Types of Non-Destructive Testing
Posted on April 14th, 2010 in Uncategorized | No Comments »
The tensile-strength test is within itself destructive; in the process of collecting information, the sample is obliterated. Though this is acceptable when a good sample of the sample material is at hand, nondestructive methods are better for materials that are expensive or complex to fabricate or that have been made into completed or semifinished products.
Liquids
One tried and true nondestructive procedure, used to identify surface marks and weaknesses in samples, takes a penetrating fluid, either brightly dyed or fluorescent. After being painted on the surface of the metal and allowed to soak into any surface cracks, the dye is removed, leaving totally visible markings and weaknesses. A similar process, used for nonmetals, requires an electrically charged fluid rubbed on the nonmetal surface. After the extra fluid is rubbed off, a dry powder of opposite charge is sprayed on the surface of the sample and draws to the flaws. Neither of these processes, however, can locate internal weaknesses.
Radiation
Internal, like external weaknesses, can be identified under X-ray or gamma-ray machines in which the radiation passes through the metal and implicates on an appropriate photographic film. Under some circumstances, it can be possible to target the X rays to a particular area within the metal, permitting a 3D image of the flaw markings as well as its position.
Sound
Ultrasonic inspection of areas takes transmission of sound waves higher than human hearing range through the sample. Under the reflection process, a sound wave is targeted from one side of the piece, reflected with the opposite side, then signalled into a receiver situated at the original part. When locating a break or weak point in the piece, the sound wave is reflected and its traveling time adapted. The actual delay is then a sign of the location of the mark; a map of the material can be generated to isolate the point and shape of the weaknesses. By the through-transmission method, the transmitter and receiver are placed at opposite parts of the material; delays in the signal of sound waves are found to isolate and measure weaknesses. Often a water medium is employed through the use of which transmitter, sample, and receiver are immersed.
Magnetism
As the magnetic characteristics of a material are heavily formed by its overall form, magnetic processes are used to measure the placement and relative geometry of voids and marks. For magnetic testing, an apparatus is utilized that holds a large coil of wire through which flows a steady alternating current (primary coil). Nested inside the initial coil is a shorter coil (the secondary coil), to which is attached an electrical measuring device. The steady current in the first coil generates current to flow within the secondary coil by the method of induction. When an iron piece is inserted into the secondary coil, sudden changes in the second current can signal marks in the sample. This method only detects differences within sections within the length of a bar and does not find longer or continuous marks very often. A similar technique, using eddy currents induced by a primary coil, also can be employed to isolate errors and weaknesses. A steady current is induced in part of the test item. Weaknesses that are found in the transmission of the current change resistance of the test material; this adaptation may be measured under the correct items.
Infrared
Infrared methods have also been utilized to isolate material continuity in involved structural materials. By testing the value of adhesive conjoinments in the sandwich core and facing sheets with a ordinary sandwich structure object such as plywood, for example, heat is applied to the face of the sandwich skin material. When bond lines are continuous, those core areas show a heat marking for the surface object, and the general temperatures of the face will spread evenly along these bond lines. In the case where the bond line is not enough, disappears, or mistaken, however, this temperature will not drop. Infrared photography of the front will then indicate the situation and shape of the defective adhesive. Another kind of process utilizes thermal coatings that can change appearance at reaching a set heat.
In conclusion, nondestructive test procedures also are being seen to allow a entire determination of the mechanical aspects of a test sample. Ultrasonics and thermal processes seem to be most promising in this circumstance.
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