1. Thermal Imaging
  2. Thermography for Quality Assurance

Ther­mo­graphy for Quality Assur­ance

Today gas turbine power plants by the SIEMENS AG are more than ever complex high-tech products. They provide a continuous and reliable electrical power supply for industry and population worldwide. They do this using fossil fuels very efficient and therefore exceptionally friendly for our environment. To achieve this highest quality of every single component is absolutely imperative. Thus heavily stressed parts like the turbine blades are tested with the latest measurement techniques for example with infrared thermography.

Thermography for Quality Assurance: Testing of turbine blades for gas turbine power plants  / Picture credits: © Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co. KG

During the production of the turbine blades for gas turbine power plants the Siemens AG uses ceramic coatings since higher entry temperatures to the turbine blades are reachable which increases efficiency. Thereby it is necessary to ensure the correct application of the coatings with-out any losses at the flow channels. Mr. Sczepurek together with his team takes the responsibility for the required test techniques and processes. Out of the range of non-destructive testing methods he chose infrared thermography as it allows for checking large turbine areas particularly fast and reliable at the same time.

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InfraTec Solution

SIEMENS AG
Energy Sector; Fossil Power
Generation Division

www.energy.siemens.com

Infrared camera
ImageIR® 8300

InfraTec supports this quality assurance by supplying high-performance and reliable infrared cam-eras from its own ImageIR® series manufactured in Dresden. The geometric resolution of 640 x 512 pixels being high for commercial, cooled thermal cameras provides together with a fast frame rate the necessary prerequisites to realize the test of every turbine reliably but also in eco-nomically justifiable time.

A fast motorized focussing as well as a data acquisition to the split milisecond and a camera control by a capable and cus-tomizable software of InfraTec also plays an important role. The flexible inter-face concept of the ImageIR® camera moreover allows for a seamless integration into the existing system environment. Additionally, the infrared cameras of the ImageIR® series can be combined with external excitation devices due to its precise trigger possibility. Thus, further parameters of turbine blades can be de-termined within the methodology of active heat flow thermography. Their analysis and practical ap-plication result in a further increase in efficiency for the customers of the gas turbine power plants of the SIEMENS AG.

Ther­mo­graphy for Quality Assur­ance for Turbine Blades

Turbine blade test

Advant­ages of this Ther­mo­graphy Solu­tions in this Applic­a­tion

InfraTec glossary modules

Modular Concept for Your Flex­ib­ility

The camera can be adapted to all requirements of the user due to modular design of the camera series ImageIR®. This means that a customer-specific thermography system is achieved in every direction. The ImageIR® can also be subsequently retrofitted or upgraded in the event of changing measurement requirements. In this way, maximum investment security is achieved.

InfraTec Glossary Motorfocus

Motor Focus for ImageIR® Full Lenses – More Comfort

All interchangeable standard lens systems of the ImageIR® series can be combined with a motor focus unit, which is controlled by the camera operating software. It enables precise, remote and fast focusing. In addition, an autofocus function is available which operates reliably even with low image contrasts.

InfraTec thermography - Geometrical Resolution

Geomet­rical Resol­u­tion – Effi­cient Analysis of Complex Assem­blies

InfraTec's infrared cameras with cooled and uncooled detectors have native resolutions up to (1,920 × 1,536) IR pixels. Spatially high-resolution thermograms ensure that components and assemblies are imaged down to the smallest detail and thus defects can be reliably detected and precisely localised.

Integ­rated Trigger / Process Inter­face and Inter­faces – Digit­ally Controlling of a Infrared Camera and External Devices

The internal trigger interface guarantees highly precise, repeatable triggering. Each of the two configurable digital inputs and outputs are used to control the camera or to generate digital control signals for external devices. In this way, for example, the operation of a printed circuit board and the interval of a measurement can be synchronised.

The selection of different camera interfaces allows the processing of analog data, such as the voltage directly through the camera and thus the insertion of this information into the thermal image data. Relevant variables can be included in the evaluations with the software, which makes it easier to draw conclusions about the causes of temperature changes.

Relevant Indus­tries & Applic­a­tions

thermal imaging for material testing

Material Testing

Save time and costs by non-destructively testing components with infrared camera systems by InfraTec.

thermal imaging for thermal optimisation

Thermal Optim­isa­tion

Identify possible problems already in the development phase well before serial production.

All branches and application areas