Nondestructive testing

Nondestructive testing is for a solid object that has the risk of breaking in service.

Explained

Casting

During the process of casting a metal object, for example, the metal may shrink as it cools, and crack or introduce voids inside the structure.

Welding

Even the best welders (and welding machines) do not make 100% perfect welds. Some typical weld defects that need to be found and repaired are lack of fusion of the weld to the metal and porous bubbles inside the weld, both of which could cause a structure to break.

Industrial components

During their service lives, many industrial components need regular non-destructive tests to detect damage that may be difficult or expensive to find by everyday methods, such as aircraft skins, underground pipelines, finished machined parts such as bearings that have newly been assembled. Thousand of manufactured products can benefit from this form of testing.

Other methods

Use of X-rays for NDT is a common way of examining the interior of products for voids and defects, although some skill is needed in using radiography to examine samples and interpret the results.

Soft X-rays are needed for examining low density material like polymers, composites and ceramics.

Applications

NDT is used in a variety of settings that covers a wide range of industrial activity.

• Automotive
• Aviation / Aerospace
• Construction
• Maintenance
• Industrial plants such as Nuclear, Petrochemical, Power, Refineries, Pulp and Paper, Fabrication shops, Mine processing and their Risk Based Inspection programmes.
• Miscellaneous
  • Railways
  • Tubular NDT, for Tubing material
  • Corrosion Under Insulation (CUI)
  • Amusement park rides
  • Submarines and other Naval warships
  • Medical imaging applications.

Reliability and statistics

Defect detection tests are among the more commonly employed of non-destructive tests.