The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 01, 2001
Filed:
Jul. 16, 1998
Donald G. Eastman, San Diego, CA (US);
Richard L. Elgin, San Diego, CA (US);
Beilene Hao, San Diego, CA (US);
Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation, Windsor Locks, CT (US);
Abstract
A method is provided for maintaining components subject to fatigue failure during in service use. The method uses statistical distributions (,) in a simulation of in service use (,) of a fleet of components to predict the failure rate (,) of the fleet over a fixed time increment (,) for an assumed inspection program. These predictions are used to determine an operating plan (,), including an inspection program, that will maintain an acceptable failure rate by detecting components with fatigue indications and removing the components prior to failure (,). The inspection program provides actual fatigue data resulting from in service use (,). As the inspection data base grows, the simulation is revised (,) to incorporate the data. The predicted failure rates and the operating plan (,) are then updated based on the revised simulation.