Remote visual monitoring of seal performance in aircraft jacks using fiber optics

There is need in the aircraft component industries for rigorous testing of elastomeric seals for aircraft application. Some of the seals are usually situated inside the jacks where it is difficult to test the seals in thei r actual operating environment. This paper will describe some aspects of a fibre optics and CCD camera test method which allows seals to be visually monitored in the jacks while testing of other seal parameters are in progress. The experimental results showed the deformed images which can be digitized to provide controlled and automatic test procedure.