10 Practical Non-destructive Testing
accumulate the penetrant. This leads to either
are notcleaned from the surface will tend to
or creation of defect
indications where none exist. A satisfactorv
masking of real indications
must be chosen for a particular
combination of solvents, brushes, rags, etchants, etc.,
cleaned surface be adequately dried before the
inspection problem. It is essential that the
excess cleaning fluid would dilute the
application of the penetrant since presence of any
indication.
penetrant and diminish the brilliance of the
3.2.2 Penetrant Application
The second step in the inspection process is the application of penetrant fluid to the cleaned
surface. The fluid should spread freely and evenly over the surface and move into the crack.
The dwel time, which is the amount of time required for the penetrant to move into the
Crack will vary depending on the crack size and shape characteristics and also the environmental
conditions such as temperature and surface inclination. Application of penetrant may be
achieved by dipping the component in a bath of penetrant iquid or by spraying orbrushing
A minimum dwel time of about 20 to 30 min may be allowed after penetrant application.
Larger periods may be necessary in certain circumstances.
3.2.3 Removal of Excess Penetrant
This is the most important step in the entire process. The desired result is that the surface
is completely clear of penetrant. Yet, the crack/defect retains all of the penetrant that
entered into it. Excess cleaning may remove the penetrant from the upper region of the
defect with the result that the developer does not reach the penetrant and no defect is
indicated. On the other hand, insufficient cleaning will leave a background of penetrant on
the surface. Due to this, the defect will appear only slightly different from the background
area. This difference in contrast may not be sufficient for the defect to be recognized. Thus,
care must be exercised so that neither insufficient cleaning nor over cleaning is done.
3.2.4 Application of Developer
After removing the excess penetrant, a thin coating of developer is applied over the surface
to draw the penetrant out of the crack and increase its visibility. Another important function
of the developer is that it covers the surface with a colour that provides good visual contrast
to the penetrant. This increases the visibility of the defect.
3.2.5 Inspection and Evaluation
The last step in the process is the scanning of the surface for indications. The scanning may
be carried out under visible light conditions or with ultraviolet or laser incident light and
the defect recognition may be made with the human eye or with automated optical scanners.
Each indication that appears should be evaluated. lt may actually be unacceptable; it may
be worse than it appears; it may be false; it may be real but non relevant; or it may actually
be acceptable. Because penetrant inspection provides only indications corresponding to
surface discontinuities, its severity cannot always be determined at first glance. A real
indication is caused by an unacceptable flaw such as a crack. A false indication is an
accumulation of penetrant caused by a drop ot penetrant left on the work piece inadvertently.
A non-relevant indication is the entrapment of penetrant caused at certain locations such
as a press fit interface. After the inspection slage. acceptance/rejection of the component
as
is made based on the applicable
specifications and standards.
Penetrant Testing 11
Liquid
3.3 PENETRANT TESTING MATERIALS
of materials for cleaning and developing
A typical penetrant testing involves use of a variety the fluids involved in the penetrant
as well as the penetrant material itself. In general,
and the solvents or cleaners are selected according
are either petroleum-or-water-based
process
used.
to the type of penetrant
3.3.1 Penetrants
fluid.
of the indicating (tracer) dye plus the carrier (vehicle)
The penetrant material consists as is the
a colour contrast with respect to the surroundings,
The indicating dye may give fluorescent dye
case for visible dye penetrant
methods, or a brightness contrast for the
fluorescent
the dye is usually red in colour, while for
penetrants. For visible light penetrants,
under ultraviolet light.
penetrants, the dye appears bright yellow-green material is the detection sensitivity.
One of the significant factors in the choice of penetrant achievable is
From the experimental results, it
has been found that the highest sensitivity
with the water washable and post-emulsifiable systems.
3.3.2 Cleaners and Emulsifiers
for the material that is to be removed. For water
A cleaning fluid must act as a solvent For
rinse is suitable for the cleaning step.
based penetrants, a simple water wash or The
alternate methods for cleaning the test piece.
petroleum-based penetrants, there are two Another method is to use
or chlorine-based solvent.
most direct approach is to use an oil
water-soluble substance,
an emulsifier that reacts with
the oil-based penetrant to form a
or rinsing.
which then may be removed by water washing
emulsifiers
Two types of emulsifiers, hydrophilic and lipophilic are available. Hydrophilic
the oil based
are composed of materials
similar to common detergents, which react with
removes the penetrant from the surface.
Diffusion plays a minor role
penetrant in a way that
emulsifiers. on the other hand, are oil
in the action of the hydrophilic emulsifiers. Lipophilic
down the structure so that the penetrant
soluble and they diffuse into the penetrant, breaking
water. There are a number of methods
used in the cleaning process
may be rinsed away with
with hose, or some combination
such as wiping with a cloth, dipping in a tank, rinsing
a
on the many variables of the test,
of these. The choice of the cleaning process again depends in-
as well as the test environment. For
notably, size, shape and material of the component convenient. One
situ/plant components applications, cleaning with cloth and solvent is most
of trichloroethylene vapour.
of the most effective cleaning methods is the use
3.3.3 Developers
of the indication. For fluorescent
The developer material is used to enhance the conspicuity
black when illuminated by the ultraviolet
penetrant, the developer background should appear
around the defect will appear bright and appear
light. The penetrant material concentrated for visibledye penetrants
The developer
distinct from the black background of the developer.
the normal red appearance of the dye
normally creates a white background that
contrasts
pulled out of the crack or pore.
The developer material may be one of the several types like dry. powder, aqueous (wet)
powder-suspension, solvent-suspendible, plastic-film, and water soluble. Application of the
several techniques such spray, immersion, passing the
as
developer may be accomplished by bed and electrostatic means.
cloud chamber, fluidized
part through a developer dust
12 Practical Non-destructive Testing
visible light and
Solvent suspendible developer may
be used along with both the cent
on plant components. Aqueous or wet
s
and is most suitable for in-situ applications
penetrants immersion or spray immediately
developers are applied typicaly by
powder-suspension type
is dried. Dry powder developer is applied directly
after the washing step and before the part
removal process.
to the part immediately after the penetrant
film spray, and water
The is obtained with solvent spray, plastic
highest sensitivity
soluble spray. The least sensitivity is
obtained by the dry immersion and dust cloud
methods.
3.3.4 Special Requirements
When using various chemicals or water penetrant materials on austenitic stainless steels,
titanium, nickel-base or other high temperature alloys, it is needed to restrict the impurities
such as sulphur, halogen, and alkali materials since these impurities may cause embrittlement
or corrosion. particularly at elevated temperatures. Current standards indicate that impurity
levels of sulphur and halogen exceeding 1% of any one suspect element may be considered
excessive. However, even this level may be considered unacceptable in some cases, so the
actual maximum acceptable impurity level must be decided by the user/designer. For
example. halogens are required to be restricted to 25 ppm in all the chemicals used for
testing austenitic stainless steels by dye penetrant methdods.
3.3.5 Test Blocks
Aluminium and steel blocks are used in quality control of penetrant testing materials. The
test blocks are prepared to rigid specifications as stated in the codes.
Aluminium test blocks (75x 100 x 8 mm) are prepared by heating at the center and water
quenched so as to produce thermal shocks. Heating at the center of the block to 773K and
then quenching in cold water produces cracks on the surface. Steel blocks are also used as
test blocks and are prepared from AISI Type 301 or 302 stainless steel.
The blocks are used for checking the qualities of penetrants, emulsifiers and developers
Among them, the most important quality is the sensitivity of the penetrant, and is described
in brief as given below. For checking the other properties such as water content and
viscosity applicable codes may be refered to.
For checking the sensitivity. the suspected or faulty penetrant is applied on one half of
the surface of the test block and the standard penetrant is applied to the remaining half of
the surface. Operational procedure to be followed is as per the recommended procedure of
the manufacturer. If the sensitivity of the tested penetrant is less than that of the standard
penetrant. the penetrant being tested is considered inadequate in quality and discarded.
3.4 PENETRANT TESTING METHODS
The type of penetrant inspection method that is used depends on a number of factors. The
three principal methods of penetrant inspection are discussed below
3.4.1 Water Washable Method
In this method (Fig. 3.2), all of thematerials used are watersoluble. Following the initial
cleaning and drying process, thepenetrant applied shall be a water based fluid. Dwell time
for various penetrant inspection methods is given in Table 3.1. After the dwell time, the
rinse or penetrant removal step is different for various application methods. Use of large
Liquid Penetrant Testing 13
volume of water would require facilities for adequate draining and disposal of the rinsed
water.
Clean
Dry
Penetrant
Drain
Rinse
Aqueous
d
Dry Dry
developerT
Dry Nonaq
developer Diy developer
Develop
Inspect
Reject Accept
Rework Scrap Clean
Fig. 3.2 Water washable penetrant method
Developer application follows the rinse step. When aqueous developers are used, there
1s no
need for drying
a step prior to the application of the developer. However, the part
must be dried after the application. If non-aqueous developer is used, the part is dried
before the developer application.
Development time begins immediatelyafterapplicationof the dry developer and as soon
as wet
developer coating dries on the surface of the part. The development step is complete
whenever the movement of penetrant coming out of the
defect has ceased. Typical development
timesare also given in Table 3.
3.4.2 Post-Emulsifiable Method
This method (Fig. 3.3) is a
combination of solvent and water based inspections. The differences
Practical Non-destructive
Testing
14
Penetrant and Developer
Recommended Dwell Times for
Table 3.1
Dwell time (min.) for
Type of
Material Form
discontinuiry
Penetrant Developer
5 7
Cold shuts,
Aluminium, Castings porosity, lack
magnesium, steel, welds
of fusion, cracks
titanium, various
alloys 10 1
Laps, cracks
Wrought
extrusions
Lack of fusion, 5
Carbide tipped
porosity
tools
All forms Cracks,
Plastic. glass,
ceramics porosity
the water-washable method are (a) the
between the post-emulsifiable penetrant process and
If the solvent-based penetrant is used and
penetrant used and (b) the need for. an emulsifier. remainder of the
allows the process to follow the
followed by an emulsifier application, it emulsifiers may be used in this
water-washable path. Both hydrophilic and lipophilic
is that solvent penetrants that may
method. The advantage of the post-emulsifiable system
be required for some parts may be removed by
water.
3.4.3 Solvent Removable Method
Penetrant removal must be
This process (Fig. 3.4) is an oil-based inspection process. Solvent technique
with solvent.
accomplished by hand wiping the part with a rag dampend
is most often applied for the inspection of either afew small parts orfor localized inspection
amenable to
such as in-situ inspection of pipe welds and pressure vessel welds and is most
portability.
3.5 SENSITIVITY
have been conducted
Since the introduction of penetrant examination, various experiments
the sensitivity. Sensitivity can be
and methods have thus been formulated to measure
defined as the ability of penetrant to reveal a particular type of discontinuity in a material.
This is related to fine or wide discontinuities which are deep or shallow in nature. Factors
removal
affecting sensitivity are the ability of the penetrant to enter the discontinuity and
of the penetrant from the surface of the component without its significant removal from
the defect. In addition, the penetrant must have the ability to come out of the discontinuity,
with the aid of a developer, and to form an indication which is readily visible with good
contrast with respect to the background.
wing is the list of various systems of penetrant, in the order of decreasing sensitivity
(and decreasing cost):
(a) Post-emulsifiable fluorescent (b) Solvent-removable fluorescent (c) Water-washable
fluorescent (d) Post-emulsifiable visible dye (e) Solvent-removable visible dye () Water
washable visible dye.
Liquid Penetrant Testing 15
Clean
Dry
Penetrant
Drain
Emulsify
Rinse
Dry Aqueous Dry
developer
Dry Dry Nonaq.
developer developer
Develop
Inspect
Reject Accept
Clean
Fig. 3.3 Post emulsifiable penetrant method
It has been found that visible dye penetrant can detect cracks having width of approx. 5
um whereas fluorescent penetrant can detect cracks having width in the range of 1 to 2 um.
3.6 APPLICATIONS AND LIMITATIONS
In order to obtain optimum results from penetrant testing, a full
understanding of the capabilities
and limitations of the method should be appreciated. The method is
capable of detecting
discontinuities open to the surface of the material under test. These are usually cracks, laps,
seams, porosity etc. in products like pressure vessels, pipes, weld joints etc. Penetrant
method is very reliable in the detection of fatigue cracks which occur during the service life
of a material. Penetrant method has a significant advantage over other NDT
methods, with
the possible exception of MPT. This is because of the fact that a part can be tested
over its
complete surface in a relatively short time, irrespective of shape, size and orientation of the
