Development of a fluorescence based optical diagnostics technique and investigation of particle ingestion and accumulation in the contact region of rotating shaft seals

Seals are, arguably, the single most important component in any complex machine. Seals maintain lubrication and prevent the ingestion of contaminants into bearing surfaces, allowing high tolerance components to function reliably. Consequently, the performance of seals can be directly linked to the performance, life span and reliability of virtually all equipment of any complexity. Investigation of the failure of these components due to external contaminants ingestion and lubrication breakdown is of particular importance. To facilitate the study of the lubricant behavior, a unique non-invasive two-dimensional optical technique which allows instantaneous measurement of the lubricating film thickness and temperature was developed. The technique is based on the use of Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF). In its simplest form, LIF has a number of limitations and shortcomings. In the past, it has been mostly used as a tracer for qualitative purposes, seeing limited use as a quantitative tool. This stems primarily from the dependence of fluorescence on exciting light intensity, rendering the emission useful only as a tagging indicator. In order to use the fluorescent emission as a signal for highly accurate quantitative measurements, a dual emission ratiometric approach that suppresses excitation intensity information was implemented. The concept is to use one emission as the carrier of the desired information, while the other emission provides the excitation intensity information.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2001

Author dc:creator

• Hidrovo Chavez, Carlos Hiller

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Douglas P. Hart.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/28233

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/28233