TRIBOLOGICAL DEBRIS ANALYSIS SYSTEM

摘要

A tribological debris analysis system alternately including a general purpos e computer used in conjunction with an imaging device and an illumination delivery system, or a circuit board integrating an embedded processor with the imaging device used in conjunction with the illumination delivery system. The circuit board can be mounted on or coupled to an individual machine. The illumination delivery system includes a bypass condu it connected to the machine under evaluation, an optical flow cell, a pump for pumping a fluid through the optical flow cell connected to the bypass conduit, and a laser for illuminating the fluid flowing through the optical slow cell. The imaging device detects any debris in the fluid illuminated by the laser, and sends information representative of the debris to the general purpose computer or the embedded processor for analysis. The general purpose computer or the embedded processor classifies the debris according to size, any trend s associated with the size of the debris, generating shape features of the imaged debris and identifying a type of object wear based upon the shape features.