Leica probes energy industry components
Leica probes energy industry componentsKeywords: Leica, Imaging, Cameras
A Leica DC 200 digital camera and IM 1000 imaging software are reported to have both proved invaluable tools to Innogy plc, an integrated energy company,to analyse how and why industrial components fail. Jeff Hulance, materials engineer in Innogy's Plant Life and Integrity team within the Engineering Department, is in charge of the equipment and explained how the Leica systems help his work. "We use the Leica DC 200 in conjunction with an optical microscope to look at metallurgical sections taken from power station components, analysing why components have failed and determining the conditions to which they were exposed while in service. We evaluated several digital camera systems and chose Leica for ease of use. There are up to ten engineers and some students who use the camera as and when they need to."
While the digital camera is used on an optical microscope, the IM1000 software is linked to an electron microscope for more detailed, higher magnification analysis. For example, the nickel alloys used in gas turbine blades have a complex metallurgy. The software helps to determine how the blade materials and coatings degrade over time and the system has been used to develop a method for calculating temperature profiles on ex-service blades (Plate 5).
Plate 5Micrograph showing a thermo-mechanical fatigue crack in a second stage IN-738LC industrial gas turbine blade
Jeff Hulance concluded, "we are upgrading our electron microscopes at present and expect that image analysis will be used even more. It is really quite easy to use, which was important to us as most people use the system on an ad-hoc basis, and the technical and service support has helped enormously in getting us going".
Further details are available from Leica Microsystems (UK) Ltd. Tel: +44 (0)1908 246246; Fax: +44 (0) 1908 609992; E-mail: viki.fox@email.leica.com; Web site: www.leica.com
