Bladed Rotor Scan Data Reduction for Faster Damage Analysis
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current inspection methods for bladed rotors in gas turbine engines are inefficient, requiring extensive manual inputs and conservative estimates, leading to lengthy and costly analysis processes, as they often rely on experience-based limits and do not accurately reflect the rotor's shape or dimensions, especially during maintenance or overhaul.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that reduce large scanner data sets to smaller, relevant data sets for analysis, allowing for quick transfer and processing, which includes generating two-dimensional section files and determining repair blend profiles for defects, facilitating faster and more accurate analysis and repair decisions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If full scanner data sets are transferred to analysis systems, then analysis accuracy is improved, but data transfer time and processing time increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes irrelevant data from the full scanner data set, retaining only the specific features and parameters necessary for damage analysis. This extraction process reduces data size while preserving the essential information needed for accurate assessment, thereby reducing transfer time without significantly compromising analysis accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a simplified digital representation or model of the rotor blade geometry and damage features from the full scanner data. This copied representation contains only the essential geometric information and damage characteristics needed for analysis, enabling accurate assessment with reduced data transfer requirements.
2Ease of manufacture
If manual inspection methods are used with experience-based limits, then analysis cost is reduced, but analysis accuracy and reliability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements an automated analysis system that independently evaluates rotor blade damage using predefined acceptance criteria and engineering standards. The system performs self-assessment without requiring extensive manual intervention or subjective expert judgment, thereby reducing labor costs while improving consistency and reliability through objective, repeatable evaluation processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms subjective experience-based limits into objective, quantifiable parameters and acceptance criteria. By defining specific measurable thresholds for damage dimensions, geometry deviations, and structural integrity, the system enables automated decision-making that is both cost-effective and reliably consistent with engineering standards.
3Reliability
If conservative estimates are used in damage analysis, then safety margin is improved, but analysis time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary assessments using reduced data sets and simplified models to quickly evaluate obvious acceptances or rejections. For cases requiring detailed analysis, the system then applies conservative estimates only where necessary, rather than uniformly applying conservative approaches to all cases. This staged approach maintains safety margins while improving overall analysis speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies conservative estimates selectively only to critical regions and parameters where safety is most concerned, rather than applying them uniformly across the entire analysis. This partial application of conservative methodology maintains adequate safety margins for critical assessments while reducing unnecessary computational overhead in non-critical areas, thereby improving analysis productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is disclosed herein. The method can comprise: receiving, via a processor, scanner data from an inspection system for a bladed rotor, the scanner data including a point cloud defining an inspected bladed rotor, the scanner data including a first data size; generating, via the processor, a reduced data set from the scanner data, the reduced data set having a second data size that is less than the first data size; and transmitting, via the processor, the reduced data set to an analysis system for the inspected bladed rotor.