Due to the extremely complex structure of aero engines, daily maintenance and inspection cannot always be conducted through disassembly to identify problems. This necessitates the use of a device known as a “bore finder” or endoscope to perform regular inspections.

With the development of technology, an increasing number of industries are using helicopters as an efficient means of transportation to improve work efficiency and respond to emergencies and other special tasks. Helicopters play an irreplaceable role in power transmission line inspection, wind power equipment monitoring, fire inspections, public security patrols, as well as aerial emergency rescue, offshore oil platform transport, and aerial sightseeing.

This time, a downtime inspection is being conducted on a helicopter. Although the turboshaft engine of a helicopter is different from the high-thrust aero engine of a typical commercial airliner, the turboshaft engine does not have large fan blades. The height of the compressor blades is less than a quarter of that of civil aircraft engine blades, and the space in the combustion chamber is even narrower. The turbine blades near the channel are so narrow that they only allow detection equipment with an outer diameter of 4mm to enter. The unique internal structure poses significant challenges to the inspection process, requiring the video borescope to have strong guiding capabilities, bright illumination, clear dynamic and static image quality, and good portability.

Which Parts of a Helicopter Need Inspection?

Main Inspection Content: Engines, turbine blades of the combustion chamber, combustion chamber, main reducer, lift bearing cage, traveling core gears, and other major parts and components.

Main Aspects Include:

• Engine Inspection: Industrial borescopes are used to inspect the interior of the engine, such as checking for blade ablation, the degree of edge defects on the blades, and blockages in nozzles and screens.
• Main Reducer: Inspection of each gear for wear, meshing, and cracks, any obvious damage and deformation, the size of the gap between gears, whether bearings are damaged, loose, or displaced, whether the cleanliness and level of the oil are within the prescribed range, whether lubrication is adequate, whether oil is contaminated and leaking, and whether cavitation is present.

Application of Industrial Borescopes in the Helicopter Field

Customer Requirements for Borescope Use:

Customers need to use portable borescopes for daily inspection, operation, and maintenance work. They have requirements for equipment clarity, control sensitivity, product stability, and equipment weight. The diameter must be less than 4mm, the tube length 2 meters, with ultra-clear lenses, electric steering, fine adjustment locking, overload protection, and other functions to meet inspection needs, and the weight must not exceed 3kg.

Solution

At the customer’s site, the industrial borescope demonstrated was the US19 4-way articulating industrial borescope camera. The borescope was used to directly inspect the helicopter’s engine compartment. Since the internal space of the helicopter engine is narrow and the surface of components is heavily oil-contaminated, it places high demands on the sensitivity of the lens, illumination of the light source, and flexibility of manipulation.

Inspection Results

Customers were very satisfied with the inspection results of the QBH’s US19 4-way articulating industrial borescope camera, praising its image clarity, lens sensitivity, and the convenience of the equipment. On-site engineers unanimously agreed that domestic equipment from our country can now completely replace imported brands in many aspects, and gave high praise to this US19 4-way articulating industrial borescope camera.

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