Wed, Oct 13, 2004
Can Reduce Cost of Spey and Tay Major Maintenance Events Up to
35 Percent
Dallas Airmotive's TomCat process,
specifically developed for Spey and Tay engines, can save operators
up to 35 percent on their turbine section overhauls. TomCat can
safely extend the service life of High Pressure Stage 1 (HP1)
turbine blades for an additional 4,000 hours or 10 years, whichever
comes first, to minimize the need for blade replacement.
"Material replacement is a dominant cost factor in operating
Speys and Tays," said Dallas Airmotive President and CEO Jim
Donlan. "The TomCat process we developed can potentially save
operators hundreds of thousands of dollars in blade replacements
over the life of the engine."
To date, Dallas Airmotive has successfully applied their TomCat
inspection on more than 800 Spey and Tay corporate and regional
airline powerplants. TomCat employs non-destructive radiographic
inspection (X-Ray Tomography) to examine and measure the leading
edge wall thickness of each HP1 turbine blade. Before the TomCat
process begins, the HP1 blades are stripped of aluminized coating,
cleaned, inspected with fluorescent penetrant, and the leading edge
dressing is completed. Then Tomography is used to inspect the
turbine blades by rotating them in a fan beam of radiation. This
provides the desired cross-section views to determine turbine blade
wall thickness. This process accurately determines the remaining
service life based on each blade's actual physical condition rather
than the number of cycles. Dallas Airmotive imprints serial numbers
on every TomCat blade, and X-Rays of the blades are kept on file to
verify their condition.
In evaluating the HP1 blades, Dallas Airmotive uses its
extensive Spey and Tay historical data and its Rolls-Royce service
experience with Spey and Tay major maintenance events.
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