Process and apparatus for locating coated cooling holes on turbine vanes
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A process for locating coated cooling holes on a part comprising the steps of:
- providing a part having a region of coated cooling holes;
heating said part; and
identifying the locations of said coated cooling holes by generating a high contrast thermal image of said part and said region of coated cooling holes.
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Abstract
The present invention relates to processes and systems for locating coated cooling holes on parts such as turbine vanes. In a first embodiment of the present invention, a thermal imaging technique is utilized to obtain the locations of the cooling holes on a turbine vane. In a second embodiment of the present invention, a laser scanning technique is utilized to obtain the locations of the cooling holes on a turbine vane.
28 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A process for locating coated cooling holes on a part comprising the steps of:
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providing a part having a region of coated cooling holes;
heating said part; and
identifying the locations of said coated cooling holes by generating a high contrast thermal image of said part and said region of coated cooling holes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for locating coated cooling holes in parts which comprises:
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a heater for heating a part having a surface with a plurality of cooling holes;
an infra red camera for scanning said surface of said part and for generating a thermal image of said scanned surface; and
a computer for determining the locations of said cooling holes from said thermal image. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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14. A process for locating coated cooling holes on a part comprising the steps of:
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providing a scanning system with a laser and a laser spot sensor;
scanning a surface of said part in a region containing said cooling holes with said laser and said laser spot sensor and storing information about said region in the form of point cloud data representing points on said surface; and
processing said point cloud data to determine a center point for each cooling hole in said region.
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20. A system for locating coated cooling holes in parts which comprises:
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a laser for generating a beam of light onto a surface of a part containing a plurality of cooling holes;
a laser spot sensor for receiving light reflected from said surface of said part;
a computer having a memory device, said computer being connected to said laser spot sensor for receiving information in the form of point cloud data; and
means within said computer for processing said point cloud data to determine the location of each cooling hole in said scanned surface. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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Specification