Lubricant film thickness measurement using fiber-optic Michelson interferometer and fiber-optic displacement sensor

How to accurately measure the lubricant film thickness of the hydrodynamic slide bearings has been an important research field in the condition monitor and fault diagnosis of large rotary machinery. This paper focus on a new detection approach using a fiber-optical Michelson Interferometer combined with a fiber-optical displacement sensor for the lubricant film thickness measurement. After introducing the fundamental principle, a new measurement system was presented, and several principium experiments were also performed to verify the feasibility of the system. It was theoretically stated and experimentally testified that the technique outperforms other measurement methods. As a result, the technique enables to realize the accurate measurement of lubricant film thickness.