METHOD FOR MONITORING HEALTH OF A SEAL

摘要

There is disclosed a method of monitoring the health of an abradable seal located on a piston of an actuator, the method comprising the steps of:
(i) measuring an initial velocity of said actuator piston while said actuator is maintained in a passive condition at an initial time (202);
(ii) operating said actuator (204);
(iii) measuring a subsequent velocity of said actuator piston while said actuator is maintained in a passive condition at a subsequent time (206);
(iv) repeating steps (ii)-(iii) and either:
recording or outputting the measured subsequent velocities over time; or
determining a health status of said actuator when said subsequent velocity has increased above a predetermined amount (208).