Surface Defect Detection and Removal

In the aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) industry, it takes significant time and effort to inspect and repair minor dents and scratches on critical in-service components. These defects are typically manually removed using traditional dressing and blending. For components that are in poor condition, it may even take more than one shift to complete the repairs.

• This is the first system to automatically detect and polish out surface defects in hard-metal and precision components.
• The new surface scanning technology can identify defects on hard-metal and precision components using pre-set inspection criteria for damage depth and length. This is similar to adaptive machining technology, and much more advanced than operators using a magnifying glass to search for surface defects.

• Any surface damage will be automatically identified.
• The result of the damage inspection is determined by a clear threshold of ‘good’ or ‘bad’, which is not decided by the operator. If a component is found to be ‘bad’, it is polished until it reaches an acceptable standard.
• This is a simple and reliable system that avoids the need for very labour-intensive work. It does not require measurements of defects using gauge wires, and there is no need to produce a replica mould of the pitting or defect to measure it with a digital microscope. This helps avoid many steps that add no value.

• Detection and dressing of light defects on metallic components.