Inspection of turbine components bore wells, devices with concealed parts, sewer pipelines, etc. was a challenge in the past. You need to disassemble the components to complete the inspection or resolve internal issues and then assemble again. It was a messy, time-consuming, and hard task for technicians or operators.
The invention of the boroscope in 1960 made internal visual inspection from remote locations easy. Professionals seeking a new problem to diagnose or conduct safety inspections could now look within their study object without partially or completely dismantling it. The potential needless damages are eliminated from the equation.
Boroscope history
In 1960, the first inspection device was a rigid tube with an eye-piece at one end along with an angled mirror on another end. During World War II, the soldiers used inflexible, long, primitive devices to inspect their guns bore for flaws. So, the device got its name ‘Boroscope’, from there, but is spelled as Borescope. These rigid borescopes are still applied in straight-line pathways like small dimension castings or rifle barrels.
Borescopes evolution realities
Today, on the USA Borescopes supply store you will find a borescope camera of different types. With improved technology and technical demands from sewer or pipeline inspection services, there was a growing trend in borescope designs.
Rigid borescopes
The first NDE or non-destructive examination tool got developed. It was a huge achievement but has some limitations. The more inaccessible zones of complex machines like engine cavities around a bend were invisible for inspection.
Flexible borescopes
In the 1840s, it was found that fiber optics contained high refraction index, which can enclose photons inside a material. Nonetheless, in the 1960s, this technology was applied in a boroscope to design a fiberscope.
Fiberscope allows technicians to view unreachable curved spaces in real-time. Therefore it has a huge demand in the mechanical and medical sectors. Some years later, creators discovered a way to add a camera to fiberscope, thus increasing its usefulness.
Videoscope
Current advanced technology improvement in the fiberscope model is adding video to the still photos. Videoscopes record videos or images with or without brightness. The most crucial is the joystick-controlled camera articulation. Users can view and steer internally towards the specific interest point to clearly examine. The condition of the targeted components can get visually documented for sharing and future review.
Videoscope is capable to support varied practical applications. Over the past couple of decades, the insertion probe diameter has shrunk from 6mm to 2.8mm. Thus it allows the turbine support services, to thoroughly check complex machines with tight spaces comfortably. Technicians can inspect visually and record the conditions of seals, gears, bearings, turbine blades, vanes, and races with no or minimal take apart.
Videoscope technology is popular in the majority of sectors. This is the main reason that LEDs and cameras are consistently getting smaller in diameter. It helps to access tighter areas within the complex machines. However, every situation for application is different. Therefore makes sure to take help from reputable borescope suppliers like the USA borescope. Borescope has evolved a lot, and there is a lot of prediction for future growth!
