Wheelsonics on Turbine Rotors

Wheelsonics is a series of examinations that may be performed on different turbine rotor configurations. Our capabilities include:

• Tangential blade attachment examinations

Tree structures conducted in compliance with GE’s TIL-1277 and T- Slot structures as seen on some Allis-Chalmers, Westinghouse, Parsons, and others.

• Disk Bore and Keyway examinations

A number of turbine rotors are made up of central shafts with one or more of the blade disks/wheels shrink fit and keyed to the shaft. The disk/wheel bores are heavily loaded and susceptible to stress corrosion cracking. The 3angles twin arm Wheelsonics system can not only assess the ends of the bores but also the critical central or web section of the bores. With the advent of Phased Array UT technology, it is now possible to provide a cost effective alternative to un-stacking a rotor.

• Wheel Repair examinations

A critical design component on all rotors is heavy section changes as seen at the junction of the rotor shaft and the blade disk /wheel. The Wheelsonics system is used to evaluate defects found with surface tests and to assess repairs where applicable.

• Peripheral Examinations

For turbine rotors without bores peripheral volumetric examinations are used in place of Boresonics examinations. The Wheelsonics system provides positive indexing and examination repeatability. It also allows the use of phased array techniques that can expand coverage and probability of detection by 700% to 800% over conventional L-wave techniques.