Gas Turbine Maintenance Rail Tool for Consistent Internal Imaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gas turbine engine inspection methods face challenges with inconsistent documentation and skewed component views due to varying technician expertise, making it difficult to track problematic areas across maintenance intervals.
Innovation Solution
A maintenance tool with a rail system and maintenance head equipped with cameras and light sources, allowing precise imaging and cataloguing of internal components, stabilized by a radial clamp and actuation device for consistent positioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a flexible borescope is used for inspection, then the technician can view internal components through inspection holes, but the images captured will be skewed and inconsistently documented depending on technician expertise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a rail system as an intermediary structure that provides a stable reference framework between the inspection hole and the camera. The rail system includes reference features that enable consistent positioning and orientation, acting as a mediator that translates the flexible inspection access into precise, repeatable measurements regardless of technician skill level.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual positioning method (relying on technician skill) with a mechanical reference system. The rail system with encoded position information and reference features automatically establishes accurate component location and orientation, substituting human expertise with a mechanical measurement system.
2Adaptability or versatility
If manual inspection by technicians is used, then flexibility in performing inspections is maintained, but documentation consistency and component tracking across maintenance intervals deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The rail system incorporates encoded position information and reference features that provide feedback about the camera's location and orientation. This feedback mechanism ensures that images are consistently documented by automatically recording the precise position and orientation data, enabling reliable tracking of components across different maintenance intervals.
Solution Approach 2:
The rail system serves multiple functions: it provides mechanical support for the camera, establishes reference frames for positioning, encodes location information, and enables consistent imaging geometry. This multi-functional design maintains inspection flexibility while ensuring documentation consistency through a single standardized system.
3Measurement precision
If a stable reference system is introduced to improve image accuracy, then measurement precision improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The reference system is segmented into modular components: the rail system with reference features, the camera assembly with positioning mechanism, and the encoded position information system. This segmentation allows the complex functionality to be distributed across separate elements that can be independently manufactured and assembled, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining measurement precision.
Data Source
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AI summary
A maintenance tool for gas turbine engine includes a rail system having a plurality of rail segments insertable through one or more inspection holes of the gas turbine engine for assembly within a core air flowpath of the gas turbine engine. The maintenance tool additionally includes a maintenance head movable along the plurality of rail segments of the rail system for performing maintenance operations within the core air flowpath.