Patent ID: 7194384

Claim:
A method for estimating a remaining operational life of a functional article after life-reducing utilization of the article has occurred which is at least partially attributable to loaded operation of the article, said method comprising: monitoring a functional article utilizing an operation in which at least two parameters associated with the article are assessed, said two parameters comprising a first parameter that causes operational life shortening degradation to the article and a second parameter that influences the rate of operational life shortening degradation caused by said first parameter, but alone does not cause operational life shortening degradation to the article; measuring, repeatedly, at least one of said parameters during operation of the functional article capable of assessing a total load in the article, wherein the total load represents a combined operational life shortening degradation of the article because of an interaction between the first and second parameters' combined influence on the article; and estimating the remaining operational life of the article based at least in part on a calculation including a product of values of the two parameters, the calculation representing an adjusted total load attributable to the article.