Model-based aircraft brake temperature estimation

1. A method for estimating the temperature of a component being monitored, comprising:

inputting data related to the component being monitored into a brake thermal model;

using said brake thermal model to predict the temperature of the component based on said input data;

inputting actual temperature sensor measurement data of said component and said predicted temperature into an estimation algorithm,

wherein said estimation algorithm combines said actual temperature sensor data and said predicted temperature and generates an estimated brake temperature of said component based on said combined inputs,

wherein said estimation algorithm is based on a weighted average estimation and on one brake temperature sensor,

wherein T p denotes the brake temperature as predicted by the brake thermal model, T s denotes the brake temperature as measured by the brake temperature sensor, and T e denote the brake temperature as predicted by the estimation algorithm, and

wherein said weighted average estimation is determined by performing the steps of a) to i):

a) setting t=1 and initializing T p (0) and T e (0) and setting them equal to the current brake temperature T s (t) as measured by the brake temperature sensor,

b) collecting current values of the measurements and parameters required by the brake thermal model: m 1 (t), . . . , m n (t), p 1 , . . . , p m ,

c) predicting the current brake temperature T p (t) using the brake thermal model

ƒ: T p ( t )=ƒ( m 1 ( t ), . . . , m n ( t ), p 1 , . . . ,p m ),

d) estimating the accuracy ε p (t) of the predicted temperature by means of a function ƒε p based on the difference between the predicted and the estimated temperature computed at the previous sample time t−1: ε p (t)=ƒε p (T p (t−1)−T e (t−1)),

e) getting the current brake temperature T s (t) as measured by the brake temperature sensor,

f) estimating the accuracy ε s (t) of the brake temperature sensor reading by means of a function ƒε s based on the previous estimated temperature T e (t−1):

ε s ( t )=ƒε s ( T e ( t− 1))

g) computing the weights w p (t) and w s (t) as follows:

w p ( t )=1−(ε p ( t )/(ε p ( t )+ε s ( t ))), w s ( t )=1− w p ( t ),

h) estimating the current brake temperature as follows:

T e ( t )= w p ( t ) T p ( t )+ w s ( t ) T s ( t ), and

i) setting t=t+1 and going back to Step b).

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said brake thermal model data related to the component being monitored comprises any or all of external temperature, brake pressure, wheel or brake rotors angular speed, friction coefficient of the braking surfaces, brake geometry, wind speed and direction, information regarding brake cooling system operation status and efficiency, fan speed, mass or volumetric flow rate and related temperature.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said component is a brake assembly and said brake thermal model data is provided by a brake control unit.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the estimation algorithm has the form of a simple average, or wherein the estimation algorithm has the form of a weighted average, and wherein said weighted average is based on the accuracy of said actual temperature sensor data and said predicted temperature.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said estimation algorithm has the form of a linear or nonlinear Kalman filter.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of a) inputting actual temperature sensor measurement data of said component comprises inputting said data taken from multiple temperature sensors.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein said component is a brake assembly within an aircraft and wherein at least one of the multiple sensors is/are located within the brake assembly, and/or wherein at least one of the multiple sensors is/are located in a part of the aircraft other than the brake assembly.

8. A computer-implemented system for estimating the temperature of a component being monitored, comprising:

control means adapted to perform the method of claim 1 .

9. A system for estimating the temperature of a component being monitored, comprising:

control means configured to receive one or a plurality of input measurements;

the control means being further configured to receive input data related to the component being monitored and configured to input said data into a brake thermal model;

said control means being further configured to use said brake thermal model to predict the temperature of the component based on said input data;

said control means being further configured to input actual temperature sensor measurement data of said component and said predicted temperature into an estimation algorithm,

wherein said estimation algorithm combines said actual temperature sensor data and said predicted temperature and generates an estimated brake temperature of said component based on said combined inputs,

wherein said estimation algorithm is based on a weighted average estimation and on one brake temperature sensor,

wherein T p denotes the brake temperature as predicted by the brake thermal model, T s denotes the brake temperature as measured by the brake temperature sensor, and T e denotes the brake temperature as predicted by the estimation algorithm, and

wherein said weighted average estimation is determined by performing the steps of a) to i):

a) setting t=1 and initializing T p (0) and T e (0) and setting them equal to the current brake temperature T s (t) as measured by the brake temperature sensor,

b) collecting current values of the measurements and parameters required by the brake thermal model: m 1 (t), . . . , m n (t), p 1 , . . . , p m ,

c) predicting the current brake temperature T p (t) using the brake thermal model

ƒ: T p ( t )=ƒ( m 1 ( t ), . . . , m n ( t ), p 1 , . . . ,p m ),

d) estimating the accuracy ε p (t) of the predicted temperature by means of a function ƒε p based on the difference between the predicted and the estimated temperature computed at the previous sample time t−1: ε p (t)=ƒε p (T p (t−1)−T e (t−1)),

e) getting the current brake temperature T s (t) as measured by the brake temperature sensor,

f) estimating the accuracy ε s (t) of the brake temperature sensor reading by means of a function ƒε s based on the previous estimated temperature T e (t−1):

ε s ( t )=ƒε s ( T e ( t− 1))

g) computing the weights w p (t) and w s (t) as follows:

w p ( t )=1−(ε p ( t )/(ε p ( t )+ε s ( t ))), w s ( t )=1− w p ( t ),

h) estimating the current brake temperature as follows:

T e ( t )= w p ( t ) T p ( t )+ w s ( t ) T s ( t ), and

i) setting t=t+1 and going back to Step b); and

said control means being further configured to output said estimated brake temperature.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein said brake thermal model data related to the component being monitored comprises any or all of external temperature, brake pressure, wheel or brake rotor angular speed, friction coefficient of braking surfaces, brake geometry, wind speed and direction, information regarding brake cooling system operation status and efficiency, fan speed, mass or volumetric flow rate and related temperature.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein said component is a brake assembly and said brake thermal model data is provided by a brake control unit.

12. The system of claim 9 wherein the estimation algorithm is based on a linear or non-linear Kalman filter, or has the form of a simple average, or wherein the estimation algorithm has the form of a weighted average, and wherein the weighted average is based on the accuracy of said actual temperature sensor data and said predicted temperature.

13. The system of claim 9 wherein said actual temperature sensor measurement data of said component comprises data taken from multiple temperature sensors.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein said component is a brake assembly within an aircraft and wherein at least one of the multiple sensors is/are located within the brake assembly, and/or wherein at least one of the multiple sensors is/are located in a part of the aircraft other than the brake assembly.