Patent ID: 7808233

Claim:
A method of monitoring a rotary machine, the rotary machine having at least one rotating member and at least one stationary member positioned such that a clearance gap is defined between a portion of the at least one rotating member and a portion of the at least one stationary member, said method comprising: providing at least one clearance gap measurement assembly to determine a width of the clearance gap, wherein the at least one clearance gap measurement assembly includes at least one clearance gap dimension measurement apparatus and at least one clearance gap magnetic flux measurement apparatus; positioning the at least one clearance gap measurement assembly on the at least one stationary member; determining a change of capacitance within the at least one clearance gap measurement assembly; generating a measurement of the clearance gap during operation of the rotary machine based on the change of capacitance; and synchronizing the at least one clearance gap dimension measurement apparatus and the at least one clearance gap magnetic flux measurement apparatus to evaluate a clearance gap dimension input signal and a clearance gap magnetic flux input signal to be acquired substantially simultaneously.