Systems and methods for thermal location of cooling holes
AssigneeUnited Technologies Corporation
InventorsDavid A. Raulerson, Kevin D. Smith, Zhong Ouyang, Lisa J. Brasche, William J. Brindley, David N. Potter
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Abstract
Systems and methods are disclosed herein for repairing components. A material layer may be deposited on a surface of a component. The material layer may cover a cooling hole. A pulsed heat source may heat the component and the material layer. An infrared camera may take a series of images of the component. A location of the cooling hole may be identified based on thermal properties of the component. A removal tool may remove a portion of the material layer in order to expose the cooling hole.
Claims11
A method of repairing a component comprising:
- depositing a material layer on a surface of the component;
- heating the component using a pulsed heat source;
- measuring, by an infrared camera, thermal properties of the component;
- locating, by the infrared camera, a cavity in the component based on the thermal properties;
- comparing the cavity with a known specification for the component;
- identifying an angle of the cavity relative to the surface of the component based on the known specification;
- centering a removal tool on the cavity at the angle in response to the infrared camera locating the cavity;
- and
- removing, by the removal tool, a portion of the material layer to expose the cavity, wherein the heating of the component further comprises emitting light pulses for between 1 millisecond and 40 milliseconds.
A method of repairing a component comprising:
- depositing a material layer on a surface of the component;
- heating the component using a pulsed heat source, wherein the pulsed heat source is at least one of a xenon flash lamp array, a quartz flash source or an LED flash source;
- measuring, by an infrared camera, thermal properties of the component;
- locating, by the infrared camera, a cavity in the component based on the thermal properties;
- comparing the cavity with a known specification for the component
- identifying an angle of the cavity relative to the surface of the component based on the known specification;
- centering a removal tool on the cavity at the angle in response to the infrared camera locating the cavity;
- and
- removing, by the removal tool, a portion of the material layer to expose the cavity.
A method of repairing a component comprising:
- depositing a material layer on a surface of the component;
- heating the component using a pulsed heat source;
- measuring, by an infrared camera, thermal properties of the component, wherein the measuring includes capturing a series of infrared images based on the pulsed heat source;
- locating, by the infrared camera, a cavity in the component based on the thermal properties;
- comparing the cavity with a known specification for the component;
- identifying an angle of the cavity relative to the surface of the component based on the known specification;
- centering a removal tool on the cavity at the angle in response to the infrared camera locating the cavity;
- and
- removing, by the removal tool, a portion of the material layer to expose the cavity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.