In an aircraft engine, some pieces are describing a rotating movement. These parts are in contact with rotating and non-rotating parts through the bearings and gears. The different contact patches are lubricated with oil. During the lifetime of the engine, mechanical wear is produced between the contacts. This wear of the bearings and gears will produce some debris in the oil circuit of the engine. To ensure the effective operation of the aircraft engines, the debris monitoring sensors play a significant role. They detect and collect the debris in the oil. The analysis of the debris can give an indication of the overall health of the engine. The aim of the paper is to develop, design and model an oil test bench to simulate the oil lubrication circuit of an aircraft engine to test two different debris monitoring sensors. The methodology consists of studying the oil lubrication system of the aircraft engine. The first step is to build the oil test bench. Once the oil test bench is functional, tests are performed on the two debris monitoring sensors. A test plan is followed, three sizes of debris, like the type and sizes of debris found in the aircraft engine oil, are injected in the oil. The test parameters are the oil temperature, the oil flow rate and the mass of debris injected. Each time debris is injected, it is detected and caught by the two sensors. The test results given by the two sensors are similar to the mass debris injected into the oil circuit. The two sensors never detect the total mass of debris injected in the oil. On average, 55%–60% of the mass injected is detected and caught by the two sensors. The sensors are very efficient at detecting debris whose size corresponds to the design range parameters of the sensors, but the efficiency falls when detecting debris whose size lies outside this range.
Analysis and Testing of Debris Monitoring Sensors for Aircraft Lubrication Systems