If you want your systems to function in an effective manner you need to have the system to go for a thorough inspection. This is generally achieved by the process of a borescope. A borescope can be called as an optical instrument that can go into the internal structures of systems and get an illuminated image of the insides. Consisting of a long and thin tube with an eyepiece and a lens on the other end, the borescope is used to test the areas where normal objects cannot go through. It is a very useful industrial tool and comes in three forms of:
- Rigid borescopes – these consist of straight rigid tubes and are used to view straight long areas. These consist of an eyepiece at one end and another lens at the other end. A lens relay system is used to link them together. They are generally used in hydraulic manifold bodies, fuel injectors etc.
- Flexible borescopes – these consist of optical fibers and are put into action where there is no straight pathway for inspection. The optic fibers capture the images and divide them into pixels but the quality can be a bit on the downward side. However, if there are pathways where there are bends and curves, then this is the right borescope. They find great use in combustion chambers, compressed air inlets etc.
- Video borescopes – as the name suggests these have a miniature video camera at one end and a source of light that enables video capture. The display is on an LCD screen. This is very effective as more than one person can view what is going on. Obviously this model is very expensive but it is the most useful no doubt.
The various areas where borescope inspection is carried out are:
- Inspection of boilers
- Inspecting gas turbines
- Inspection of pipes
- Inspection of heat exchangers etc.
Borescopes are very useful in industry as they provide a better way of testing other than destructive inspection work. There is not much of training involved as they are quite simple to use. They have found their uses in the medical field too with endoscopes and arthoscopes being developed for visual inspection inside human bodies. However, with the advancement of technology borescopes nowadays can resist high temperatures, chemicals and are made more specialized for their work. Modern CCD borescopes are very small ranging from 3.9 mm to 8 mm.
Streich Horst 