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What is Visual Inspection?
Visual inspection can be used in nearly all areas of preventive maintenance.
The inspection can be performed both while the machine/plant is in operation and when it is shut down.
Visual inspection can immediately be applied in a number of areas, such as:
- Checking cleanliness
- Checking for corrosion, erosion, and deformations
- Checking for breaks, cracks, and wear
- Checking manometers, pressure switches, and temperatures
- Checking oil level, lubrication, and any lubrication devices
- Checking the functionality of machines and plants
Visual Inspection Methods:
- Videoscopes (VT)
- Inspection Mirrors
- LED Flashlights
- Welding Gauges
- Penetrant Testing (PT)
- Magnetic Testing (MT)
Example of a Videoscope System
F1700 Pipe Camera from Mitcorp
Visual Inspection Historically:
Developments in the field of “Visual Inspection” are primarily driven by heightened awareness. Inspection is expanded as experience grows regarding the durability (or lack thereof) of plant and machine installations, allowing one to use one’s senses more effectively.
This experience, combined with the use of the right aids and systematic approaches to inspection, can result in a thorough record of observations for decision-making processes.
What is RVI?
RVI stands for Remote Visual Inspection, i.e., visual inspection from a distance, or indirect visual inspection typically carried out either deep inside pipes or through small openings to see inside machines, tanks, etc.
RVI is divided into two categories as described below:
What is TV Inspection?
A pipe camera, also known as “TV inspection,” is a specialized type of videoscope designed to crawl through pipes, sewers, drains, downpipes, etc., to perform a visual inspection.
It is usually somewhat larger than a handheld videoscope, as a working length over 30m is often needed, along with a robust construction for operation in clogged pipes and the like.
Generally used by plumbing/sewer services and dedicated TV inspection companies, but also in industry for examining factory pipes, etc.
What is an Endoscope?
An endoscope, sometimes also called a videoscope or borescope/boroscope or inspection camera, can be used for many purposes. If a visual (TV) inspection is required inside pipes, boilers, cylinders, engines, reactors, heat exchangers, turbines, and other items with narrow, hard-to-reach cavities and/or channels, then a videoscope is an important—indeed indispensable—instrument.
The endoscope is an evolution of older borescopes and fiberscopes. It works on a principle where the image is captured by a small electronic sensor that transmits signals to a video processor, from which the image is sent to a monitor/display. The electronic sensor is located at the end of a flexible fiber-optic cable, available in lengths up to 30m and with a diameter as small as 2.5mm.
Modern Wi-Fi Videoscope from Mitcorp
W2145 wifi videoscope from Mitcorp
Videoscopes and Endoscopes Historically:
Visual inspection is probably the oldest method of non-destructive testing. It remains one of the most important.
The amount of information from visual inspection is large, as features such as surface condition, shape, color, and the presence of flaws, etc., can be recorded.
By using endoscopes and videoscopes, one compensates for the eye’s inability to see around corners and its limited resolution.
The word “endoscope” is of Greek origin, loosely translated as “seeing internally.”
The first endoscopes—making it possible to see into hollow organs or cavities from the outside—were developed for medical purposes.
From these first steps came more technically oriented instruments called borescopes. These borescopes are, and were, rigid instruments equipped with lens optics and a miniature incandescent lamp for illumination.
In the next generation, the incandescent lamp was replaced by fiber-optic illumination, which significantly increased lighting intensity and enabled better photo documentation.
The crucial development step was realized with the design of flexible fiber-optic imaging. This made it possible to inspect very hard-to-reach surfaces that cannot be accessed in a straight line.
As an alternative to fiberscopes’ image transmission via glass fibers, the image can now be captured by a small electronic sensor that transmits signals to a video processor, which then sends the image on to a high-resolution monitor. This means it is now possible, with this technology, to have significantly longer endoscopes than before.