and to generate a graphical user interface (GUI) that depicts the synchronized vibration signals at angular positions of the one or more components in relation to time as the one or more components rotate during operation of the engine. | 12-29-2016 |
| 20160377510 | SYNCHRONIZED MEASUREMENTS FOR A PORTABLE MULTI-CHANNEL WIRELESS SENSOR SYSTEM - A system for monitoring a machine is provided. The system can include a machine, the machine including a shaft and a bearing; a processor coupled to the machine, the processor operable to coupled to machine executable instructions that cause the processor to perform a method including: obtaining a graphical representation of the machine; obtaining one or more displacement data representative of a position of the shaft relative to the bearing at one or more time periods from a pair of displacement sensor coupled to the bearing; and causing the processor to display the graphical representation of the machine on a computer display supplemented by the one or more displacement data. | 12-29-2016 |
| 20170236064 | CONFIGURATION OF MALFUNCTION PREDICTION FOR COMPONENTS AND UNITS OF TECHNICAL ENTITIES | 08-17-2017 |
| 20190145902 | SYSTEMS AND METHOD FOR HUMAN-ASSISTED ROBOTIC INDUSTRIAL INSPECTION | 05-16-2019 |
