Case Study: Airfoil

AFI 5000P is the first system that enables fast and accurate inspection of airfoils and other critical engine components without the use of coatings or sprays. Ever since scanning was developed, airfoil manufacturers have been trying to apply the many advantages to airfoils. However, scanners have either been error-prone or required coating the blade with powders or paints. The AFI 5000P is the first measurement system that meets all requirements of the airfoil industry.  Problem Up to this point in time, there has been no effective means of performing 100% inspection on airfoil components due to: risk and lack of traceability CMMs too slow CMMs not enough coverage ball offset on CMMs optical techniques required coatings or spray optical techniques were not accurate optical techniques were not suitable for manufacturing environments

Both optical and CMM devices have been well-tested by airfoil manufacturers, but both are problematic on actual airfoil components. Hence, they require compromises.  For example, optical scanners require sprays that add variable thickness (hence the incorrect surface is measured), may compromise the metallurgy or material properties. Thus, at the expense of speed, airfoil and engine component manufacturers have been compromising their inspection processes with either slower, manual CMMs, which deliver far less data, or with optical systems with their associated limitations. 

Solution

The AFI 5000P was adopted to measure a shiny, polished airfoil surface, as well as to gather datum information on the blade edges and platform (or root). The figure above illustrates a representative (non-proprietary) airfoil. 

Test conditions were: no coatings or sprays allowed less than 1 minute per airfoil (including analysis) full data coverage on blade surfaces and datums no targeting on the blade permitted data must be accurate and repeatable to within required tolerances NIST traceable no loss of performance in manufacturing environments (temperature, vibration, humidity)

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The airfoil was placed in the AFI 5000P's field of view. The airfoil was rotated, the airfoil was scanned and the scans were merged together.

Conclusion

The AFI 5000P met all requirements for a total airfoil inspection system capable of quickly verifying dimensions in a rapid manufacturing environment. Because the AFI 5000P can measure small aircraft and APU airfoils, as well as large power plant components, it represents the "total solution" that airfoil manufacturers are looking for.

The AFI 5000P was the only system that met all customer requirements by delivering:

• accurate data
• uncorrupted data, regardless of surface properties
• fast acquisition
• total inspection
• scaleable systems for large and small components
• no coatings or sprays required
• full data coverage on airfoil surfaces datums
• no targeting required
• no additional photogrammetry systems required
• suitable for real-world manufacturing environments
• traceable to NIST