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Alternatives to Liquid Penetration Test?

Hi There!

Could someone share with me is there any alternative solution to test the welding result on a machining block beside liquid penetration test? The welding is to seal the hole from preventing pressured air / gas leaking.

Thanks

Tom Yin
Project Engineer - Malaysia
October 13, 2008

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First of two simultaneous responses --

I will guess that you are talking about a dye penetrant test which is normally a liquid process. There are spray can versions of this test that are fairly good by qualified operators for just what you are talking about. There are other tests that might work, but are far more costly for the equipment and certification such as X-ray, eddy current and mag particle.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
October 14, 2008

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Second of two simultaneous responses --

Assuming the article is a steel that is capable of being magnetised.

The dye penetrant test detects cracks that are open to the surface. An alternative test is magnetic particle which has an advantage of "seeing" a couple of millimetres below the surface, but the disadvantage of not being quite as convenient to perform as the dye penetrant and also needing the equipment to create the magnetic field in the article being tested.

Bill Reynolds [deceased]
consultant metallurgist - Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
We sadly relate the news that Bill passed away on Jan. 29, 2010.
October 14, 2008