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INFORMATION A
INSIDE
Josh Thomas, internal sales manager of specialist rental inspection instrument provider Ashtead Technology, explains how borescopes are enabling inspection engineers to benefit from inside information.
ircraft inspection is undertaken to comply with regulatory requirements, to protect safety
and to minimise maintenance and repair work. In addition, inspections take place as a result of a crew report or an incident such as bird ingestion by an engine. Aircraft engines operate in a
challenging environment, including extreme temperature, vibration and high rotational speeds, so inspection work is designed to ensure the early detection of a wide variety of potential problems. For example, thermal deterioration from the extreme heat produced whilst in flight can create cracks in the engine walls, corrosion can occur to engine components, and engines can suffer from foreign object damage (FOD). A variety of instruments are employed for inspection purposes, including borescopes, ultrasonic test equipment, thermal cameras, high-speed cameras and XRF analysers.
Seeing the bigger picture Also known as videoprobes or videoscopes, borescopes enable the internal inspection of aircraft components that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to access. The original borescopes consisted of a rigid or flexible tube with an eyepiece at one end and an objective lens at the other. Optical fibres provided illumination for the remote object. A video borescope uses a miniature video camera at the end
of the flexible tube and a display in the handle shows the camera view with the viewing position altered by a joystick. Borescopes are used on both installed and uninstalled engines, and if any problems are identified, swift remedial action can be undertaken as part of an airline’s preventative maintenance programme to increase aircraft efficiency and minimise costly downtime. Borescopes can be used to inspect the inside of a
reciprocating engine cylinder, by inserting the flexible probe into an open spark plug hole to detect damaged pistons, cylinder walls, or valves. Similarly, the hot section of a turbine engine can be assessed by inserting a probe through the hole of a removed igniter or via the access plugs which are designed into many engines, specifically to enable borescope inspections. This enables engineers to place the insertion tube into the inspection area of their choice; simplifying the engine survey and minimising the time an aircraft is grounded. This is vitally
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AEROSPACEMANUFACTURING | MARCH 2013 41
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