Apparatus and a method of inspecting a turbomachine

Abstract

An apparatus for inspecting a turbomachine includes a plurality of boroscopes, a device to rotate the rotor of the turbomachine and a processor having reference measurements of the rotor blades and/or reference measurements between the rotor blades and the boroscopes. A boroscope is inserted in a casing aperture upstream of the blades to view the leading edge and a portion of one of the surfaces of each blade as the rotor is rotated. A boroscope is inserted in a casing aperture downstream of the blades to view the trailing edge and a portion of one of the surfaces of each blade as the rotor is rotated. The boroscopes supply the images of each of the blades to the processor. The processor analyses the images of the blades and uses the reference measurements to determine the position and size of any defect on any of the rotor blades.

1 . A boroscope comprising a rigid structure and a plurality of cameras, each camera is arranged at a predetermined longitudinal position, each camera is arranged with a line of sight transverse to the longitudinal direction of the boroscope. 
     
     
         2 . A boroscope as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the boroscope comprises a plurality of cameras at the predetermined longitudinal position and the cameras are arranged with lines of sight arranged at different angles. 
     
     
         3 . A boroscope as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the boroscope comprises a plurality of cameras at different longitudinal positions. 
     
     
         4 . A boroscope as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the boroscope comprises at least one camera arranged with a line of sight directed in a first direction and at least one camera arranged with a line of sight directed in a second direction opposite to the first direction. 
     
     
         5 . A boroscope as claimed in  claim 4  wherein the boroscope comprises a plurality of cameras at different longitudinal positions arranged with a line of sight in the first direction and a plurality of cameras at different longitudinal positions arranged with a line of sight in the second direction.