Wear particle disintegrator monitor

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The subject invention is intended to enhance the utility of ferrous debris detectors used in hydraulic and lubrication systems such as are used in helicopter engines and rotor gear boxes.
In particular it is an adjunct to a particular type of detection system, which after capturing debris particles of such a size that the gap between the poles of a doubled poled magnet is closed, tests the nature of debris by discharging a capacitor so as to cause a pulse current to flow through it.
In this system if the debris is merely an agglomeration of relatively harmless 0 -10 micron sized wear particles held together by mutual magnetic attraction, the pulse will break them up and clear the gap.
Should, however, the debris consist of one or more 100 +micron sized particles of a type typically originating from a growing fatigue crack, the pulse will not destroy them and thus will not clear the gap.
When this happens an alarm is given to the pilot to abort the flight as soon as possible to prevent a catastrophic failure.
Thus, as presently configured, the system effectively discriminates between innocuous collections of fuzz indicating wear in the system and more serious large debris particles indicating fatigue cracking and provides an appropriate warning whenever the latter situation occurs.
In using such a system it has also been found that a detailed knowledge of the rate of wear particle generation can provide very useful data so to the overall condition and performance of the operating system.
Thus, in a new system, large numbers of such particles can be expected as the system "wears-in".
In time, as rough spots are worn away, the rate of generation will decline if the system components are properly aligned and loaded, until it reaches some steady state value.
This change in generation rate is also tracked by a decreasing number of capacitor discharges and a slowing of the rate at which they occur.
Should, however, overloads in use, misalignments of system components, or materials problems such as improper heat treatment of mating parts cause accelerated wear, the rate of generation and therefore the number and rate of capacitor discharges would not decrease at the same rate