A UHP Waterjet System for coke removal in jet engine fuel tubes

A method is proposed to detect, locate, and measure fatigue cracks as small 0.0004 in. (10 um) in advanced materials undergoing thermomechanical fatigue testing. The proposed technique would provide wide area coverage at fatigue rates up to 2000 Hz and specimen temperatures up to and exceeding 2000 degrees F (1100 degrees C). The measurement system would consist of an advanced thermal analysis microscope (TAM), which would either detect the increased thermal radiance of an open crack cavity or the increased thermal impedance of a closed crack feature. The proposed TAM system would provide several innovative features, including a high-speed, 256 squared Indium Antimonide focal plane array (FPA), algorithms for resolution enhancement, real-time, DSP-based exposure control and FPA calibration, coaxial laser and visible imaging channel, and an 8-inch (203-mm) working distance.