Case study on effectiveness of Turbine Engine FOD Investigation Tools

Foreign Object Damage (FOD) is a driver in maintenance costs within the aerospace industry. Identifying sources of debris is critical to minimizing recurring damage. Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy is often employed to examine the local regions of damage to identify potential transfer material, but this process is hampered by the size of components or the availability to quickly remove them from aircraft or engines. To overcome these constraints, acetate replication films have been used to remove trace amounts of transfer material to analyze independently of the damaged component. This practice has grown in popularity such that much of the aerospace industry heavily utilizes acetate replication for inspecting engine damage. However, it is often not comprehended the limitations of this method and the results are often over-interpreted by professionals who are unaware. This study exhibits a comparison of the results from a foreign object damage investigation, exhibiting the realistic features and limitations of this technique.