Method to test equipment with variable geometries of an aircraft engine

1. A method for testing an equipment of an aircraft engine, said equipment having variable geometries and being controlled hydraulically by a fuel system comprising a low-pressure circuit, a high-pressure circuit, an aircraft shut-off valve capable of being closed to isolate said circuits from at least one fuel tank, an injection shut-off valve capable of being closed to isolate the high-pressure circuit from an injection chamber of the aircraft engine, and a doser to regulate a rate of fuel sent into the injection chamber, the method comprising:

in a first phase, testing, using a computer, the doser while the aircraft shut-off valve is either open or closed; and

in a second phase, testing jacks of equipments having variable geometries using said computer while the aircraft shut-off valve is open and during rod extension of said jacks,

wherein the second phase comprises controlling the injection shut-off valve so as to eject fuel into the injection chamber during rod retraction of said jacks.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein pressure in the fuel circuits is maintained by a starter and wherein the engine is shut off during the testing steps.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein during the first phase, the injection shut-off valve is kept closed and the computer controls the doser to have said doser shift from a closed position to a fully open position, then from said fully open position to said closed position.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein during the second phase, the computer executes the following different steps:

in a first step, actuating the doser to have said doser shift from a rest position to a position allowing the doser to expel a given quantity of fuel and actuating the shut-off valve of the injection chamber to have said valve shift from the closed position to the open position; and

in a second step, actuating the jacks to shift from an extended rod position to a retracted rod position.

5. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising:

in a third step, toggling the shut-off valve of the injection chamber into a closed position and toggling the doser in a rest position while the jacks are kept in the retracted rod position;

in a fourth step, actuating the jacks to shift the jacks from the retracted rod position to the extended rod position.

6. The method accord ng to claim 4 , wherein the aircraft shut-off valve is open at least throughout the second test phase.

7. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the computer verifies the position of the jacks actuated on completion of each of the different steps.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the computer determines distances between displacements controlled and positions of the rods and jacks.

9. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising a prior phase prior to each of the testing phases,

wherein the prior phase comprises a step of ramping up the starter, and

wherein the other steps are authorized by the computer only if acquisition of an engine speed is valid and if power of said engine speed is greater than a threshold on completion of the prior phase.

10. The method according to claim 4 , wherein, during the second phase, the computer authorizes a shift from the first to the second step only if acquisition of the position of the shut-off valve is valid and if the shut-off valve is in an open position while acquisition of the position of the doser is also valid and the doser is in a position allowing a given minimum rate.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, during the second phase, the computer controls servovalves which control the jacks so that a rate to be expelled generated by movement of the jack is less than a rate ejected into the injection chamber.