UNIT NO. 6.

9 INSPECTION AND TESTING OF WELDS Visual Inspection of Welds Generally the Tester and Examiner, when on site, would carry out visual inspections of welds paying particular attention to critical areas such as load bearing welds. Grossly defective welds can usually be detected as a result of visual inspection alone. Aids to Visual Examination BS 5289, Code of Practice for Visual Inspection of Fusion Welded Joints, suggests that a small hand lens together with a pencil torch is used and by varying the direction of light this can be very revealing. Measuring Devices In addition to the usual items used for measuring, such as rule, protractor, callipers etc, a contour gauge of the type shown in Fig 1 would be extremely useful. These gauges are ideal for checking angles and leg length of welds.

Example of Contour Gauge Figure 1 WELD CHECKS Weld checks on site tend to be general if the Examiner is checking high quality work but more detailed if he suspects the quality or that repairs have been carried out. The following items would need to be checked after the completion of all welding and again after any repair welding:

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Cleaning and dressing. Check that all slag has been removed by manual or mechanical means otherwise flaws may be obscured. When dressing of the weld face is required, ensure that overheating of the joint due to the grinding action, grinding marks and an uneven finish are avoided. In the case of fillet welds and butt welds that are to be dressed flush, ensure that the joint merges smoothly with the parent metal without under-flushing. Note: Dressing may be specified on the drawing from a design aspect or it may be necessary to facilitate testing by certain methods. Penetration and root examination. (See Fig 2) In the case of butt welds made from one side only, check that over the whole of the joint the penetration and any root concavity, burn-through or shrinkage grooves are within the limits specified in the acceptance criteria, using appropriate measuring devices and optical or other aids if necessary from the access point of view. In the case of butt welds made from two sides, partial penetration butt welds and fillet welds, penetration cannot be checked visually after welding. When necessary, alternative inspection methods would have to be used. Contour. (See Fig 3) Check that the contour of the weld face and the height of the excess weld metal, if any, are in accordance with the acceptance criteria, using appropriate measuring devices. Check that the surface of the weld is regular and that the pattern and pitch of weave marks present an even and satisfactory visual appearance. Note: the type of welding consumables used, the welding technique and the welding position govern the contour. Root and contour defects are illustrated in figures 2 and 3 overleaf.

Root Defects Figure 2

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Contour Defects Figure 3 Weld width. (See Fig 4) (See also overlap) Check that the weld width is consistent over the whole of the joint and that it satisfies the dimensional requirements given on the drawing, using appropriate measuring devices. In the case of butt welds, check that the weld preparation has at least been completely filled. Note: If the weld width is excessively greater than the preparation width the weld should be regarded as suspect. In the case of fillet welds, the weld width may not have been given on the drawing and a calculation will be required to check that the leg length(s) or throat thickness has been achieved.

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Weld Dimensions Figure 4 Undercut (See Fig 5) Measure any undercut using appropriate measuring devices and check it against the acceptance criteria. The use of modelling clay is particularly convenient for checking undercut. Note: It is impossible to completely eliminate undercutting during welding particularly in the case of the fillet welds and slight intermittent undercut is usually regarded as acceptable provided that it does not form a sharp notch.

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Undercut Figure 5 Overlap (See Fig 6) Examine carefully the toes of the weld where the weld width is excessive to try to determine whether the weld metal is fused to the parent metal. If there is no fusion, the weld metal will be built up slightly above the parent metal, thus presenting a notch effect that may be undesirable. Unlike manual welding, overlap with automatic welding is likely to be regular and thus more difficult to detect.

Note: Overlap is a form of lack of fusion that cannot be fully assessed or measured by visual inspection.

Overlap Figure 6 Weld Flaws. (See Fig 7) Using optical aids when necessary, examine the weld and heat-affected zone for weld flaws and if any are found check them against the acceptance criteria. In some cases visual inspection may not be sufficient to determine the full extent of a surface flaw (crack or porosity) and the use of other testing methods may be required before the flaw can be assessed.

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Weld Flaws Figure 7 NON DESTRUCTIVE TESTING OF WELDS Non-destructive testing of welds is normally a part of the weld procedure and is usually a requirement of the purchaser. It is good practice however to use some form of NDT, the extent of which would depend on the sensitivity of the weld. General types of material flaws 1. Surface flaw visible to the naked eye or with low power magnification, e.g. cracks, imperfections, cavities, seams. 2. Surface flaws not readily observable, e.g. hairline cracks, seams. 3. Internal flaws, e.g. laminations, inclusions, defects introduced during manufacture such as welding, i.e. porosity, gaseous defects, lack of fusion, slag inclusion. General Classification of Flaws and Methods of Detection Flaws in the parent metal and welds may be placed into three general classifications: 1. 2. 3. Surface Flaws - greater than 10 Microns Surface and Sub-Surface Flaws - smaller than 10 Microns Internal Flaws

There are several methods of flaw detection. The selected method of detection will depend on several factors but generally the method selected will limit the type of flaw that will be revealed. Non-destructive tests may be roughly classified as follows:

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A.

Detection of cracks at or near the surface i. Penetration Methods ii. Magnetic Crack Detection iii. Electrical Methods Detection of submerged defects i. Radiography } X Ray } Gamma Ray ii. Acoustical Methods } Sonic } Ultrasonic

B.

Surface Flaws may be revealed by the use of Penetrants, Magnetic Particle and Electrical (Eddy Current) methods. Sub-Surface Flaws may be revealed by the use of Magnetic Particle, Electrical (Eddy Current), Radiography and Acoustical methods Internal Flaws may be revealed by the use of Radiography and Acoustical methods PENETRATION METHOD OF CRACK DETECTION There are two main types to choose from: 1. 2. Solutions, which contain a dye (usually black or red), easily visible to the naked eye. Solutions containing a fluorescent ink which is viewed under ultra violet light conditions.

In both cases the penetrant is attracted into the defect by capillary attraction and at a later stage is withdrawn by the application of a developer. Both types are suitable for ferrous, non-ferrous, non-magnetic alloys and plastics. Surface Preparation Surfaces to be examined must be free from oil, grease, loose scale, dirt and paint. 1. Dye Penetrants These are available in the convenient form of aerosol spray cans or bulk volumes. No special equipment is required to use them. Application - The test area may be sprayed, brushed or the component immersed in the penetrant. Penetrant is then allowed to remain on the test area for about 30 minutes. Excess penetrant is then removed by either using an absorbent material or washing with water then dried by air jets or cloths. Finally developer is applied to the test area and the component allowed to dry. After an interval of approximately 10 minutes a black or red line appearing against a white background outlines any defects. In some cases it is necessary to apply an initial coat of white background material, with others this is contained in the developer. 2. Fluorescent Inks These are generally available in bulk volumes only. Special equipment is required in the

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form of holding tanks and ultra violet light viewing conditions. Commercially made units are readily available making the process more suitable for bulk processing, e.g. on a production line. Application - This is again a three stage process. Components are dipped or completely immersed for a minimum of 15 minutes then processed as shown by the flow diagram. Hairline cracks and minute surface defects are readily visible as a reflecting light when viewed under ultra violet light conditions. Various grades of penetrants are available commercially differing only in their degree of searching power. Consequently care in the correct choice of penetrant must be exercised or small surface irregularities may be shown up as possible defects. Advantages 1. Penetrant methods can be used on any material independent of its physical properties. 2. They are not seriously affected by the geometry of the part. 3. Surface defects lying in any plane can be located by a single application of the penetrant process, as penetrant methods are not directional. Limitations 1. Can only be used to locate discontinuities at or reaching to the surface. 2. Surface openings must be clean and free from contamination. Typical examples of contaminants encountered during manufacture are machining oils, forging and heat treatment scale, welding flux and pickling acids. On components which have been subjected to use, e.g. engine running, other contaminants are encountered such as carbonised oils, oxide films, corrosion and paint. In addition to these, some protective coatings have to be removed, such as anodic films and cadmium plating, as these will give rise to an unacceptable background against which the defect indications cannot be seen, or phenolic resins and similar coatings where cracks can occur in the base material without cracking the coating. 3. Porous surfaces such as anodic films and cadmium plating are unsuitable for penetrant inspection, as they cause difficulty of interpretation, and also retain penetrant to give a background colour which reduces the contrast of true defect indications to such an extent that fine defect indications are lost in the general background. 4. Although a simple process trained personnel must be employed.

MAGNETIC PARTICLE DETECTION Magnetic particle methods of surface defect detection form an important and widely used branch of NDT testing. This method of inspection is easily applied and lends itself to mass production lines; the techniques can be carried out by the average conscientious man after a short period of training. AC and DC currents are used to produce magnetic fields, the AC currents producing a concentrated skin effect, which is more suitable for surface defects whilst DC fields extend uniformly throughout the section being more suitable for sub-surface defects.

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The system basically locates surface and to an extent (approximately 10mm) sub-surface defects, which may require further critical evaluation, either on finished component or routine service examinations. Theory The principle of magnetic particle methods of flaw detection is to induce a magnetic field in or around the component to be examined. There are two main methods of inducing this magnetic field. (a) Induced Magnetic Flux Method By constructing a copper coil or cage and passing an electrical current through, the component to be tested is held in the central area of the coil. Current Flow Method By passing an electrical current directly through the component by means of contacts or probes: this is the normal method for weld checks.

(b)

If the component is sprayed with a finely divided suspension of iron particle (magnetic ink) with the current switched on, the iron particles are attracted to the magnetic field produced. Any variations or changes within this field due to surface/sub-surface defects are outlined. For maximum effect the defects should be at right angles to the magnetic field. Therefore the component must be rotated or the probes applied in several positions. Type of Defect Cracks, seams, laps, slag inclusions. These should be filled or removed with a grinding wheel and the surface re-tested, particular attention being paid to the ruling section. AC versus DC AC current is preferable to DC for producing the magnetic fields as AC produces a concentrated skin effect. Demagnetisation is almost instantaneous with AC current. Surface Preparation Surfaces to be tested should be free from grease, shot blasted if required or machined. As in all cases of NDT testing the better the surface finish the greater the resolution and identification of the surface defect. Magnetic Inks Non-fluorescent and fluorescent inks are available - water, oil or paraffin based. The use of a contrast paint on the surface, before application of the magnetic ink is general practice. A detecting medium consisting of finely divided magnetic iron oxide particles is applied, to indicate changes in magnetic fields at the surface of the component by local accumulation of particles. The magnetic particles will respond best to strong magnetic gradients, and therefore the direction of the applied magnetic field must be carefully chosen to produce the maximum gradient across the defect, i.e. at right angles to its length. Therefore, for a defect of unknown orientation, the magnetising field must be applied in at least

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two directions at right angles to one another. Due to the diversity of component shapes and sizes, magnetic particle defect detection can involve a variety of magnetising techniques. Alternating or direct current flow through the component, linear conductors passing through the component, coils or magnetic flux may be used. Advantages 1. The ability to detect a crack does not depend on the crack opening (the separation of the crack faces): very fine cracks are detected as easily as open cracks if the technique is correctly applied. 2. The efficiency of the inspection is not greatly impaired by contamination of the defect. Although the surface of components from Service must be cleaned, it is not essential to remove all contaminants from cracks. 3. It is possible to inspect components which have been coated with a thin non-magnetic coating (e.g. Cadmium-plated), with only a slight loss in efficiency. 4. Although magnetic particle testing is primarily used as a surface inspection method, it can also be used to a certain degree for detecting defects just below the surface (approx. 10mm deep). 5. In addition to the detection of cracks and discontinuities, the method is also capable of detecting inclusions and segregations. 6. Under certain conditions, it is possible to detect magnetic inclusions in non-magnetic materials. Limitations 1. The method cannot be used on non-magnetic materials. 2. The difficulty of predicting and measuring field strength and direction in complex-shaped components introduces a risk of leaving areas ineffectively magnetised. 3. The need to detect flaws in all possible directions necessitates a series of different magnetisations in different directions to ensure complete coverage. 4. Previous magnetisations can adversely influence magnetic particle inspection and initial demagnetisation must be carried out. ACOUSTICAL FLAW DETECTION For our purposes we need only concern ourselves with the Ultrasonic method. Ultrasonic Flaw Detection Flaws are detected by using ultra high frequency sound waves in the order of 2 MHZ to 5 MHZ. These high frequency sound waves have the property of travelling through steel in straight lines and are reflected by flaws such as laminations, pipe cavities, inclusions and lack of homogeneity. Whilst these sound waves are inaudible to the human ear, the wave path is reproduced visually on an oscilloscope, which can be readily standardised and calibrated. Considerable skill and experience is required to interpret the different sound wave patterns produced by different types of flaw; particularly as a permanent record of the continually changing wave pattern is not normally produced. Trained or experienced technicians are required to classify and asses the various flaws which

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may be detected, i.e. pipe, laminations and welding defects such as lack of fusion, penetration, slag, gaseous blow holes. A typical arrangement for testing plate is shown in Fig 8.

Typical ultrasonic testing arrangements Figure 8 Ultrasonic longitudinal wave probe in contact with one side of the specimen at (a). The cathode ray oscilloscope display will be shown in the circle, the echo from the defect (b) coming midway between the top surface echo (a) and the bottom surface echo (c). Fig 9 shows method of checking a Double Vee Butt Weld.

Ultrasonic weld testing, using a shear wave probe Figure 9 For simplicity only the centre-line of the ultrasonic beam is shown: the probe is positioned to detect lack-of-side-wall fusion at (c). Advantages 1. Under favourable conditions ultrasonic inspection is outstanding in its ability to detect small internal defects. This characteristic is maintained over a considerable range of metal thickness. The size and orientation of defects can be estimated although not with the precision with which their position can be measured.

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2.

3. 4.

Ultrasonic tests yield their information instantaneously and materials and components can be scanned rectilinearly, spirally or helically, as required. High speed automatic scanning, which eliminates the human element of ultrasonic testing can often be achieved. Ultrasonic equipment can be small, portable and suitable for site use. In general the same equipment is applied to thick as to thin materials. In good transmission material such as some mild steels and wrought aluminium, ultrasonic inspection can be used on specimens up to several metres long.

Limitations 1. Ultrasonic inspection is essentially a method best applied to materials and components of simple form, any changes of section and profile being liable to give an indication, which complicates interpretation (i.e. a reflected signal). In general the complete examination of finished parts of complicated shape is not practical. 2. The limit on detectability of small defects is set by the operating frequency of the equipment, the surface finish of the component and by the position of the defect. For most engineering materials operating frequencies of between 2 and 6 megacycles per second (MHz) are used and these frequencies will give an approximate limit of detectability of defects of about 0.5mm diameter. Small defects, which are close to the surface, may be lost in the `dead-zone' of the probe. This dead-zone is related to a number of factors, including the surface finish of the component being inspected. 3. Since ultrasonic testing relies on reflection, the best indication of a defect is obtained when the axis of the ultrasonic beam is at right angles to the greatest area of the defect. Thus the direction of the beam relative to the defect is important and scanning from one direction only can give rise to a risk that only the most favourably orientated defects will be found. 4. Defect size determination of small defects is generally possible only if one has some additional information on the nature or orientation of the defect. 5. Interpretation of ultrasonic echo patterns is of prime importance and for inspection to be really effective the employment of highly trained personnel is essential. As ultrasonic waves are reflected freely at all the boundaries of the workpiece, intricate shapes can considerably complicate interpretation. 6. Ultrasonic testing cannot generally be applied to coarse-grained materials such as copper alloys or austenitic steels, but there are some special techniques which have had limited success in these fields. RADIOGRAPHIC FLAW DETECTION Radiographic Methods These techniques, encompassing X-rays, gamma-rays and neutrons, produce an image on a photosensitive film and can detect defects anywhere through the volume of the specimen. Equipment varies widely in cost from 1K to 200K and the equipment required depends on the thickness and physical density of the specimen. Because of the safety problems (e.g. exposure to radiation), the specimen is brought to the radiographic equipment in a radiation-protected enclosure whenever this is convenient, but both X-ray and gamma-ray equipment can be portable and can be used on site. Neutron radiography can be applied at only two/three centres in the UK and is not therefore described in detail. Basic Principles If X-rays or gamma-rays are transmitted through a material, they are absorbed to an extent,

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which depends on the thickness of the materials and its composition. After transmission through an object, variations in the intensity of the radiation can be permanently recorded by placing a radiographic film behind the object. Normally access is required to both sides of the object, but sometimes radiation can be transmitted through both walls of a box section or a tube, (Fig 10).

Radiography of a box-section Figure 10 The images of defects at a-a will be superimposed on the images at b-b, and may be slightly blurred depending on the size of the specimen.

Typical set up for radiography of a butt-weld Figure 11 The source is on one side of the specimen at a distance, and the film (in a cassette, with intensifying screens) is close to the specimen on the other side. Advantages 1. The methods can be used on any material, independently of its physical properties,

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2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7.

provided that absorption is not extremely high (e.g. as in the case of lead). A permanent record is provided by the radiograph. The image is a two-dimensional projection of the defect and is almost natural size (usually very slightly magnified). Variation in the photographic density of the defect image gives information about the nature and size of the defect, when the film is examined on an appropriate film-viewing screen. It is possible to inspect inaccessible parts and to avoid dismantling. Radiography has an established history of operator approval, which confers a certain status and has resulted in the provision of training facilities for operators. Gamma sources, being independent of power supplies, can be used conveniently for site work.

Limitations 1. Thickness changes need to be - 1% of the total specimen thickness or greater, to be detectable. 2. The ability to detect planar defects such as cracks depends in a complex manner of the angle of the crack to the radiation beam and on the crack opening. Tight cracks or cracks at an angle to the beam are unlikely to be detected. 3. Examination of large thickness requires very expensive equipment. 4. The images of defects at different depths are superimposed to form a two- dimensional object and the resultant image can require skilled interpretation. 5. Skilled personnel are essential for the planning of techniques of radiographic inspection and the interpretation of radiographs. 6. The need for radiation protection in accordance with statutory requirements although not in itself a limitation of the method, must be fully understood by anyone undertaking radiography.

ELECTRICAL (EDDY CURRENT) DETECTION Although an important branch of NDT for surface crack detection it lends itself to high-speed production set-ups. Principle of Operation When a coil carrying an AC current is brought near or made to surround a metal component eddy currents are induced into that component. Surface discontinuities, which may be present on the component, can cause changes in the eddy current effect; these changes (impedance) are then reflected back to the coil system. The resulting change is analysed electronically and is displayed on a cathode ray tube or meter or may be connected to a pre-set alarm unit. Type of Defect Longitudinal and diagonal cracks, laps and holes.

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