Aerospace
Applications & Measurement Solutions
Turbine engines are higly specialized aircraft components that must meet enormous safety requirements. One way to meet these new metrological requirements is the use of high-resolution, optical 3D metrology.
The following highly critical turbine engine parts can be measured optically:
>> Break edges
of fan blades, compressor discs, turbine blades, blisks, cases etc. according to ASME
>> Leading and trailing edge of turbine blades
even at sharp opening angles due to a special illumination technology that enables the measurement of steep flanks
>> Small defects
of components (i.e. rotor blades) or component assemblies (i.e. motors) by measuring width, length, depth and volume of fractures, scratches etc.
>> Cooling holes
by automatically verifying angle, size, and shape of up to 500 cooling holes, some of them with different shapes
>> Roughness measurements
to i.e. verify coating processes or MRO actions. Roughness is measured profile based (Ra, Rq, Rz) and area based (Sa, Sq, Sz)
FIND OUT MORE
Dimensional metrology to increase efficiency and safety of turbine engine components
Non-contact, dimensional measurement together with industrial automation capabilities enable a number of time-saving measures in quality assurance. Check out the following material to find out more details on applications with the optical coordinate measurement system µCMM or the Cobots, a combination of high resolution optical 3D metrology and collaborative robotics!
Webinar
Optimize your turbines by optically measuring break edges and defects
The use of optical measurement solutions contributes to meeting the high safety requirements of the industry and the increasing quality demands in precision manufacturing. This webinar wil show you the possibilities offered by the optical coordinate measuring system µCMM and Cobot!
In this webinar you can learn more about optimizing your turbines by optical 3D measurement:
- full geometry measurement of a turbine blade
- break edge and defect measurement
- cooling hole measurement and much more


Measurement Report
Turbine blade measurement using optical Focus-Variation technique
The measuring object is a turbine blade, measured with the µCMM and a rotation unit (Real3D). In order to analyze the turbine blade, the following parameters are measured:
- Geometry of a cooling hole
- Defects
- Airfoil analysis (leading & trailing edge radii, form deviation, profile twist, etc.)
- Fir tree geometry
- Profile & areal roughness
White Paper
Non-contact and highly accurate measurement of critical turbine engine components
Turbine engines are highly specialized aircraft components that must meet enormous safety criteria. They are precision components with complex geometries and tolerances in the sometimes single-digit μm range. Functional component features such as micro bores for cooling turbine blades or defined broken edges on highly stressed components contribute both to increased efficiency and to the safe operation of these high-performance systems. One way to meet the new metrological requirements is the use of high-resolution, optical 3D metrology. Learn more about applications of Focus-Variation for break edge, defect and geometry measurement, measurement of cooling holes, coating processes, cutting edge measurement, possibilities of artificial intelligence and much more.

User Case Story
MTU Aero Engines
Read how MTU Aero Engines quickly, easily and automatically measure radii chamfers and break edge on turbine engine components. The optical measuring solutions replace labor intensive replica techniques and tactile methods in defect measurement.
Video
Automatic defect detection & measurement
In this video you can see how automatic defect detection of a turbine blade works. The “Detection-Cell” is a combination of image processing, high-resolution optical 3D measurement technology, digital measurement planning, robotics and artificial intelligence. This unique combination offers the automatic detection and 3D measurement of component defects.