Stepped Mirror Optics for Laser Treatment of Leading-Edge Interiors
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for treating the internal surfaces of aircraft engine fan blade leading edges are inefficient due to their complex, narrow, and deep geometry, which prevents effective laser treatment, and are also environmentally harmful and costly, as they require aqueous chemical solutions and cannot utilize laser treatment effectively.
Innovation Solution
An optical device comprising a collimator, cylindrical lens, and a reflection component with stepped mirrors on a dihedral surface, allowing a collimated laser beam to be directed quasi-normally onto internal surfaces, minimizing the device's size and enabling treatment of deep and narrow areas, and an air flow generator to prevent vapor deposition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If aqueous chemical solutions are used for surface treatment, then the internal surfaces can be treated, but the process is long, expensive and polluting
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the chemical treatment system with a laser-based optical system. The laser beam, guided by the optical device through the narrow opening, directly treats the internal surfaces through ablation or cleaning effects, eliminating the need for chemical solutions and their associated pollution, cost, and time requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The optical device acts as an intermediary that enables laser beam access to internal surfaces through the narrow opening. It transforms the laser beam into a form that can propagate through the constrained geometry and deliver energy to the internal surfaces, replacing the chemical medium with an optical medium.
2Ease of operation
If a single tilted mirror is used to reflect laser beam, then the beam can be directed to internal surfaces, but the device becomes very bulky
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the optical component into multiple small mirrors arranged on the dihedral surface. Each mirror handles a specific portion of the laser beam, allowing the system to achieve the required beam redirection within a compact volume. This segmentation enables the optical device to fit through narrow openings while maintaining effective laser delivery.
3Length of stationary object
If a driven mirror is used to reach the bottom of the room, then the laser beam can cover the depth, but the mirror becomes very thick
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a single-mirror approach (one-dimensional solution) to a multi-mirror arrangement on a dihedral surface (two-dimensional solution). By distributing the beam redirection function across multiple mirrors in a planar configuration rather than using a single thick mirror, the system achieves the required depth coverage without increasing mirror thickness, allowing the device to remain compact and passable through narrow openings.
4Manufacturing precision
If laser beam is directed from outside in normal direction, then effective laser treatment is achieved, but the deep and narrow geometry prevents beam access
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a dynamic optical path where the laser beam is continuously redirected by the multiple mirrors to follow the geometry of the internal surfaces. The optical device adapts the beam direction to match the local surface orientation at each point, maintaining near-normal incidence throughout the deep and narrow geometry despite the constrained access from outside.
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
Enables precise, rapid, and non-polluting laser treatment of internal surfaces, effectively addressing the geometric challenges and environmental concerns of existing methods.
Implementation Method 1
a collimator (3) intended to be connected to a laser source (9) via an optical fiber (11) to produce a laser beam (13a) having a flat and collimated spatial pulse profile
Implementation Method 2
a cylindrical lens (5) configured to focus said laser beam along a spatial line transverse to the propagation of said beam -laser thus forming a line-laser-beam
Implementation Method 3
a cylindrical lens (5) configured to focus said laser beam
Implementation Method 4
an optical reflection component configured to be able to be introduced inside said cover piece and to uniformly reflect said line-laser-beam on at least one internal surface of said cover piece and in local directions of incidence quasi-normal to said at least one internal surface
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
The invention relates to an optical device that is intended for laser treatment of internal surfaces of a covering part of the leading-edge type, including: - a collimator (3) that is intended to be connected to a laser source (9) via an optical fibre (11) to produce a laser beam (13a) having a collimated and flat spatial pulse profile, - a cylindrical lens (5) that is configured to focus said laser beam (13a) along a spatial line that is transverse to the propagation of said laser beam thus forming a line-laser-beam (13b), - a reflecting optical component (7) that is configured to be able to be introduced into the interior of said covering part (15) and to uniformly reflect said line-laser-beam (13b) onto at least one internal surface (17a, 17b) of said covering part (15) and in directions of incidence that are almost normal to said at least one internal surface.