Best practices in the use of Non-Contact Capacitive “Smart” Displacement, Gap & Hole Sensors for Aircraft & Aircraft Engines
30Pages

Capacitec 87 Fitchburg Road Ayer, MA 01432 Tel: 978 772 6033 email: sales@capacitec.com www.capacitec.com 1 AB Best practices in the use of Non-Contact Capacitive “Smart” Displacement, Gap & Hole Sensors for Aircraft & Aircraft Engines Presented at AeroTest America by Bryan Manning Commercial Director-Europe

Capacitec 87 Fitchburg Road Ayer, MA 01432 Tel: 978 772 6033 email: sales@capacitec.com www.capacitec.com 2 Capacitec Background ƒå Over 25 years of Aerospace Market Experience in the US, Europe and Japan. ƒå Customers include: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Delta IV, GE, P&W, Rolls Royce, Snecma, MTU, Airbus, Lufthansa, Air France... ƒå Unique leading technology in non-contact capacitive displacement, gap and hole “mapping” sensors and systems. ƒå Introduction of: ƒå Displacement sensors used on fuselage alignment jigs and step gaps. ƒå New Gapman® wands and start of Gapman 2...

Capacitec 87 Fitchburg Road Ayer, MA 01432 Tel: 978 772 6033 email: sales@capacitec.com www.capacitec.com 3 Aircraft Applications

Capacitec 87 Fitchburg Road Ayer, MA 01432 Tel: 978 772 6033 email: sales@capacitec.com www.capacitec.com 4 Aircraft Engine Applications High temperature thermal expansion Engine rebuild concentricity Fan blade clearance Engine maintenance assessment Blade tip gap measurement Measurement of bore diameters

Capacitec 87 Fitchburg Road Ayer, MA 01432 Tel: 978 772 6033 email: sales@capacitec.com www.capacitec.com 5 Principle of non contact capacitive measurement Č Capacitive reactance is proportional to the distance between the sensor and the target

Capacitec 87 Fitchburg Road Ayer, MA 01432 Tel: 978 772 6033 email: sales@capacitec.com www.capacitec.com 6 Typical displacement sensors

Capacitec 87 Fitchburg Road Ayer, MA 01432 Tel: 978 772 6033 email: sales@capacitec.com www.capacitec.com 7 Typical displacement sensors

Capacitec 87 Fitchburg Road Ayer, MA 01432 Tel: 978 772 6033 email: sales@capacitec.com www.capacitec.com 8 Displacement measurement ƒå High resolution combined with very small probe sizes (2 mm OD) ƒå High precision with linearity to 0.1% FS and repeatability to 0.01% FS ƒå Extreme temperature: Cryogenic (-272°C) to 1000°C ƒå High frequency response for high temperature and fatigue testing ƒå Blade length balance testing

Capacitec 87 Fitchburg Road Ayer, MA 01432 Tel: 978 772 6033 email: sales@capacitec.com www.capacitec.com 9 Displacement measurement Aircraft Applications Subassembly Alignment jig sensor: Č Some aircraft assemblers use XYZ plane alignment jigs to hold various sections (e.g. fuselage, wing flaps etc.) during assembly. Č There are typically several tooling hole pins to correctly fix the alignment of joining stages. Č Laser tracker systems are often used but are costly and slow (1 hour + set up time requiring 2 to 3 specialized employees) Č Capacitec offers a non-contact displacement...

Capacitec 87 Fitchburg Road Ayer, MA 01432 Tel: 978 772 6033 email: sales@capacitec.com www.capacitec.com 10 Displacement measurement Aircraft Applications Steps & Gap Measurement: Č When large composite skins are laid down on a fuselage or wings, they need to be leveled Č The process could be compared to laying ordinary floor tiles. When a tile is too low or high, shims are used for leveling. Č There are typically hundreds to thousands of steps & gaps per aircraft. Č Capacitec offers a simple Step and Gap Tool using non contact displacement sensors

Capacitec 87 Fitchburg Road Ayer, MA 01432 Tel: 978 772 6033 email: sales@capacitec.com www.capacitec.com 11 Step Gage

Capacitec 87 Fitchburg Road Ayer, MA 01432 Tel: 978 772 6033 email: sales@capacitec.com www.capacitec.com 12 Gap measurement ƒå Gap measurement range from 0.008” to 0.240” ƒå Handheld portable instrumentation: Gapman®/ Gapmaster3 ƒå Complete line of standard and custom wand sizes ƒå Complete solutions: sensor wand, electronics, data acquisition and display software A B A, B = metal or composite

Capacitec 87 Fitchburg Road Ayer, MA 01432 Tel: 978 772 6033 email: sales@capacitec.com www.capacitec.com 13 Typical gap sensors

Capacitec 87 Fitchburg Road Ayer, MA 01432 Tel: 978 772 6033 email: sales@capacitec.com www.capacitec.com 14 Portable “Electronic Feeler Gage”

Capacitec 87 Fitchburg Road Ayer, MA 01432 Tel: 978 772 6033 email: sales@capacitec.com www.capacitec.com 15 New Gapman® Wands New 0.008” (200 micron) wand New contact wand „Ð

Capacitec 87 Fitchburg Road Ayer, MA 01432 Tel: 978 772 6033 email: sales@capacitec.com www.capacitec.com 16 Gapmaster 3 ƒÞ Semi-portable non-contact thin gap sensor system ƒÞ Flash memory data logger, real time LCD display ƒÞ Easy to use: menu driven software ƒÞ Critical gap control: flat to flat, flat to radius, composite materials ƒÞ Excellent stability even in production maintenance shop

Capacitec 87 Fitchburg Road Ayer, MA 01432 Tel: 978 772 6033 email: sales@capacitec.com www.capacitec.com 17 Portable/Precise Gapping System

Capacitec 87 Fitchburg Road Ayer, MA 01432 Tel: 978 772 6033 email: sales@capacitec.com www.capacitec.com 18 “Gapman 2” VOC Underway The objective is to modernize the electronics as well as enhance the device with enhanced features such as: ƒÞ Flash memory for handling more data ƒÞ Smaller size ƒÞ Longer battery life ƒÞ USB interface ƒÞ Enhanced display

Capacitec 87 Fitchburg Road Ayer, MA 01432 Tel: 978 772 6033 email: sales@capacitec.com www.capacitec.com 19 Hole/Bore/Taper measurement Easy to use in all aircraft environments.

Capacitec 87 Fitchburg Road Ayer, MA 01432 Tel: 978 772 6033 email: sales@capacitec.com www.capacitec.com 20 CMS Hole Diameter Mapping System ƒÞ The non-contact displacement sensor probe contains 48 sensors ƒÞ that allow the system to inspect 24 inside diameter locations of a fastener hole, ƒÞ in one insertion, ƒÞ in less than 3 seconds.