5/13/2018 Visual Inspections of Commercial Jet Engines

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Visual Inspections of Commercial Jet Engines

Background
Millions of commercial aircraft fly passengers and goods to thousands of destinations throughout the world every day. For the commercial aircraft carrying passengers and precious carriages in very harsh environments, the inspection and maintenance for safe
operation are crucial. Periodic inspections of aircraft engines are essential.
Certain areas within the engine have access ports to facilitate visual inspection with endoscopes. However, there are various difficulties an inspector may face when attempting to conduct an engine inspection precisely and in a timely manner.

Challenges and Solutions

(1) Inspected parts in various sizes and locations

Challenge:

Commercial jets are equipped with turbofan engines, with engine size varying from small turbines for regional jets to large turbines for larger, inter-continental airliners. Furthermore, there are many different parts to be inspected within each engine, such as turbine
blades, compressor blades and the combustion chamber. It is important when conducting a smooth and accurate inspection, to choose the optimal endoscope and related accessories by engine type and engine part.

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Basic structure of a turbofan engine

 Examples of major turbofan engines

Solution:

One IPLEX videoscope can cover various demands for aircraft engine inspections by just changing the optical adaptors. The following chart indicates the recommended inspection equipment by engine size and part:

Engine
Inspected area Suitable videoscope Suitable optical adaptor Remark
size

Low-pressure compressor
AT120S/FF
blades

High-pressure compressor
AT120S/FF
blades
Small IPLEX with 4 mm outer diameter AT120D/FF
Combustion chamber
AT120D/NF For observation of tiny cracks in a magnified view

High-pressure turbine blades AT120S/FF

Low-pressure turbine blades AT120S/FF

Medium Low-pressure compressor

AT120D/FF
blades IPLEX with 6 mm outer diameter with a rigid
High-pressure compressor sleeve AT80S/FF and
AT120S/FF with a wide field of view enables to observe the entire blade.
blades AT120S/FF

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AT80D/FF and - The entire inspection is available by inserting the scope into a combustion chamber all the way around.
Combustion chamber IPLEX with 6 mm outer diameter
AT120D/FF - A guide tube with a bend assists the inspections of the fuel injection nozzles and the innner/outer walls.

A rigid sleeve is unnecessary when inserting the scope from the combustion chamber and observing through the gap at the turbine
AT80D and AT120D types
High-pressure turbine blades nozzle.
IPLEX with 6 mm outer diameter with a rigid
sleeve AT120D/NF For inspection of hair cracks on the leading edges

Low-pressure turbine blades AT120D/FF

- The suitable videoscope and optical adaptors are same as those for the medium-sized engine inspections.
Large
- The IPLEX of 8.5 mm outer diameter is recommended when all-round inspections are required due to the risk that the 6mm scope insertion tube may be caught in a gap between the rotor and the stator.

High-Pressure Compressor Combustion Chamber High-Pressure Turbine

(2) Laborious operation to rotate the engine shaft

Challenge:

Operators need to inspect hundreds of blades, which are located at several turbine/compressor stages and mounted on the shaft during the aircraft engine inspection. To conduct the inspection, a collaborative work is required where one operator manually rotates
the shaft while another inspects the blade condition. This work not only requires an additional operator for the shaft rotation, but also tends to cause insufficient inspection of the turbine.

Solution:

The engine specific OTT Engine Turning Tools can automatically rotate the shaft with high-pressure compressor/turbine blades at
a preferred speed, enabling an inspector to accurately and thoroughly conduct both the shaft rotating and blade inspection
operations without the need for a second person.

(3) Time-consuming inspection analysis and report generation

Challenge:

Throughout the inspection, recording a large number of blade images is often the case for inspection analysis and report generation, but within this environment, images are very similar each other and it is sometimes impossible to identify blade types by reviewing
images. Thus, many operators experience difficulty and frustration when attempting to find and sort intended images from a large volume of very similar images.

Solution:

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Our Inspection Assist Software enables an inspector to record images while categorizing them by inspected stage and putting
diagnosis onto the images by way of standardized comment.

After the inspection, the inspector/reporter can efficiently analyze the recorded images and immediately create a report, just by
selecting desired images with one-click operation.

Key Bene ts with Olympus

(1) IPLEX videoscopes optimized for aircraft engine inspections

Bright, high-resolution images faithfully and clearly reproduce very small defects within a gas turbine for accurate analysis.
The insertion tube with well-tuned stiffness and flexibility, and often TaperedFlex technology, facilitates insert-ability for
smooth all-round inspections of the shroud and combustion chamber. It is also exceptionally resilient and can withstand
repeated use against sharp blades and other metal surfaces.
TrueFeel articulation provides exceptional control and precision to improve work efficiency.
Stereo Measurement technology is suitable for defect measurement on engine blades located in narrow and hard-to-
approach areas.

(2) Optimal observation view for various turbine stages

In aircraft engine inspections, demands for observation are different depending on inspected parts and locations. Demands range
from wide viewing perspective being required to inspect a combustion chamber to the observation of high-pressure turbines and
compressors, which are conducted in narrow spaces where a scope tip of an endoscope cannot be bent. Olympus IPLEX tip
adaptors provide full lensing systems with some of the shortest tip lengths in the industry. From near focus, to far focus; direct
view to side view and varying angles of view, Olympus’ comprehensive range of optical tip adaptors covers the diverse inspection
demands within this environment.

Please click here to see How to choose optical tip adapters for the industrial videoscopes >>

(3) Systems to support e cient and accurate inspections

Olympus provides effective systems to increase your work efficiency of aircraft engine inspections. The OTT Engine Turning Tools allow an inspector to conduct inspections of high-pressure compressor/turbine blades single handedly. The InHelp Inspection Assist
Software streamlines all aspects of the inspections and significantly reduces the time for post-inspection work.

Products used for this application

NEW

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InHelp  IPLEX NX 

InHelp is inspection data management and reporting software for Olympus Industrial videoscopes that streamlines all aspects of A high-end industrial videoscope system combining portability with advanced functionality, and ease of use with durability. From
on-site inspections. It is greatly improves your work efficiency by organizing stored images and generating detailed inspection high image quality inspection to retrieval operation, the versatility achieves various benefits beyond your experience.
reports.

IPLEX RX/ IPLEX RT  IPLEX UltraLite 

The IPLEX RX/ IPLEX RT are lightweight industrial videoscopes that feature the unique PulsarPic image processor to produce The palm-sized IPLEX Ultralite industrial videoscope, weighing just 700 g, delivers high quality images. Its compact, durable body
exceptionally high-resolution and bright images. They have a large 6.5-inch screen with an anti-reflective daylight-view monitor. enables inspections in tough and confined areas. A rugged insertion tube offers quick and accurate articulation.

Turning Tools 
Olympus Turning Tools (Rotators) are supported by a wide range of Engine specific adaptors. Each engine adaptor connects the
OTT system to the hand turning point, or starter motor position, on the engine gearbox which allows the operator to go from basic
to advanced functions.

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