| US 7,473,077 B2 | ||
| System for monitoring damage to a rotor blade of a rotary-wing aircraft | ||
| Jacques Gaffiero, Paris (France); Jean-Patrick Boderlique, Le Plessis Belleville (France); and Claude Laloi, Presles (France) | ||
| Assigned to Eurocopter, Marignane (France) | ||
| Filed on Nov. 15, 2005, as Appl. No. 11/272,778. | ||
| Claims priority of application No. 04 12406 (FR), filed on Nov. 23, 2004. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2006/0239818 A1, Oct. 26, 2006 | ||
| Int. Cl. B64C 27/473 (2006.01); G01N 27/02 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 416—61 [416/230] | 13 Claims |
| 1. A rotary-wing aircraft rotor blade, comprising:
a skin and a composite structure with fibers that define leading and trailing edges, a longitudinal axis, and a root zone
opposite a free end of the blade; and
a damage monitoring system comprising,
under said skin, first and second arrays of loops that each has electrical continuity in the absence of damage to the blade,
said first and second arrays overlapping and being separated from each other by an insulating material, wherein loops of said
first array extend along respective axes that are oblique to said longitudinal axis and loops of said second array extend
along respective axes that are substantially perpendicular to the axes of said first array, and
under said skin in a vicinity of said root zone, an integrated unit that is connected to said loops of said first and second
arrays by conductors that are grouped together in a bundle extending longitudinally inside the blade near said leading edge,
said integrated unit also being connected to convey data from said monitoring system to an aircraft, said integrated unit
comprising an impedance measuring and scanning device for repeatedly scanning an impedance of each of said loops of said first
and second arrays.
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