NDT TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION COURSE

LIQUID PENETRANT TEST LEVEL-II

UNDER CSIR INTEGRATED SKILL INITIATIVE
PROGRAMME
CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology
Bhubaneswar

Presentation by:
Aabhas Upadhyaya
Maintenance and Inspection Officer
Southern Regional Office
e-mail: [email protected]
 Content

General Introduction of LPT method

Penetrant Materials and Considerations
Basic Steps in Penetrant Testing
Common Equipment
Advantages and Limitations
Summary
Key Points
ASTM Standards
 Introduction
Penetrant Testing, or PT, is a nondestructive
testing method that builds on the principle
of Visual Inspection.

PT increases the

“see ability” of small
discontinuities that
the human eye might
not be able to detect
alone.
 How Does PT Work?
In penetrant testing, a liquid with high surface wetting
characteristics is applied to the surface of a component
under test.
The penetrant “penetrates” into surface breaking
discontinuities via capillary action and other mechanisms.
Excess penetrant is removed from the surface and aDefec
developer is applied to ts
pull trapped penetrant back
the surface.
With good inspection
technique, visual
indications of any
discontinuities present
become apparent.
 Capillary rise
What Makes PT Work?
Every step of the penetrant process
is done to promote capillary action.
This is the phenomenon of a liquid
rising or climbing when confined to
small openings due to surface wetting
properties of the liquid.
Some common examples:
- Plants and trees draw water up from the
ground to their branches and leaves to
supply their nourishment.
- The human body has miles of capillaries
that carry life sustaining blood to our
entire body.
 Basic Process of PT
1) Clean & Dry Component 4) Apply Developer

2) Apply Penetrant

5) Visual Inspection

3) Remove Excess

6) Post Clean Component

What Can Be Inspected Via PT?
Almost any
material that has a
relatively smooth,
non-porous
surface on which
discontinuities or
defects are
suspected.
What Can NOT be Inspected Via PT?
Components with rough
surfaces, such as sand
castings, that trap and hold
penetrant.
“noise”
Porous ceramics
Wood and other fibrous
materials.
Plastic parts that absorb or Defect indications
become less
react with the penetrant
materials. distinguishable as the
background “noise”
Components with coatings level increases.
that prevent penetrants from
entering defects.
What Types of Discontinuities
Can Be Detected Via PT?
All defects that are open to
the surface.
– Rolled products-- cracks,
seams, laminations.
– Castings--cold shuts, hot tears,
porosity, blow holes, shrinkage.
– Forgings– cracks, laps,
external bursts.
– Welds– cracks, porosity,
undercut, overlap, lack of
fusion, lack of penetration.
Choices of Penetrant Materials
Penetrant Type
I Fluorescent
II Visible
Method
A Water Washable
B Postemulsifiable - Lipophilic
C Solvent Removable
D Postemulsifiable - Hydrophilic

Developer Form
Dry Powder
Wet, Water Soluble
Wet, Water Suspendable
Wet, Non-Aqueous
 Penetrant Materials
Penetrants are formulated to possess a number of
important characteristics. To perform well, a penetrant
must:
- Spread easily over the surface being inspected.
- Be drawn into surface breaking defects by capillary action or
other mechanisms.
- Remain in the defect but remove easily from the surface of
the part.
- Remain fluid through the drying and developing steps so it
can be drawn back to the surface.
- Be highly visible or fluoresce brightly to produce easy to see
indications.
- Not be harmful to the inspector or to the material being
tested.
 Sensitivity Levels
Penetrants are also formulated to produce a variety of
sensitivity levels. The higher the sensitivity level, the
smaller the defect that the penetrant system is capable of
detecting.
The five sensitivity levels are:
• Level 4 - Ultra-High Sensitivity
• Level 3 - High Sensitivity
• Level 2 - Medium Sensitivity
• Level 1 - Low Sensitivity
As the sensitivity level increases, so does the number of
non relevant indications. Therefore, a penetrant needs to be
selected that will find the defects of interest but not produce
too many non relevant indications.
 Visible Vs Fluorescent PT
Inspection can be performed
using visible (or red dye) or
fluorescent penetrant materials.
Visible Pt is performed under
white light while fluorescent PT
must be performed using an
ultraviolet light in a darkened area.
Photo Courtesy of Contesco
All are all in the level 1 sensitivity
range.
Fluorescent PT is more sensitive
than visible PT because the eye is
more sensitive to a bright
indication on a dark background.
Sensitivity ranges from 1 to 4.
 Penetrant Removal Method
Penetrants are also classified by the method of
removing the excess penetrant.
• Solvent Removable penetrants are removed by
wiping with a cloth dampened with solvent. They are
supplied in aerosol cans for portability and are primarily
used for spot checks.

• Water Washable penetrants are removed with a

course spray of water. They are the easiest to employ and
most cost effective when inspecting large areas.
•
• Post-Emulsifiable penetrants are water-washable
only after they have reacted with an emulsifier solution.
A post-emulsifiable system is used when washing the
penetrant out of the defect is a concern. The emulsifier is
given time to reacts with the penetrant on the surface but
not the penetrant trapped in the flaw.
 Developers
The role of the developer is to pull trapped
penetrant out of defects and to spread it
out on the surface so that it can be seen.
Also provides a light background to
increase contrast when visible penetrant is used.
Developer materials are available in several different forms
- Dry Powder is a mix of light fluffy powder that clumps together where penetrant
bleeds back to the surface to produces very defined indications.
- Wet, Water Suspendable is a powder that is suspended in a water that covers
the surface with a relatively uniform layer of developer when the water is
evaporated. The solution is somewhat difficult to maintain as the powder settles out
over time.
- Wet, Water Soluble is a crystalline powder that forms a clear solution when
mixed with water. The solution recrystallizes on the surface when the water is
driven off. Indications sometimes lack definition and look milky. Not
recommended for use with water-washable penetrants.
- Wet, Non-Aqueous - is supplied in a spray can and is the most sensitive
developer for inspecting small areas. It is too costly and difficult to apply to large
areas.
 6 Steps of Penetrant Testing
1. Pre-Clean
2. Penetrant Application
3. Excess Penetrant Removal
4. Developer Application
5. Inspect/Evaluate
6. Post-clean
 Pre-cleaning – Step 1
Parts must be free of dirt, rust,
scale, oil, grease, etc. to
perform a reliable inspection.
The cleaning process must
remove contaminants from the
surfaces of the part and defects,
and must not plug any of the
defects.

Pre-cleaning is the most

important step in the PT
process
 Caution About Metal Smearing
Some machining, surface finishing and cleaning Before Sanding
operations can cause a thin layer of metal to smear on the
surface and prevent penetrant from entering any flaws that
may be present.

Etching of the surface prior to inspection is sometimes

required. After Sanding

After Etching
Penetrant Application – Step 2
Many methods of
application are
possible such as:
- Brushing
- Spraying
- Dipping/
Immersing
- Flow-on
 Dwell Time
The penetrant solution
must be allowed to “dwell”
on the surface of the part to
allow the penetrant time to
fill any defects present.

The dwell time vary

according to penetrant type,
temperature, material type
and surface finish.
Excess Penetrant Removal – Step 3

The removal technique depends upon the type

of penetrant used, as stated earlier…
– Solvent Removable
– Water Washable
– Post Emulsifiable
Excess Penetrant Removal – Step 3 (cont.)
Water Washable
A coarse water spray is
used to remove the excess
penetrant.
The procedure used as a
guideline for the inspection
will specify water
temperature (typically 50-
100°F) and pressure
(typically not more than 40
psi), etc.
Excess Penetrant Removal – Step 3 (cont.)
Solvent Removable
• The part is wiped with a
clean dry cloth to remove
the bulk of the excess
penetrant.
• Then, a cloth lightly
dampened with solvent is
used to remove any
remaining penetrant on the
surface.
Excess Penetrant Removal – Step 3 (cont.)

Solvent Removable (cont.)

Any time a solvent is

used in the penetrant inspection
process, a
suitable flash time is
required to allow excess solvent to
evaporate.
Excess Penetrant Removal – Step 3 (cont.)
Post Emulsifiable
When there is concern about removing much of the
penetrant from the defect, a post emulsifiable system is
used.
This involves an additional step
in which an emulsifier is applied
to the surface of the part after
the penetrant dwell time.
The emulsifier is given just
enough time to react with
the penetrant on the surface
to render it water washable
but not enough time to diffuse
into the penetrant trapped in
the defects.
 Developer Application – Step 4
The method of developer application is is dependent
on the type of developer used. The primary methods
for the following main developer types will be
covered in the following slides.
– Dry
– Wet
– Non-aqueous Wet
Developer Application – Step 4 (cont.)
Dry Powder Developer
Prior to applying a dry
powder developer, the
component must be thoroughly
dried. Drying is usually
accomplished in a hot air
circulating oven.
The developer is then applied
by immersing the part in the
powder or by dusting of the
part with the powder.
The part can also be placed in
a developer dust cloud
chamber.
Developer Application – Step 4 (cont.)
Wet Developer (water- suspended and
water- soluble)
Wet developers are applied by
immersing or spraying the part
while it is still wet from the
penetrant removal process.
The part is completely coated
and the excess liquid allowed to
drain to prevent pooling
The part is then dried in a hot air
circulating oven.
Developer Application – Step 4 (cont.)
Nonaqueous Developer (AKA
Solvent-Suspended)
• Nonaqueous developer is applied
by a aerosol spray to a
thoroughly dried and cooled part.
• A thin even coating should be
applied. The coating should be
white but still slightly
transparent when performing a
visible dye penetrant inspection,
and even thinner when
performing a fluorescent
penetrant inspection.
Inspection/Evaluation – Step 5
In this step the inspector
evaluates the penetrant
indications against specified
accept/reject criteria and
attempts to determine the
origin of the indication.
Non-relevant weld geometry indications

The indications are judged to

be either relevant, non-
relevant or false.

Relevant crack indications from an

abusive drilling process
Inspection/Evaluation – Step 5
A very important step of
evaluation is to
document findings on an
inspection report form or
other record keeping
form.

This may be supported

with drawings or photos
of indications, etc.
Post Clean – Step 6
The final step in the penetrant
inspection process is to
thoroughly clean the part that
has been tested to remove all
penetrant processing materials.

The residual materials could

possibly affect the performance
of the part or affect its visual
appeal.
Penetrant Inspection Systems
Penetrant systems can be highly portable or
stationary.

Portable Penetrant System Stationary Penetrant System

 Verification of Penetrant
System Performance
Since penetrant testing involves
multiple processing steps, the
performance of the materials
and the processes should be
routinely checked using
performance verification tools,
which include:
- TAM Panels
- Crack Sensitivity Panels
- Run Check Panels
 Advantages of Penetrant Testing
Relative ease of use.
Can be used on a wide range of material types.
Large areas or large volumes of parts/materials can be inspected
rapidly and at low cost.
Parts with complex geometries are routinely inspected.
Indications are produced directly on surface of the part
providing a visual image of the discontinuity.
Initial equipment investment is low.
Aerosol spray cans can make equipment very portable.
 Limitations of Penetrant Testing
Only detects surface breaking defects.
Requires relatively smooth nonporous material.
Precleaning is critical. Contaminants can mask defects.
Requires multiple operations under controlled conditions.
Chemical handling precautions necessary (toxicity, fire,
waste).
Metal smearing from machining, grinding and other
operations inhibits detection. Materials may need to be
etched prior to inspection.
Post cleaning is necessary to remove chemicals.
 Summary
Penetrant testing (PT) is one of the most widely
used nondestructive testing methods.
Its popularity can be attributed to two main
factors, which are its relative ease of use and its
flexibility.
However, PT involves a number of processing
steps that must be closely control to achieve
optimal sensitivity.
 Key Points:
 Care should be taken that Penetrant, Developer and
Cleaner are of same make.
 Excess Penetrant removal from work piece should not be
done by rubbing with waste cloth, instead excess penetrant
should be wiped in unidirectional manner by lint free
cloth.
 The method requires thorough cleaning of the inspected
items. Inadequate cleaning may prevent detection of
discontinuities.
 Penetrant stains clothes and skin and must be treated with
care.
 The method is limited to surface defects.
 ASTM STANDARDS
ASTM E 165 Standard Practice for Liquid-Penetrant Inspection Method
ASTM E 1208 Standard Method for Fluorescent Liquid-Penetrant Examination
Using the Lipophilic Post-Emulsification Process
ASTM E 1209 Standard Method for Fluorescent-Penetrant Examination Using the
Water-Washable Process
ASTM E 1210 Standard Method for Fluorescent-Penetrant Examination Using the
Hydrophilic Post-Emulsification
ASTM E 1219 Standard Method for Fluorescent-Penetrant Examination Using the
Solvent-Removable Process
ASTM E 1220 Standard Method for Visible-Penetrant Examination Using the
Solvent-Removable Process
ASTM E 1135 Standard Test Method for Comparing the Brightness of Fluorescent
Penetrants
AMS 2647 Fluorescent Penetrant Inspection--Aircraft and Engine Component
Maintenance
ASME SEC V ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section V, Article 6
MIL-STD-6866 Military Standard Inspection, Liquid Penetrant
MIL-STD-410 Nondestructive Testing Personnel Qualifications & Certifications