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DOWTY PROPELLERS STANDARD PRACTICES MANUAL

NDT 11/P
SPECIAL INSPECTION OF THREADS OF PROPELLER CYLINDERS DURING OVERHAUL

1. Scope.

A. This is a procedure for the examination of Cylinders for fatigue cracks at the thread roots. The
instruction is necessary as a result of failures of Cylinders.

2. Equipment and Materials Required.

A. Binocular low power microscope fitted with mirror, as used for the inspection of hub threads.

B. Trichloroethylene vapour degreasing plant.

C. Red or fluorescent penetrant, remover, wash facility and appropriate developer. (It is preferable to
use a high sensitivity (Group 5 or 6) penetrant and dry powder developer because of the difficulty of
detecting these tight, shallow fatigue cracks).

D. High intensity white or ultra-violet lighting, as appropriate.

3. Procedure.

A. Fully dismantle the cylinder.

B. Thoroughly degrease and clean, paying particular attention to the threads.

C. Apply penetrant, remover, wash and developer according to the manufacturer’s instructions,
allowing penetrant soaking and developing times of at least 1 hour each. The developer must be
applied very thinly.

D. Inspect the threads using the binocular microscope, paying particular attention to the three inner
most thread roots. Suspected cracked cylinders should be returned to Dowty Propellers for
Examination.

NOTE 1: It must be appreciated that it is necessary to carry out the crack detection with the
greatest care because of the difficulty of detecting shallow, tight fatigue cracks. The
sensitivity of the test is improved by thorough cleaning, by the minimum remover and
washing treatment, and also by thinly coating with the developer.

NOTE 2: Attention is drawn to the need for proper control of penetrant processes as described
in NDT Specification 8, MIL-I-6866, MIL-I-25135 and other related documents. It is
essential that personnel operating this procedure should be adequately instructed in
the use of penetrant methods; MIL-STD-410 and American Society for Non-destructive
Testing training document SNT-TC-1A refer.

NDT 11/P

60-00-00 Page 1
May 31/08
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