Determining axial location of time of arrival probe

1. A method of determining an axial location of a probe, comprising:

attaching a wedge to a first blade, the wedge comprising a distal surface, wherein a first edge of the distal surface and a second edge of the distal surface form an angle;

determining a first distance extending between the first edge of the wedge and the first blade; and

determining the axial location of the probe using the angle and the first distance.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the angle is between 10° and 80°.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising attaching the wedge to the first blade using a thermally releasable adhesive.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the thermally releasable adhesive is configured to release at a temperature greater than or equal to 100° F.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wedge comprises an internal cavity devoid of material.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wedge comprises a material configured to melt at a temperature greater than or equal to 100° F.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the first distance comprises comparing a first time of arrival measurement taken while the wedge is attached to the first blade to a second time of arrival measurement taken after the wedge has been removed from the first blade.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the first distance comprises:

determining a first width extending from the first edge of the wedge to a surface of the first blade opposite the wedge, wherein the surface of the first blade comprises at least one of a first suction side surface of the first blade or a first pressure side surface of the first blade;

determining a second width extending from a second pressure side surface of a second blade and a second suction side surface of the second blade; and

determining a difference between the first width and the second width.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the determining the first width comprises:

measuring a first time of arrival of the first edge of the wedge at the probe, and

measuring a second time of arrival of the surface of the first blade at the probe; and wherein the determining the second width comprises:

measuring a third time of arrival of the second pressure side surface of the second blade at the probe, and

measuring a fourth time of arrival of the second suction side surface of the second blade at the probe.

10. A method of making a time of arrival probe system, comprising:

mounting a time of arrival probe to a rotor casing;

attaching a wedge to a blade, the wedge comprising a distal surface, wherein a first edge of the distal surface and a second edge of the distal surface form an angle; and

determining an axial location of the time of arrival probe.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising adjusting the axial location of at least one of the time of arrival probe or a laser beam of the time of arrival probe.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising determining a correction factor for analyzing data output from the time of arrival probe using the axial location of the time of arrival probe.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the angle is between 10° and 80°.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the determining the axial location of the time of arrival probe comprises:

determining a first distance extending from the first edge of the wedge to the blade; and

calculating the axial location of the time of arrival probe using the first distance and the angle.

15. The method of claim 10 , further comprising attaching the wedge to the blade using a thermally releasable adhesive.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the determining the axial location of the time of arrival probe comprises:

determining a width of the blade while the wedge is attached to the blade using a pulse width measurement, wherein the width of the blade extends from the first edge of the wedge to a surface of the blade opposite the wedge, and wherein the pulse width measurement comprises a difference between an arriving edge trigger logic measured at a first time and a departing edge trigger logic measured at a second time; and

finding the axial location of the time of arrival probe in a lookup table using the width of the blade, wherein the lookup table correlates the width of the blade to a distance from at least one of a leading edge of the blade or a trailing edge of the blade.

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein the wedge comprises a material configured to melt at a temperature greater than or equal to 100° F.

18. A time of arrival probe system, comprising:

a rotor assembly comprising a plurality of blades;

a wedge attached to a first blade of a the plurality of blades;

a rotor casing disposed around the plurality of blades; and

a time of arrival probe mounted to the rotor casing.

19. The time of arrival probe system of claim 18 , wherein the wedge comprises an internal cavity devoid of material.

20. The time of arrival probe system of claim 18 , wherein the wedge comprises an opaque material.