Patent ID: 7890274

Claim:
A method for measuring a flow rate through a cooling hole of a film cooled part, the method comprising: passing a fluid coolant through a film cooled part cooling hole such that a heat transfer coefficient is generated between the coolant and the inside walls of the cooling hole to generate a localized cooled zone within the cooling hole; measuring a transient thermal response of an internal surface temperature corresponding solely to an inside portion of the cooling hole for the film cooled part resulting from the flow of fluid through the part, the fluid having an initial temperature that is different from an initial temperature of the film cooled part; mathematically characterizing the transient thermal response; determining the cooling hole flow rate from the characterization; determining if the film cooled part is useable or reworkable based upon the determined cooling hole flow rate and the mathematical characterization; and reworking the film cooled part cooling hole to achieve a desired flow rate and transient thermal response when the determined cooling hole flow rate and the mathematical characterization indicates the film cooled part cooling hole ability to be put into service.