13ME929

NON DESTRUCTIVE TESTING

(Core Elective For 3rd Yr. Mech. Students)

By
Prof. S.SENTHIL MURUGAN,
Assistant Professor,
Department of Mechanical Engineering,

Mepco Schlenk Engineering College (Autonomous), Sivakasi

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 Units
• 1- Introduction
• 2- Liquid Penetrate and Magnetic Particle Tests
• 3- Thermography and Eddy Current Testing (ET)
• 4- Ultrasonic Testing (UT), and Acoustic
Emission(AE)
• 5- Radiography (RT)

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 Unit I: Introduction
• NDT techniques are used for the evaluation of
defects in various materials /components and
for the characterisation of material properties.
• Uses of NDT techniques leads to better
understanding of material behaviour and thus
in turn leads to increased confidence in the
material being used.

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Definition:
• NDT defined as those testing methods in
which material under test is not destroyed or
the future usefulness of material under test is
not impaired.
NDT vs Mechanical testing:
• Mechanical testing: tensile testing, flexural
testing, torsional testing in which material
under test is made to fail (fractured into two
or more pieces) to evaluate strength
Whereas…….
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NDT:
• Material under test is not destroyed at all and
material under test retains all its original
properties.
• i.e. after the test, material or component
under test can be used for the purpose it was
originally intended.
Ex. To evaluate burst strength of pressure vessel.

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 NDT /NDE/ NDI
Physical characteristics of materials
• NDT- non destructive testing
• NDE- non destructive evaluation
• NDI- non destructive inspection
• One may measure young’s modulus of elasticity by
measuring ultrasonic velocity in materials.
• Acousto-ultrasonic techniques can be used for
evaluation of ultimate tensile strength bond
strength of an adhesively bonded joint or burst
pressure of pipe/pressure vessel by measuring
stress wave factor. 6
• May evaluate fibre volume fraction in carbon
fibre reinforced plastic composites by
measuring changes in the impedance of an
eddy current probe.
• Ultrasonic technique can be used for optimum
dwell time for reinforced plastic mouldings,
residual stresses etc..
• May evaluate grain size using ultrasonic
attenuation measurement etc….
• AE technique used for checking in-service
embrittlement and for studying deformation of
materials and fracture behavior of materials
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• When NDT techniques used for such
applications they are referred to as NDE.
•NDT- Used for defect location and evaluation
• NDE- covers all mechanical characterisation as
well as NDT techniques.
• NDI- to describe all NDT techniques which are
used to inspect incoming raw materials /
products and techniques which are used for
periodic inspection.

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NDT applications:-
• NDT techniques assume greater significance in
high reliability sectors such as nuclear, space,
aircraft, defense, automobile, chemical and
fertilizer industry.
• Used for materials behaviours too..
• NDT widely used for power equipments, heat
exchanger pressure vessels, heavy engineering
items etc…
Merits:
• NDT techniques are being used for on-line
monitoring during manufacturing too. (ex; online
monitoring of welding defects during welding
operation using AE techniques.) 9
• NDT eliminates chances of faulty or sub-
standard product reaching consumer- leads to
customer satisfaction and higher reliability of
product.
• Quality of products improve because by using
suitable NDT techniques, one is able to identify
unacceptable material for production in the
very beginning and one is able to inspect
product for manufacturing defects.
• NDT results in increased productivity and higher
profit --- inspection at different stages prevents
wastage of material by way of less scrap
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• Also minimize the loss of man power by way of
less rework.
• Defect free components lead to highly reduced
service cost too.
• NDT techniques also help in material sorting,
for evaluation of chemical composition, for
measuring differences in physical and
metallurgical properties, for ascertaining proper
heat treatment and for studying mechanical
behaviour of various materials.
• AE testing and acousto-ultrasonic testing hold
great promise for development of suitable
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 On-line continuous monitoring for various
structures, components, systems etc..
• NDT engineers can also ascertain type of
defect, its size, its orientation etc… and decide
whether or not the defect is harmful.
If it is not harmful, materials, product
need not be rejected. Moreover by locating a
defect, only that portion of materials needs to
be removed.
by using NDT techniques some defective
materials may become usable and thus salvage
of materials become possible.
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 Steps in NDT
1. Preparation of test surface
2. Application of testing medium/signal
3. Modification of testing medium/signal
4. Conversion of modulated or changed medium/
signal into a convenient form
5. Interpretation of results obtained.
6. Verification of test results.

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 Limitation of NDT
• Measurements indirect and hence reliability is
to be verified.
• Usually qualitative measurements. But
measurements can also be done quantitatively
• Skilled judgement and experience are required
to interpret indications.

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Comparison of Destructive and NDT
DESTRUCTIVE NDT
ADVANTAGES: LIMITATIONS:
1. Measurements are direct
and reliable
2. Usually quantitative
measurements
3. Correlative between test
measurements and material
properties is direct

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LIMITATION: ADVANTAGES:
1. Tests are not made on 1. Tests are made directly
the objects directly. on the object. 100%
Hence testing on actual
components is possible.

2. Single test may 2. Many NDT methods can

measure only one or a be applied on the same
few of the properties part and hence many or
all properties of interest
can be measure

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 DESTRUCTIVE NDT
3. Online testing not 3. Online testing possible
possible
4. Preparation of test 4. Very little preparation
specimen is costly is sufficient
5. Time requirements are 5. Most test methods are
generally high rapid

Visual inspection
• It is simple, easy to apply, quickly carried out and usually
low in cost.
• Before NDT, a good visual inspection should be carried out first.
• Visual methods have been developed to a very high degree of
precision.- image processing, pattern recognition and automatic
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accept/reject choice
Use of visual inspection:
- visual test can reveal gross surface defects thus
leading to an immediate rejection of the
component and consequently saving much time
and money, which would otherwise be spent on
more complicated means of testing.
Basic principle:
• Illumination of the test specimen with light,
usually in visible region.
• Specimen is examined with eye or by light
sensitive devices such as photocells.
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 Visual inspection- Unaided inspection
Eye:
• Eye can not be a good judge for distinguishing
the differences in brightness or intensity, except
under the most restricted conditions.
• Adequate lighting (800-1000 lux) is primary.
• The period of time during which a human
inspector is permitted to work should be limited
to not more than 2 hours on continuous basis
to avoid errors due to decrease in visual
reliability and discrimination.
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Defects be detected by unaided visual inspection
VI Experienced inspector can reveal the following…
a. general condition of the component
b. Presence or absence of oxide film or corrosive
product on the surface
c. Presence or absence of cracks, orientation of
cracks and position of cracks relative to various
zones in the case of welds.
d. Surface porosity, unfilled craters, contour of the
weld beads, probable orientation of interface
between fused weld bead and adjoining parent
metal.
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• Potential sources of mechanical weakness such
as sharp notches or misalignment etc..
• Results of visual examination may be of great
assistance to other tests.

TELESCOPE:
what is ?
• is used to obtain magnified images of objects at
considerable distance from the eye.
• it is particularly used for providing visual
examination of the surface which is otherwise
inaccessible.
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• It consists of two lenses called objective lense
and eye piece.
• Telescope used in conjunction with a periscope
for viewing a concealed surface. But Closed
Circuit TeleVision (CCTV) is also used for the
purpose.
PERISCOPE:
• are instruments in which the general direction
of the rays is not a straight line but is deflected,
on or more times, for the purpose of providing
the observer with a view from a position in
which he can’t put his head.
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ENDOSCOPE:
• It has superior optical system and a high-
intensity light source.
• Endoscopes are: 5 to 10mm in dia. And
150mm to 1ooomm in length.

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• A unique feature is:- objects are constantly in
focus from about 4mm to infinity.
• When tip is about 4mm from the surface
being inspected, a magnification factor of
about 10X is achieved.
• The ‘no- focusing’ feature of the endoscope
makes it much easier to use than a borescope,
which needs to be focused at the inspection
area.

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BORESCOPE:
• http://www.ge-mcs.com/download/RVI/Mini%20Rigid/ RA102_
RevD.pdf

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BORESCOPE:

http://aitproducts.com/wiki/borescope.html

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BORESCOPE:
• Is an instrument designed to enable an
observer to inspect the inside of a narrow
tube, bore, or chamber.
• Consists of precision built- in illumination
system having a complex arrangement of
prisms and plain lenses through which light is
passed to observer with max. efficiency.
• Light source located in front of the object lens
provides illumination for the part being
examined.
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• As length of borescope is increased, the image
becomes less bright because of loss of light.
• Available in the range 2.5mm to 19mm in dia.
and few meter in length.
• Diameter depends on dia. Of hole or bore to
be inspected.
• The length of borescope is governed by
distance between the available access and
distance to the inspection area.

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 OPTICAL MICROSCOPE:
• Minute defects and details of fine structure on a surface can be detected more
easily with the aid of microscope.
• Is a combination of lenses used to magnify the image of a small object. Object
is placed close to the lens to obtain as high a magnification as possible.
• Distance from lens to object is adjusted.
• Microscope is a simple converging lens, referred
to as a simple magnifier.
• M: magnification = 10/f.
• F= focul length of lens and 10 is constant that
represents the average minimum distance at
which objects can be disntincly seen by unaided
eye.

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• F=5” so, M= 2x (two power lens)
• Dia. Of field of view of a simple magnifier is less than
its focal length.
• Field of view: is the area seen through the magnifier.
• Procedure: is to first use a low-power magnifier,
marking questionable areas, and then examine the
suspected areas in detail with higher powered
magnifier.
• Depth of field: to indicate the distance a magnifier can
be moved towards or away from a subject with subject
in good focus. It varies with power of lens and is
greater in lower-power magnifiers, decreasing as the
power of lens increases.
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FLEXISCOPE: (flexible fibre-optic borescope)
• Permit manipulation of the instrument around
corners and through passages with several
directional change.
• Devices are designed to provide sharp and
clear images of parts and interior surfaces that
are normally impossible to inspect.
• Working lengths are
normally from 60 to
365 cm, with
diameters from 3 to
12.5mm.
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