Evaluation of an effective method to detect damage in the weld of aero engine components

Important results from the project

The aim of the project was to evaluate the NAW (R) method, which through non-linear analysis of response from ultrasound could be an effective way to measure damage and defects in parts with critical welds. Today´s approach implies that every individual must undergo time consuming and costly inspection and the project has demonstrated potential to sort out parts that are accepted and parts that need to be further inspected. Due to the pandemic, measurements in production could not be carried out, which will be a future step in identifying limits for damage values.

Expected long term effects

The project has illustrated that the NAW (R) method indicates greatly increased damage values in areas where inclusions and pores have been identified with CT scanning used as reference measurements. The method is efficient and can be automated for application in the production and sorting of parts that contain welds with a critical function so that most of the parts do not have to undergo today´s costly inspection of each individual component. Additional measurement are required on site in production to determine the level of damage for the part, which could take place in the future.

Approach and implementation

The work in the project has been carried out according to the project plan within the various project activities. Tests to detect damage have been performed and the potential of the method has been investigated for the specific parts and production conditions that apply at Brogren Industries. Unfortunately, there were no reference measurements with the CT method for case 2, due to illness in CT Center Sweden. Selected results were presented at IGEday 2021 which eas held online at RISE in Olofström.