Introduction to NDT and Penetrant Testing (PT)

G.Jothinathan Scientific Officer Gr.I Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering I I T M, Chennai 600 036 Email gjndt@yahoo.com

Introduction To NDT

Non Destructive Testing (NDT) is a noninvasive method and the testing is carried out without impairing further usefulness of the material, component and structure The component can be put into use after the Testing. The signals that are employed do not alter the properties permanently .
Method Signal Remarks UT US waves - elastic waves Elastic deformation RT X-rays and gamma rays No damage during the course of testing Radiation damage!!! MT Magnetic field Remnent fieldDemagnetisation

- interesting and highly paying field - interdisciplinary of metallurgy, physics and chemistry NDT accounts for 1/3 of the cost of an aircraft (without raw material and fabrication cost !!)

Definition of terms

NDT NDI

Used interchangeably- detection and reporting The scope is broader serviceability is ascertained Also includes material characterisation

NDE

Material anomalies-interruption ,break,disruption

Discontinuity- can meet the service requirements

Defect/flaw - renders unsuitable for service Anamoly whether Discontinuity or defect/flaw 1.Nature of the imperfection linear-volumetric 2.Material structural or high strength 3.Criticality of use storage vessel or boiler boiler in thermal power plant boiler in nuclear power plant Linear -crack length > 3 times width Volumetric - porosity and inclusion

Applications of NDT The main application of NDT is flaw detection and evaluation. It is also used for geometric dimension measurement. material characterization, bond integrity testing , condition monitoring etc

Material characterisation: 1. E and determination 2. Grain size evaluation 3. Proportion of microstructural phases 4. Extent of deformation 5. Nodularity of nodular cast iron etc 6. Fracture toughness determination

Purpose of NDT

Fracture mechanics approach damage tolerance approach (propagates the idea of live with discontinuities) A material property, fracture toughness (KIc) is defined and this characterizes the material behaviour in presence of discontinuities which the earlier strength of materials design approach has not taken into account. KIc can be experimentally determined. The stress intensity factor (KI) the stress distribution around a discontinuity is given by KI = G a where G is geometric constant, is the working stress and a is flaw size. Failure occurs when KI is equal to or greater than KIc To determine KI,, flaw size information needed and is provided by NDT personnel. Life extension and life predication methods also require information on the flaw size.

APPLIED STRESS

YIELD TENSILE STRENGTH

(a) The Strength of materials approach

APPLIED STRESS

FLAW SIZE

FRACTURE TOUGHNESS
(b) The Fracture Mechanics approach

Comparison of classical design philosophy with fracture mechanics approach

NDT methods
1.Visual testing (VT) 2.Liquid Penetrant Testing (PT) Surface NDT 3.Magnetic particle Testing (MT) 4.Radiographic Testing (RT) Surface &internal 5.Ultrasonic Testing (UT) 6.Eddy Current Testing (ET) - highly sensitive 7.Acoustic Emission Testing (AET) monitors activity 8.Thermal Infrared imaging (TIFR) 9.Leak testing (LT)

Visual Testing (VT)

This ancient and original method of examination by human eyes is still widely employed to find gross discontinuities, surface irregularities, roughness and corrosion products on the surface. Many gadgets like lenses, cameras are used. For surfaces inaccessible to the human eyes as in the case of inside surfaces of pipes and boilers, boroscopes and flexible fibroscopes are employed. These are called endoscopes (internal vision). They are nothing but lens arrangement to transfer the image or the optical fibers arrangement for transferring the image.

VT of welds(contd) Mainly for noncritical welds Before, during and after welding Before -Surface roughness and cleanliness (oil) During - Electrode size and welders performance After -Dimensional accuracy of weldments Conformity of welds to size and contour requirements

VT of welds (contd)
Acceptability of weld appearance with regard to: Presence of surface discontinuities such as: surface roughness weld spatter cleanliness underfill pores Undercuts overlaps Cracks spatter Establishing definite procedure to ensure uniformity and accuracy

Liquid Penetrant Testing (PT) -is applicable to discontinuities that are open to the surface or surface connected. -is extension of visual testing -an indication is obtained whose width is very much larger than the actual width of the crack so as to be seen by the unaided eye.
Crack indication

Sensitivity and applications -Sensitivity equal or better than MT better than RT for surface discontinuities 1 m x 10 m x 50 m can be detected
Applications on all materials metals(ferrous and nonferrous) nonmetals(rubber,plastic etc) all type of defects (open) leak testing Normally not applicable to porous materials (unfired ceramics and powder metallurgical

parts)
Presently Filtered particle penetrant for porous materials Rough surfaces pose problem- > 125 mbackground poses problem

Principle of Penetrant Testing PT Highly coloured (visible or fluorescent) organic dye liquid which is also surface active in nature (called penetrants) is applied on to the clean surface of the component and allowed sufficient time for penetration into discontinuities. The excess surface penetrant on the component is removed. This leaves a clean surface of the component with pentrant residing in the discontinuities. At this point Of time, developer, which is highly absorptive in nature, is applied. The developer brings back or bleeds out the penetrant thereby providing an indication in a contrasting background of white colour of developer.
1.Preparation of part 2. Application of penetrant 3. Removal of excess surface penetrant 4. Development 5. Inspection and Evaluation 6. Post Cleaning

Clean surface of Component

Penetrant application

Removal of excess surface penetrant

After removal of excess surface penetrant and before application developer

Application of developer

Inspection and Interpretation

Fig.1. Principle of Penetrant Testing

Principle Of PT

Properties of penetrant The entire penetrant testing is based on the ability of the liquid to penetrate into discontinuities and later ability to come out. The required properties are 1. Wettability 2. Capillarity The ability of the liquid to wet the solid surface or spread over the solid surface is determined by the surface energies of the liquid-gas interface, the solid-liquid interface and the solid-gas interface.
Mathematically expressed SSL = SG - (Lg
Where:
+

SL)

SSL is the wetting ability of liquid on a clean solid. Lg is the surface energy of the liquid-gas interface. SL is the surface energy of the solid-liquid interface. SG is the surface energy of the solid-gas interface.

The liquid to spread over the solid surface, should replace the previously existing solid gas interface. This can happen when the energy difference SG -SL) is positive or if SG> > SL). Or in other words the surface energy of the solid gas interface should exceed, the surface energy of the solid liquid interface. The difference in these energies is responsible for the liquid to spread over the solid surface.

The ability of the liquid to spread or wet the solid surface is related to the contact angle , which quantifies the resultant adhesive and cohesive forces, The contact angle is defined as the angle between the solid surface and the tangent drawn to the liquid at the point of contact. It can be seen that spreading ability and contact angle are inversely related. The Figs. Show the contact angle and wetting ability.
a. low contact angle contact angle 90 deg. High contact angle

Normally, the penetrants need to have a very low contact angle and the commercial penetrants have contact angles between 0 5.. Contact angle depends on the solid surface to be wetted. Waterglass has a contact angle of 0 deg. compared to water-silver which is 90 deg Once the liquid wets the surface, the ability of the liquid to rise in the capillary or enter into the openings is determined by surface tension (T)
Hence the main properties of penetrant are T and

However, the speed of penetration is determined by viscosity

Other penetrant required properties

1.Visibility 2.Nontoxicity (noncorroding etc) Visibility is next most important property of the penetrant Colour contrast ratio of visible dye is ~1:10 (The light reflected by the white background to bright red of the dye) Colour contrast ratio of the fluorescent dye is ~1:100 (light emitted by the indication to the light emitted by the dark background) Because of this colour contrast ratio, the indication is better seen in the case of fluorescent indication . The human eye brings an effect called halation effect, the ability to magnify the indication

Classification penetrants There are mainly three types of penetrants namely 1. Visible dye or colour contrast penetrant (Type II ) 2. Fluorescent or brightness contrast penetrant (Type I ) 3. Dual mode (visible and fluorescent) (Type III)
Other unclassified type is . filtered particle penetrant

(Type I, II, or III is based based on the type of dye that is incorporated -visible or fluorescent or both ) Each of these are further classified as methods 1. Water washable WW ( Method A) 2. Post emulsifiable PE lippophilic (Method B) 3. Solvent removable SR (Method C ) 4. Post emulsifiable Hydrophilic ( Method D) -classification is based on the method by which the excess penetrant is removed in the excess penetrant removal step. Simple water washing water washable Solvent wiping solvent removable Emulsifying &removing post emulsifiable lippo & hydrophilic

Composition of penetrants 1. Oil base 2. Dye material (visible or fluorescent) 3. Solvents and stabilising agents.

The composition of solvent removable and post emulsifiable penetrant are essentially same.
Solvent removable by solvent action Post emulsifiable by dispersing the penetrant into fine particles by the applied emulsifier, making it water removable Water washable - Simple water washing Simple water washing cannot remove the oil base penetrant. Water washable penetrant has one more constituent namely built in emulsifier The moment water is applied, penetrant is dispersed by the inbuilt emulsifier making it amenable for water washing

Sensitivity of penetrants All fluorescent methods are more sensitive than visible dye penetrant
Penetrant Type Properties Visisble dye Fluorescent dye

Indication

Bright red colour

Background

White colour of the developer Colour contrast ratio ~1:10 Visibility(seeability) Medium Halation Normal effect(ability of the eye to magnify the indication) Sensitivity Medium

Yellowish green(on excitation) Dark (max. 2 ft.candles) ~1:100 Very high High

High

In weld inspection, lower sensitivity methods, namely water Washable and solvent removable are employed due to surface roughness of the weld. Hence, use of high sensitivity penetrant namely fluorescent dye penetrant may be preferred.

Preparation of parts 3.1.2 The possible contaminants on the components are 1.Oil and grease 2. Rust or scales (Oxidation products) 3. Paints and conversion coatings 4. Carbon, Varnish etc 5. water 3.1.3 Sources
1. Fabrication processes and subsequent treatment

2. Surface protection against corrosion

3. Surface treatment for improvement of properties

3.1.4 Interference by contaminants

1.physical blocking of the discontinuity (eg

Rust or scale paint or conversion coatings) 2.disturbing the balanced composition of the penetrant (eg. Oil, water etc)

3. Entering and occupying the discontinuities. Oil, water etc)

Simple wiping Vapour degreasing

1. Solvent cleaning
Ultrasonic cleaning

Oil and grease

Acid cleaning 2. Chemical cleaning Detergent cleaning Alkaline cleaning Rust, scale oxide etc

Wire brushing, sand blasting etc

3.Mechanical cleaning
Machining, grinding etc

Rust, scale.
Oxide etc

Application of penetrant Penetrant can be applied by immersion, dipping ,spraying, swabbing and pouring. The only requirement is that a thin layer of penetrant should be present for the specified time (dwell time) on the surface to be inspected. Dwell time : The total time the penetrant is contact with the test surface including the time required for application and for drain . Dwell time = application time + drain time Normally 5-30 mts. Depends on the size and nature of discontinuity and the material and surface condition of the material etc.

Removal of excess penetrant The excess surface penetrant on the surface is carefully removed without affecting the penetrant that is residing in the discontinuity. This is an important step as the unremoved excess surface penetrant will affect subsequently by affecting the contrast of the indication (excessive background) and if any penetrant in the discontinuity is disturbed the volume of the penetrant indication will get reduced (The volume of penetrant is already very small) In any NDT method the Signal to Noise ratio is important and this should be as high as possible
S- Volume of penetrant that has entered into the discontinuity N- Unremoved excess surface penetrant in the discontinuity

It is obvious that in PT to achieve a high S/N ratio, the excess penetrant on the surface should be removed as completely as possible and the penetrant is the discontinuity should not be lost by overwashing

Penetrant removal methods Dissolve and remove (SR) 1. Disperse (emulsify) and remove by water PE 2. Simply water wash if penetrant contains built in Emulsifier (WW) In each case, care need be exercised so as to completely remove the excess penetrant on the surface completely and at the same time the penetrant in the discontinuity is not affected. Wash dont over wash . In the case, welds, when need be inspected without flushing the crown, the surface roughness poses problems giving background colouration thereby affecting the visibility of the Indication. Hence Solvent removable and water washable variations are normally employed. Here overwashing tendency of these methods, is taken to advantage, meaning, the surface is much free from the background colouration. Of course, the sensitivity suffers. Sensitivity depends on the amount of retained penetrant in the discontinuity

Developing an indication 3.5.0 DEVELOPING After the removal of the excess surface penetrant , in developing step, the penetrant from the discontinuity is brought to the surface so as to form an visible indication. 3.6.1 Developer functions The developer functions are 1.To assist the natural seepage of the penetrant in the discontinuity and extract or blot out the penetrant so as to form an visual indication (mechanism of visual indication) 2. To provide a contrasting base which enhances the detection an indication. Blue-black to yellowish green: white to red 3. To spread the penetrant so as to increase the apparent size of the indication 4. To mask some confusing indications

Mechanism of development 3.6.3 Mechanism of developing action : Natural seepage is assisted and the absoptive developers blot out more penetrant from the discontinuity. The thickness of the penetrant layer is increased to the levels above the threshold visibility .( Some fluorescent penetrant indications can be seen without developing with high intensity black light -3000 microwatt/sq.cm)
Particles No Developer Developer Absorbed Penetrant

Width is more

Type of developers and the developer used in weld inspection

Developer has two variations: Dry and Wet. In the case of wet, aqueous and non aqueous. As the sensitivity of wet developers are better than, dry developers and since in weld inspection, less sensitive methods namely water washable and solvent removable are employed , it is better to use wet developers (mostly nonaqueous) in weld inspection in spite surface roughness. Normally for high surface roughness, dry powder is better suited .

Inspection, interpretation and evaluation

Developing action at the end of developer time reveals an indication. In this step the indications are interpreted as to the origin of the indication namely whether True or false indications and if true indication whether relevant or nonrelevant and if relevant as to the nature of discontinuities linear or volumetric. Inspection environement depends on the type of dye - Visible or fluorescent dye white light for visible and black light for fluoresecent Relevant True indication Non relevant
False indication Improper processing

Standard test specimen in PT

1. Aluminum comparator blocks penetrant quality 2. Chrome plated steel specimen sensitivity

2.8.1 Inspection environment

Visible dye penetrant indications are inspected under white light and fluorescent dye penetrant indications are viewed under blach light (ultraviolet light?) Electromagnetic radiation spectrum Visible and ultraviolet spectrum Visible light spectrum - 380 nm to 770 nm or ( V to R ) or 3800 Ao to 7000 Ao Ultraviolet spectrum - 10 nm to 380 nm or 100 -3800 Ao Black light spectrum - 320 nm to 380 nm or (with peak at 365 nm)

Hg arc vapour lamp produces ultraviolet light in addition to visible light. The filters are used to remove the harmful portion of UV (below 320 nm) and also visible light which affects the fluorescence of the fluorescent dye. The filters that are commonly used give black light with maximum peak intensity at 365 nm..

Colour and fluorescent colours Colour part of the white light that is reflected by the surface that is flooded with the white light Fluorescent colour Emission of visible light (any colour) on the impingement of high energy radiation on the surface. In PT & MT, the impingement of black light (UV) leads to emission of yellowish green light

Black light Yellowish green light

Fluorescent dye

Weld defects that can be detected by PT

The preponderance of weld joints are fusion welded. The following discontinuities can be detected. 1. Porosity 2. Lack of root penetration (on single side) 3. Lack of fusion (at toe of welds) 4. Cracks in heat affected zone 5. Crater and other cracks Weldments at the site is inspected with visible dye penetrant using solvent removable method

Some hints on penetrant testing of welds 1. Due to surface roughness of unflushed welds, it is better to use, water washable and solvent removable methods to avoid undesirable background. 2. In the case of Solvent removable pentrants, usual precaution of wiping with solvent moistened lint free cloth may not yield the desired results because of excessive background. Sometimes, the solvent is directly applied to the weld to overcome this difficulty. Of course fine cracks may be missed 3. In the case of TIG and MIG where better surface is obtained, it is better to go solvent wiping method 4. Inspection with multiple pass welds with penetrants requires that each weld bead is inspected prior to the next pass to provide the next the best reliability. Cleaning after each testing

Hints for weld inspection (contd) 5.Water washable fluorescent penetrants

can be used on large pressure vessels or other large structures by washing with a hose and air drying. Developent with solvent suspended developer can provide good sensitivity Water washable penetrants can be washed more readily from most weld 6. It is important to remove all the of the slag from welds before penetrant testing. Grinding off the ripples on rough welds is desirable. Grinding should not smear the metal 7. Brazed joints can discontinuities similar to weld beads that can be detected by PT. A braze that does not wet the surface is indication of a poor joint.

Selection guide for NDT Method Visual Disadvantage Limited to visual acuity of the inspector Liquid Surface cracks Relatively Cleaning is needed penetrant and porosity inexpensive & before and after Reasonably fast inspection .surface films hide discontinuities Magnetic Surface and Relatively Applicable only particlei subsurface economical and ferromagnetic discontinuities expedient materials Radiographic Volume Provides Plane discontinuities permanent record discontinuities Surface & must be favourably subsurface aligned with radiation bean Ultrasonic Most Sensitive to Small thickness discontinuities planar plate may be discontinuities. difficult to inspect. High penetration Requires skilled capability operator Eddy current Surface and Painted or coated Many variables testing subsurface can surface signal affect the test be inspected High speed Application Advantages Surface Economical test discontinuities