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:
Oct. 15, 2013
Filed:
Dec. 21, 2009
Gwen M. Gross, Redmond, WA (US);
Christopher L. Broadbent, Kent, WA (US);
Gwen M. Gross, Redmond, WA (US);
Christopher L. Broadbent, Kent, WA (US);
The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US);
Abstract
A structural assembly and methods are provided to facilitate corrosion inspection, such as in those regions of a structure that may otherwise be visibly inspected only following at least partial disassembly of the structure. The structural assembly may include a structure and a coating disposed upon at least a portion of the structure that has optical properties that change in response to corrosion. The structural assembly may also include a fiber optic sensing network including a plurality of optical fibers and a sensor. The plurality of optical fibers are configured to expose the coating to incident optical signals and to receive responsive optical signals at least partially dependent upon any change in the optical properties of the coating. The sensor is configured to receive the responsive optical signals from the plurality of optical fibers. This sensor may also be configured to analyze the responsive optical signals to detect corrosion.