LEAP fan blades visual findings –
REFERENCE BOOK
LEAP PRODUCTION SUPPORT ENGINEERING
2018, Apr
Revision E
1
About this guide
This guide is to aid Operator with the visual aspect of fan
blades on LEAP Engines.
Fan blade specific limitations and serviceability criteria are
only to be found in the Engine Shop Manual and/or Aircraft
Maintenance Manual.
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CFM56, LEAP Proprietary
Information
CFM, CFM56, LEAP and the CFM logo are trademarks of
CFM International, a 50/50 joint company between Safran
Aircraft Engines and GE. The information in this document is
CFM Proprietary Information and is disclosed in confidence.
It is the property of CFM International and its parent
companies, and shall not be used, disclosed to others or
reproduced without the express written consent of CFM. If
consent is given for reproduction in whole or in part, this
notice shall appear in any such reproduction in whole or in
part. The information contained in this document may also be
controlled by the U.S. and French export control laws.
Unauthorized export or re-export is prohibited.
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Contact Information
If assistance is needed with this reference book, please contact:
GE Aviation
Regions covered: North America, South America, Asia Pacific and
China
Toll-free in U.S.: +1 877-432-3272
Phone: +1 513-552-3272
China & Asia Pacific: +86 21-3877-7666
Email: aviation.fleetsupport@ge.com
Customer Support Portal: https://cwciportal.cfm56.com
Safran Aircraft Engines
Regions covered: Africa, Middle East and Europe
Tel: +33 (0) 1 64 14 88 66
Email: snecma.csc@snecma.fr
Customer Support Portal: https://cwcs.cfm56.com
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Fan Blade Overview
All fan blade criteria (ESM, AMM,
Visual Findings Book) are defined
counter-clockwise following :
- Metallic Leading Edge
- Tip
- Trailing edge
- Airfoil
- Dovetail and shank
- Wearstrips
Concave Side
= Pressure Side
Convex Side
= Suction Side
TIP
MLE (Metallic
Leading Edge)
TRAILING
EDGE
AIRFOIL
PLATFORM
WEARSTRIP
DOVETAIL
AND SHANK
TE = Trailing Edge
DOVETAIL
WEARSTRIP
LE = Leading Edge
NOTE : Applicable for convex and concave sides
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Fan Blade Overview
3D Woven Carbon Composite
Titanium Leading Edge
Multi layer coating deposit
process
A-A
Fiber
Resin
Composite material aspect
(non-painted area)
B-B
Concave Side
A-A : Fan Blade Cross Section
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Table of contents
1. Fan Blade Marking
a. Fan blade marking on shank
b. Metallic Leading Edge marking
2. Metallic Leading Edge (MLE)
a. Nicks, Dents, Scratches, Tears
b. Cracks
c. Disbonding, Crease
Concave Side
3. Tip
a. Contact Area
b. Missing composite material
c. Cracks
4. Airfoil
a. Coating
b. Nick on concave side
c. Decohesion Vs Cracks in painted areas
d. Scratches
e. Tear
f. Indentation line, coatings visual aspect
g. Porosities
5. Dovetail and Shank
a. Decohesion Vs Cracks in non painted areas
b. Resin micro-cracking
6. Wearstrips
a. Wearstrips description
b. Erosion, wear
c. Frayed, disbonded corner
d. Coloration
Reference : 18 fan blades drawing
Note : If not specified, all conditions described in the visual book are
applicable for concave and convex sides
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1. Fan blade marking
a. Fan blade marking on shank
LE
TE
4mm
Convex Side
Fan blade marking
on convex side
QR
CODE
FAN BLADE P/N
FAN BLADE S/N
QR
4mm
CODE
XXX
XXX
XXX
XXX
Fan blade marking details
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1. Fan blade marking
b. Metallic Leading Edge marking
Metallic Leading Edge marking (MLE S/N and P/N) and fan
blade marking on shank (Fan blade S/N and P/N) are different
NOTE : Correlation possible between Metallic Leading Edge S/N
and Fan Blade S/N
MLE
TE
LE
Convex Side
Metallic Leading Edge P/N
and S/N marking engraved
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2. MLE – Metallic leading edge visual aspects
a. Nicks, Dents, Scratches, Tears
Nick on MLE Sidewall
LE
TE
Convex Side
Scratch on MLE Sidewall
Before Blending Repair After Blending Repair
Nick on MLE nose
Tears on MLE nose
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2. MLE – Metallic leading edge visual aspects
b. Cracks
MLE
LE
TE
Convex Side
Crack on MLE sidewall
≠
MLE glue
Fan blade platform seal
deposit on MLE sidewall
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2. MLE – Metallic leading edge visual aspects
c. Disbonding, Crease
Crease
Disbonding
LE
TE
Convex Side
Crease
Disbonding
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3. Tip visual aspects
a. Contact area
Convex Side
Material Deposit
Tip Rub
Melt resin, frayed carbon fiber
LE
TE
Contact area on Metallic Leading Edge tip
Coloration on Metallic Leading Edge tip
Coloration on Metallic Leading Edge tip
and material deposit
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3. Tip visual aspects
b. Missing composite material
Missing composite material on tip
TE
LE
Missing composite material on tip
Convex Side
Missing composite material on tip
(side view)
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3. Tip visual aspects
c. Cracks
10 mm
Crack (fiber breakage) on tip
TE
10 mm
LE
Convex Side
Crack (fiber breakage) on tip
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4. Airfoil visual aspects
a. Coating (1/3)
Black paint peeling (concave side only):
White primer still present
AIRFOIL
Black
paint
Primer
Starting from MLE
TE
LE
Concave Side
Starting from initial “impact”
mark from any location
REFERENCE : Fan blade coatings on concave side
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4. Airfoil visual aspects
a. Coating (2/3)
AIRFOIL
Paint spalling (concave side only):
Black paint and primer loss
PU film
Primer
TE
LE
Concave Side
Paint erosion
(concave side only)
Blister
Black
paint
Primer
Black
paint
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4. Airfoil visual aspects
a. Coating (3/3)
Missing coating (Paint and PU film)
LE
TE
Convex Side
Missing paint on MLE
(Metallic Leading Edge)
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4. Airfoil visual aspects
b. Nick on concave side
Black paint
Primer
PU Film
Composite
material
TE
LE
Concave Side
REFERENCE : Fan blade coatings on concave side
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4. Airfoil visual aspects
c. Decohesion Vs Cracks in painted areas (1/2)
Paint flaking due to
underlying decohesion
LE
TE
Convex Side
Cracks (fiber breakage)
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4. Airfoil visual aspects
c. Decohesion Vs Cracks in painted areas (2/2)
Decohesion
Cracks (fiber
breakage)
TE
LE
Convex Side
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4. Airfoil visual aspects
d. Scratches
LE
TE
Convex Side
Scratches limited to the paint
with primer visible
Scratches limited to the paint
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4. Airfoil visual aspects
e. Tear
LE
TE
Tears in coatings and
composite material
Convex Side
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4. Airfoil visual aspects
f. Indentation line, coatings visual aspect
TE
LE
Convex Side
Indentation line visible at the
transition between metallic leading
edge and composite material
Orange peel aspect
Waviness aspect
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4. Airfoil visual aspects
g. Porosity
Porosity visible on coating
LE
TE
Convex Side
Porosity visible on composite
material surface
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5. Dovetail and shank
a. Decohesion Vs Cracks
in non painted areas
TE
LE
Convex Side
4mm
Decohesion and micro-cracks
only around fibers
Fiber Resin
4mm
Cracks (fiber breakage)
across fibers
Fiber Resin
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5. Dovetail and shank
a. Decohesion in non painted areas
LE
TE
4mm
Convex Side
10 mm
Radial decohesion visible
through trailing edge wearstrip
Decohesion in composite
material
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5. Dovetail and shank
b. Resin micro-cracking
4mm
LE
4mm
TE
Convex Side
4mm
MLE glue
4mm
Resin micro-cracking
into composite material
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6. Wearstrips visual aspects
CONVEX SIDE CONCAVE SIDE
a. Wearstrips description
6 wearstrips :
Platform wearstrip
Dovetail wearstrip
Platform wearstrip
Dovetail wearstrip
LE
TE
Convex Side
Leading
edge
wearstrip
Trailing
edge
wearstrip
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6. Wearstrips visual aspects
b. Erosion, wear
Concave Side
Wear on platform wearstrip not
through to the composite
TE
LE
Wear on platform wearstrip through to
the composite (concave side only)
Wear on dovetail wearstrip
not through to the composite
Wear on leading edge wearstrip
not through to the composite
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6. Wearstrips visual aspects
c. Frayed, disbonded corner
Frayed and disbonded dovetail wearstrip
LE
TE
Convex Side
Frayed and disbonded
dovetail wearstrip
Frayed dovetail wearstrip
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6. Wearstrips visual aspects
d. Coloration
Convex Side
LE
TE
Black coloration on
platform wearstrip
Black coloration on
leading edge wearstrip
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Reference : 18 fan blades drawing
Drawing can be used as template for findings reporting in field
Note : Fan disk slot number 1 identified on each side of the slot.
Fan blade number 1 placed in front of the top vertical point of the
Platform front shroud (spherical indentation on its surface).
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