Automated Blade Crawler for Airfoil NDI
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current manual non-destructive inspection (NDI) methods for airfoil-shaped aircraft components, such as rotorcraft blades, are costly, labor-intensive, and prone to human error, requiring frequent removal and reattachment of blades, which reduces aircraft mission capability and is inefficient for inspecting complex contours.
Innovation Solution
An automated blade crawler system that moves in a spanwise direction along the airfoil-shaped body, equipped with a multiplicity of non-destructive inspection sensors, allowing for simultaneous scanning of one or both sides of the blade in a single pass, with adjustable and self-orienting sensors to maintain contact and prevent detachment, enabling efficient inspection without removing the blades from the aircraft.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If manual NDI inspection methods are used, then inspection can be performed on airfoil-shaped bodies, but the process is labor-intensive, costly, and prone to human error
Solution Approach 1:
The blade crawler is designed to autonomously navigate along the airfoil-shaped body using its own propulsion system (drive wheels or tracks), eliminating the need for external positioning equipment or manual handling. The self-contained nature of the crawler reduces overall system complexity while achieving automation.
Solution Approach 2:
The blade crawler integrates multiple functions into a single device: propulsion along the blade, sensor mounting and positioning, data collection, and navigation. This multi-functional design consolidates what would otherwise require separate systems, reducing overall complexity while maintaining high automation capability.
2Reliability
If blades are removed for inspection, then comprehensive NDI can be performed, but mission capability is reduced and time is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The inspection system performs its function while the blade remains installed on the aircraft structure. The crawler independently navigates and inspects the blade in its operational position, eliminating the time-consuming processes of removal, inspection, and reattachment while maintaining inspection reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is designed to perform inspection before any potential damage progresses, allowing blades to be inspected in-service during scheduled maintenance intervals. This preliminary inspection approach prevents the need for urgent removal and reattachment operations that would cause mission capability loss.
3Ease of operation
If traditional gimbaled holders with pulse-echo ultrasound are used, then sensors can rest directly on the surface, but they do not handle significant contours well and require teaching
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor mounting system on the blade crawler is designed to be dynamic rather than fixed. Sensors can be positioned and adjusted to accommodate varying blade contours and geometries. The crawler's ability to adapt sensor positions dynamically allows inspection of complex airfoil shapes without requiring extensive teaching or setup procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The inspection system divides the blade surface into multiple scan zones, with sensors positioned at different locations along the crawler. Each sensor segment handles a specific portion of the contour, allowing the system to manage complex geometries through segmented coverage rather than requiring a single universal positioning system.
4Adaptability or versatility
If spring-loaded shoes are used for minor contours, then they work for small variations, but they will not work for rotorcraft blades with contact feet sensors
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of relying on passive spring-loaded mechanisms that work only for minor contours, the system uses active positioning and control mechanisms. Sensors are mounted on adjustable holders that can be dynamically positioned to maintain stable contact on significant contours, preventing sensor tipping while accommodating complex blade geometries.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces intermediary components between the sensors and the blade surface, such as adjustable mounting holders and positioning mechanisms. These intermediaries provide the necessary adaptation to handle significant contours while maintaining sensor stability, acting as a mediator between the rigid sensor and the complex blade geometry.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The automated system significantly reduces inspection time, minimizes human error, and allows for comprehensive surface scanning of airfoil-shaped bodies, enhancing aircraft maintenance efficiency and reducing labor costs by enabling in-service inspection without dismounting the blades.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of rolling elements; wherein the chassis is mounted on the airfoil-shaped body with the plurality of rolling elements
Implementation Method 2
which includes a multiplicity of ultrasonic transducers for transmitting ultrasonic wave energy into the airfoil-shaped body
Implementation Method 3
Some of the ultrasonic wave energy is sensed on the opposite side by a corresponding array of pitch-catch sensors
Data Source
AI summary
An automated blade crawler capable of scanning a multiplicity of non-destructive inspection sensors over a surface of an airfoil-shaped body such as a blade component. The blade crawler is movable in a spanwise direction, thereby enabling a sensor array to inspect the surface area on one or both sides of the blade component in one pass. The sensors concurrently output scan imaging data which is multiplexed, the multiplexed being transmitted (via an electrical cable or wirelessly) to data collection and display hardware at an operations control center.