The Navy Spectrometric Oil Analysis Program 680213

Spectrometric oil analysis pioneered for aviation use by the Navy is now an accepted maintenance tool used by both the Air Force and Army. The system measures the submicroscopic wear metals in suspension in the oil system. Normal and abnormal metal limits of particles too small to be seen without magnification have been established for a variety of aeronautical equipments. By establishing what is normal wear for each metal in a particular equipment, the laboratory engineer can pinpoint an equipment which has exceeded the normal limits and thereby can alert the maintenance personnel of the abnormal condition. The Navy is providing oil analysis service to its many aircraft squadrons on a routine basis by use of the emission spectrometer. Much of the success of the program is due to the advance in the state-of-the-art in emission spectroscopy.