Session: 05-05: Vibration Monitoring Analysis

Paper Number: 154227

Rapid Blade Pit Analysis by Blue Light Scanning 

Compressor blades of gas turbines operating in aggressive and harsh environments are often subject to a higher level of erosion and corrosion than others. This type of environment often leads to the formation of blade pits which are the main root cause of crack initiation and growth in compressor blades leading to engine performance reduction and component life reduction. As a result, pit analysis is an important investigation to conduct to understand the extent of pitting, its roots and its potential for further component degradation.

Pit analysis is usually performed using metallographic replicas that are analyzed by microscopes. We share in this paper our experience with a faster method of pit analysis using Blue Light Scanning (BLS) that allows the investigation to be done locally and rapidly without having to send the blade to a laboratory. BLS is a maturing optical gas turbine part inspection method that focuses on high accuracy geometrical characterization of deformation and defects. It has been gaining a lot of popularity in parts repair with leading OEMs of Gas/Steam turbines. We present in this paper our experience using mobile non-contact and non-destructive BLS for pit analysis in comparison to traditional microscopy based on destructive testing at the laboratory. The results show very promising potential for BLS especially for rapid on-site pit analysis.

Keywords: Inspection, Blue Light Scanning, Metallic Blades, Non-Destructive process, Microscopy, Pit Analysis, On-site Analysis etc.

Presenting Author: Alaaeldin Dawood GE VERNOVA

Presenting Author Biography: Dr. Tayebi is senior engineer manager at GE Vernova where he leads the MENA Decarbonization Center in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

Authors:

Kamel Tayebi GE VERNOVA
Badi Alquzayz GE VERNOVA
Hariharan Sundaram GE VERNOVA
Alaaeldin Dawood GE VERNOVA
Abdurrahman Khalidi Formerly GE Vernova