Patent ID: 8695445

Claim:
A wear-indicating system comprising: a component for use within a turbine, said component comprising a surface extending from a first surface edge to an opposite second surface edge, wherein said first surface edge and a corresponding surface edge margin are susceptible to wear during turbine operation; and a plurality of discrete wear-indicating marks formed along said surface, each of said discrete wear-indicating marks located in a discrete portion of said surface edge margin and visually discernible from said surface edge margin through visual inspection, said plurality of discrete wear-indicating marks arranged in a sequence from said first surface edge to said second surface edge such that a first discrete wear-indicating mark is spaced a distance from a second discrete wear-indicating mark, and each subsequent discrete wear-indicating mark is substantially uniformly spaced apart from an adjacent discrete wear-indicating mark, wherein each said discrete wear-indicating mark is configured to visually disappear from said surface edge margin after said discrete portion of said surface edge margin has worn a predetermined amount.