Safran Nacelles manages composite overheating with Presto |
Léo Barnier in Orlando |
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25 APR 2018 | 365 words
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© Safran Nacelles / P. Boulen |
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The launch of its NacelleLife at the MRO Americas show in Orlando on 10th April provided Safran Nacelles with the opportunity to present its innovative new tools. This applies particularly to Presto, which is dedicated to analysing overheating composite panels.
"Composites are highly sensitive to heat", explains Kiêm Vadee, services innovation manager for the Safran Nacelles Customer support and services division. "Heat damage does not cause any delamination or take-off and is very difficult to detect". This becomes a problem for nacelles, which by their nature are elements which are exposed to high levels of heat, especially when thermal protection fails.
The French equipment provider has therefore decided to develop Presto, a non-destructive inspection tool. It is composed of an ExoScan infra-red temperature monitor from Agilent Technologies purchased off the shelf and a software solution developed in-house by Safran Nacelles. It is able to evaluate the thermal damage to a composite material by comparing the data collected during the infra-red sweep of the affected zone using pre-established models.
The development of these models required a database to be created first, submitting to heat each composite element present on all types of nacelle - with each one reacting differently. The difference also had to be defined between the effects of the different types of exposure: long exposure to low temperature does not have the same consequences as short exposure to high temperature. Presto is even able to determine the conditions of the event which led to the damage.
Safran is proposing its solution to its customers via teams which can be sent to site, and is even able to carry out inspections under the wing. "It was very important to have portable tools as we need to get as close to the customer as possible and avoid removing the engine", confirms Kiêm Vadee. These teams can be deployed in 48 hours, for analysis and diagnostic which will take an extra 24 to 48 hours depending on the operation.
Presto has been operational on Airbus A330 and A380, and on Superjet 100, since September 2017. The next step will involve deploying it on A320neo and A330neo over the next three years.
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Léo Barnier
Specialized journalist
Industry & Technology, Equipments, MRO
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