Thermographic inspection techniques

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9347899-B2
Application number	US-201414559288-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 3, 2014
Priority date	Dec 6, 2013
Publication date	May 24, 2016
Grant date	May 24, 2016

Abstract

A system may include a fluid source fluidically coupled to a plenum; a thermal camera; at least one flow meter; and a computing device communicatively connected to the at least one flow meter and the thermal camera. The computing device may be configured to receive flow rate values from the at least one flow meter relating to flow testing of a first component fluidically coupled to the plenum; receive thermographic image data captured by the thermal camera during flowing thermographic testing of a second component fluidically coupled to the plenum; and associate the flow rate values with the thermographic image data to produce quantitative flowing thermographic image data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a fluid source fluidically coupled to a plenum;
a thermal camera;
a flow meter; and
a computing device communicatively connected to the at least one flow meter and the thermal camera, wherein the computing device is configured to:
receive flow rate values for an exit orifice of a first component from the flow meter, wherein the first component is fluidically coupled to the plenum;
receive thermographic image data captured by the thermal camera during flowing thermographic testing of a second component fluidically coupled to the plenum, wherein the first component and the second component have a substantially similar geometry; and
associate the flow rate values for the exit orifice of the first component with the thermographic image data for a corresponding exit orifice of the second component to produce quantitative flowing thermographic image data.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first component comprises a fabricated gold standard component, and wherein the second component comprises a tested component.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the fabricated gold standard component comprises a component known to include no blocked or damaged internal passages and to correspond to a nominal part geometry.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the flow meter comprises a plurality of flow meters, and wherein the computing device is configured to:
control a valve fluidically connected between the fluid source and the plenum to cause a pulse of fluid at a known flow rate to flow through internal passages of fabricated gold standard component;
receive, from the plurality of flow meters, a plurality of flow rate values, each flow rate value representing a respective flow rate at a respective exit orifice of a plurality of exit orifices defined in the fabricated gold standard component; and
associate each flow rate value of the plurality of flow rate values with thermal response data from the thermographic image data detected at a corresponding exit orifice to produce the quantitative flowing thermographic image data.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first component and the second component are the same tested component.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the flow meter comprises a plurality of flow meters, and wherein the computing device is configured to:
control a valve fluidically connected between the fluid source and the plenum to cause a first pulse of a fluid at a known flow rate to flow through internal passages of the tested component;
receive, from respective flow meters of the plurality of flow meters, flow rate values at each exit orifice of a plurality of exit orifices defined in the tested component using a respective flow meter of the plurality of flow meters;
control the valve to cause a second pulse of the fluid at the known flow rate to flow through internal passages of the tested component;
receive, from the thermal camera, thermographic image data for the known flow rate at the plurality of exit orifices; and
associate each flow rate value of the plurality of flow rate values with thermal response data from the thermographic image data detected at a corresponding exit orifice to produce the quantitative flowing thermographic image data.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is further configured to output a representation of the quantitative flowing thermographic image data.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the representation comprises a false color visual representation.

9. A method comprising:
receiving, by a computing device, from a flow meter adjacent an exit orifice of a first component, flow rate values for the exit orifice;
receiving, by the computing device, from a thermal camera, thermographic image data captured by the thermal camera during flowing thermographic testing of a second component wherein the first component and the second component have a substantially similar geometry; and
associating, by the computing device, the flow rate values for the exit orifice with the thermographic image data for a corresponding exit orifice of the second component to produce quantitative flowing thermographic image data.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first component comprises a fabricated gold standard component, and wherein the second component comprises a tested component.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the fabricated gold standard component comprises a component known to include no blocked or damaged internal passages and to correspond to a nominal part geometry.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
controlling, by the computing device, a valve fluidically connected between a fluid source and a plenum to cause a pulse of fluid at a known flow rate to flow through internal passages of fabricated gold standard component; and wherein:
the flow meter comprises a plurality of flow meters;
receiving flow rate values comprises receiving, by the computing device, from the plurality of flow meters, a plurality of flow rate values, each flow rate value representing a respective flow rate at a respective exit orifice of a plurality of exit orifices defined in the fabricated gold standard component; and
associating the flow rate values with the thermographic image data comprises associating, by the computing device, each flow rate value of the plurality of flow rate values with thermal response data from the thermographic image data detected at a corresponding exit orifice to produce the quantitative flowing thermographic image data.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first component and the second component are the same tested component.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
controlling, by the computing device, a valve fluidically connected between a fluid source and a plenum to cause a first pulse of a fluid at a known flow rate to flow through internal passages of the tested component;
controlling, by the computing device, the valve to cause a second pulse of the fluid at the known flow rate to flow through internal passages of the tested component; and wherein:
the flow meter comprises a plurality of flow meters;
receiving flow rate values comprises receiving, by the computing device, from respective flow meters of the plurality of flow meters, flow rate values at each exit orifice of a plurality of exit orifices defined in the tested component using a respective flow meter of the plurality of flow meters;
receiving thermographic image data comprises receiving, by the computing device, from the thermal camera, thermographic image data for the known flow rate at the plurality of exit orifices; and
associating the flow rate values with the thermographic image data comprises associating, by the computing device, each flow rate value of the plurality of flow rate values with thermal response data from the thermographic image data detected at a corresponding exit orifice to produce the quantitative flowing thermographic image data.

15. The method of claim 9 , further comprising outputting a representation of the quantitative flowing thermographic image data.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein outputting the representation comprises outputting a false color visual representation of the quantitative flowing thermographic image data.

17. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to:
receive, from a flow meter, flow rate values for an exit orifice of a first component;
receive, from a thermal camera, thermographic image data captured by the thermal

Assignees

• Rolls Royce Corp

Inventors

• Henderkott Joseph Peter
• Ma Kong

Classifications

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