Thermographic inspection techniques

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9341586-B2
Application number	US-201414559601-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 3, 2014
Priority date	Dec 6, 2013
Publication date	May 17, 2016
Grant date	May 17, 2016

Abstract

A system may include a source of dry ice, a thermal camera, and a computing device. The computing device may be configured to control the source of dry ice to cause dry ice to be introduced into an internal passage of a tested component. The tested component may include debris within the internal passage, and the dry ice may remove at least some of the debris from the internal passage. The computing device also may be configured to receive, from the thermal camera, thermographic image data representative of the thermal response of the tested component and output a representation based on the thermographic image data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a source of dry ice;
a thermal camera; and
a computing device configured to:
control the source of dry ice to cause dry ice to be introduced into an internal passage of a tested component to remove at least some debris from the internal passage;
receive, from the thermal camera, thermographic image data representative of the thermal response of the tested component to the dry ice; and
output a representation based on the thermographic image data.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the thermographic image data comprises data representative of thermal response to the dry ice of each respective location of a plurality of locations of the tested component, and wherein the computing device is configured to determine a respective single value representative of the thermal response of the component for each respective location.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the computing device is configured to output the representation based on the thermographic image data by at least outputting a representation based on the respective single values.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:
receive master image data including three-dimensional image data representative of a geometry and a thermal response of at least one of a theoretical component, a fabricated gold standard component, or an average of a plurality of components;
morph the thermographic image data to substantially align with the three-dimensional image data and produce morphed thermographic image data; and
wherein the computing device is configured to output the representation based on the thermographic image data by at least outputting a representation based on the morphed thermographic image data for display.

5. The system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one flow meter and a plenum, wherein the computing device is further configured to:
receive flow rate values from the at least one flow meter relating to flow testing of a first component fluidically coupled to plenum, wherein the first component and the tested component have substantially similar geometry; and
associate the flow rate values with the thermographic image data to produce quantitative flowing thermographic image data.

6. A method comprising:
controlling, by a computing device, a source of dry ice to cause dry ice to be introduced into an internal passage of a tested component to remove at least some debris from the internal passage;
receiving, by the computing device, from a thermal camera, thermographic image data representative of the thermal response of the tested component to the dry ice; and
outputting, by the computing device, a representation based on the thermographic image data.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the thermographic image data comprises data representative of thermal response to the dry ice of each respective location of a plurality of locations of the tested component, and further comprising determining, by the computing device, a respective single value representative of the thermal response of the component for each respective location.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein outputting the representation based on the thermographic image data comprises outputting a representation based on the respective single values.

9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
receiving, by the computing device, master image data including three-dimensional image data representative of a geometry and a thermal response of at least one of a theoretical component, a fabricated gold standard component, or an average of a plurality of components;
morphing, by the computing device, the thermographic image data to substantially align with the three-dimensional image data and produce morphed thermographic image data; and
wherein outputting the representation based on the thermographic image data comprises outputting a representation based on the morphed thermographic image data for display.

10. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
receiving, by the computing device, flow rate values from at least one flow meter relating to flow testing of a first component fluidically coupled to a plenum, wherein the first component and the tested component have substantially similar geometry; and
associating, by the computing device, the flow rate values with the thermographic image data to produce quantitative flowing thermographic image data.

11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to:
control a source of dry ice to cause dry ice to be introduced into an internal passage of a tested component to remove at least some debris from the internal passage;
receive, from a thermal camera, thermographic image data representative of the thermal response of the tested component to the dry ice; and
output a representation based on the thermographic image data.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the thermographic image data comprises data representative of thermal response to the dry ice of each respective location of a plurality of locations of the tested component, and further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to determine a respective single value representative of the thermal response of the component for each respective location.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to:
receive master image data including three-dimensional image data representative of a geometry and a thermal response of at least one of a theoretical component, a fabricated gold standard component, or an average of a plurality of components;
morph the thermographic image data to substantially align with the three-dimensional image data and produce morphed thermographic image data; and
wherein the instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to output the representation based on the thermographic image data comprise instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to output a representation based on the morphed thermographic image data for display.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to:
receive flow rate values from at least one flow meter relating to flow testing of a first component fluidically coupled to a plenum, wherein the first component and the tested component have substantially similar geometry; and
associate the flow rate values with the thermographic image data to produce quantitative flowing thermographic image data.

Assignees

• Rolls Royce Corp

Inventors

• Henderkott Joseph Peter
• Ma Kong

Classifications

• F05D2260/83

  Testing, e.g. methods, components or tools therefor · CPC title

• F01D5/14

  Form or construction (selecting particular materials, measures against erosion or corrosion F01D5/28) · CPC title

• F01D17/02

  Arrangement of sensing elements · CPC title

• G06T2207/10048

  Infrared image · CPC title

• F01D5/186

  Film cooling (F01D5/187 takes precedence) · CPC title