Rolls-royce Corporation

Adriano Pulisciano

James Kell

Graeme Eric Rigg

Thomas Frederick Danvers

Bilal M Nasser

Paul A Flint

Giles E Harvey

Graham Watson

Matthew Baird

Mohammad Dabbah

Michael J Wingfield

Harold M Uzzell

Edward Sparks

Harold Uzzell

A method of monitoring turbine blade creep in a gas turbine engine is provided. The method includes: receiving stereo images of a turbine blade of a row of turbine blades, the images having been obtained using a stereo borescope located in the engine adjacent the row of turbine blades; identifying same features of the blade in each of the stereo images; mapping each of the identified features by triangulation onto a 3D space to produce a 3D depth map of at least part of the blade; providing a 3D reference model of the blade; and comparing the 3D reference model with the 3D depth map to measure one or more deviations in shape of the blade to determine an amount of creep-induced distortion of the blade.

Turbine blade creep monitoring

A method comprising: inspecting an engine during a first period of time to identify damage, the engine being associated with an aircraft; receiving three-dimensional data of one or more components of the engine, the three-dimensional data being generated during the first period of time; determining, during the first period of time, whether the identified damage exceeds a threshold; providing instructions to release the aircraft for operation in a second period of time, subsequent to the first period of time, if the identified damage does not exceed the threshold; and inspecting the received three-dimensional data during the second period of time to measure damage.

Methods and apparatus for inspecting an engine

A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving data comprising two-dimensional data and three-dimensional data of a component of an engine; identifying a feature of the component using the two-dimensional data; determining coordinates of the feature in the two-dimensional data; determining coordinates of the feature in the three-dimensional data using: the determined coordinates of the feature in the two-dimensional data; and a pre-determined transformation between coordinates in two-dimensional data and coordinates in three-dimensional data; and measuring a parameter of the feature of the component using the determined coordinates of the feature in the three-dimensional data.

A computer implemented method of determining a dimension of a gap between an edge of an aerofoil and a surface of an engine casing, the method comprising: receiving data; generating a three dimensional model of the surface of the engine casing from the received data; identifying the edge of the aerofoil in the received data; determining a three dimensional position of a first location along the edge of the aerofoil in the received data using the identified edge; and determining a distance between the determined three dimensional position of the first location and the three dimensional model of the surface of the engine casing using an algorithm.

Computer implemented methods for determining a dimension of a gap between an aerofoil and a surface of an engine casing

A condensation irradiation system is disclosed comprising an electromagnetic radiation emitter mounted on a locating structure, the locating structure being arranged in use to position the radiation emitter so as radiation emitted therefrom travels through a condensation detection region adjacent an upstream side of a gas turbine engine fan.

Condensation irradiation system

A method of processing data from a sensor, the method comprising: receiving first data; identifying an object by comparing the received first data with stored second data for a plurality of objects; determining a first processing strategy for one or more portions of the object in third data using the identification of the object, the third data being received from a sensor; and processing the determined one or more portions of the object in the third data using the determined first processing strategy.

Methods, apparatus, computer programs, and non-transitory computer readable storage mediums for processing data from a sensor

An apparatus for inspecting a turbomachine includes a plurality of boroscopes, a device to rotate the rotor of the turbomachine and a processor having reference measurements of the rotor blades and/or reference measurements between the rotor blades and the boroscopes. A boroscope is inserted in a casing aperture upstream of the blades to view the leading edge and a portion of one of the surfaces of each blade as the rotor is rotated. A boroscope is inserted in a casing aperture downstream of the blades to view the trailing edge and a portion of one of the surfaces of each blade as the rotor is rotated. The boroscopes supply the images of each of the blades to the processor. The processor analyses the images of the blades and uses the reference measurements to determine the position and size of any defect on any of the rotor blades.

Apparatus and a method of inspecting a turbomachine

Method and apparatus for classifying defect in component having a monocrystalline structure. The method includes: illuminating surface of component containing defect with beam of light from plurality of different spherical directions; each illumination direction, measuring intensity of light reflected by surface and received by detector; determining contrast value between region with higher intensity and a region with lower intensity for each illumination direction; analyzing contrast values by performing tests selected from the following: (a) determining whether region with higher intensity exceeds predetermined width; (b) identifying illumination direction which produces maximum contrast value, and determining whether illumination direction falls outside of predetermined region; (c) identifying peak in contrast values and determining whether peak extends over range of illumination directions which exceeds predetermined threshold; and (d) determining whether contrast values contain plurality of discontinuous peaks; and determining type of defect based on of tests.

Method for classifying a defect in a component intended to have a monocrystalline structure

This invention relates to an internal combustion engine having a cavity for inspection, comprising: an inspection device mounted within a housing, the housing at least partially located within the cavity to be inspected and having a shutter which is actuable between a closed configuration and an open configuration; and an actuation mechanism for moving the shutter between the closed configuration and the open configuration.

Inspection device for an internal combustion engine

An apparatus for inspecting a turbomachine includes a plurality of horoscopes, a device to rotate the rotor of the turbomachine and a processor having reference measurements of the rotor blades and/or reference measurements between the rotor blades and the horoscopes. A boroscope is inserted in a casing aperture upstream of the blades to view the leading edge and a portion of one of the surfaces of each blade as the rotor is rotated. A boroscope is inserted in a casing aperture downstream of the blades to view the trailing edge and a portion of one of the surfaces of each blade as the rotor is rotated. The boroscopes supply the images of each of the blades to the processor. The processor analyzes the images of the blades and uses the reference measurements to determine the position and size of any defect on any of the rotor blades.

Growing community of inventors

Birmingham, United Kingdom

Adriano Pulisciano