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MIDTERM
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LIQUID
PENETRANT
TESTING
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INTRODUCTION
- This is a method which can be employed for the detection of
open-to-surface discontinuities in any industrial product which is
made from non-porous materials.
- In this method a liquid penetrant is applied to the surface of the
product for a certain predetermined time, after which the excess
penetrant is removed from the surface.
- This method is widely used for testing of non-magnetic materials.
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NON-MAGNETIC MATERIALS

- Most materials in airline industry have no obvious

magnetic properties, they are said to be non-
magnetic. In these materials, the magnetic fields of
the individual atoms are randomly aligned and thus
then to cancel out.
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The surface is the dried and a developer is applied to

it. The penetrant which remains in the discontinuity is
absorbed by the developer to indicate the presence
as well as the location, size and nature of the
discontinuity.
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DISCONTINUITIES / CRACKS

- cracking process is called fatigue It is not a property of metals

alone. Plastic materials behave in a similar way. Brittle materials
such as glasses and ceramics undergo even more complex
changes when repeatedly bent or loaded. But, their tendency to
simply break from overloading obscures fatigue in them.
- Those are the combinations of all the material failure that would
lead to cracks.
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ADVANTAGES OF LIQUID PENETRANT
- Relatively low cost.
TESTING
- Highly portable NDT method.

- Highly sensitive to fine, tight discontinuities.

- Fairly simple method.

- Can be used on a variety of materials.

- All surface discontinuities are detected in one

operation, regardless of orientation.
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LIMITATIONS OF LIQUID PENETRANT
TESTING
- Test surface must be free of all contaminants.

- Defects surface discontinuities only.

- Cannot be used on porous specimens and is

difficult to use on very rough surfaces.
- Removal of all penetrant materials, following the
test, is often required.
- There is no easy method to produce permanent
record.
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POROUS METALS

 These are the metallic bonding that has a wide

space between the atoms to another. It has a
rounded grains with more air and water spaces.
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REPRESENTATION OF A POROUS ALUMINUM

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NON-POROUS METALS

- These are the metallic bonding that has no gap or

less wide space between the atoms to another. It
has an interlocking grains with no water and air
spaces.
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BASIC PRINCIPLE OF
THE LIQUID
PENETRANT TESTING
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PROPERTIES OF LIQUID PENETRANTS

- Viscosity

- Surface tension

- Angle contact between liquid and solid

- Capillarity
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VISCOSITY
- Liquids have the ability to flow because molecules
of the liquid can slide over each other. the
resistance of liquid to its flow called viscosity. In
other words, viscosity of a liquid is a measure of its
internal resistance flow.
- The resistance to flow is because of the internal
friction among the layers of molecules. Liquid which
flow very slowly like honey or glycerine, have high
viscosities as compared to ether and water having
low viscosities.
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If a liquid flowing in a tube is considered as made up
of a series of layer, the layers of the liquid in contact
with the walls of the tube remains stationary. The
layer in the center of the tube has highest velocity.
Each layer exerts a drag on the next layer and causes
resistance to flow.
High viscosity penetrants have a disadvantage of a
slower rate of penetration; conversely too-low
viscosity penetrants can drain away too rapidly and
have a tendency to drain out of shallow defects.
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THE NEWTON’S LAW OF VISCOUS
FLOW (Law of Viscosity)

- The proportionality constant is the co-efficient

of viscosity which is defined as the force required
per unit area to maintain a unit difference of velocity
between the two adjacent layers which are a unit
distance apart.
- The dimensions of are [mass] [length]^-1
[time]^-1. the SI unit is kg.m^-1 s^-1. the C.G.S. unit
called the poise (p) is equal to 1/10th of SI unit of
viscosity.
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FLUIDITY

- The reciprocal of co-efficient of viscosity is called FLUIDITY and

It is given by the symbol (phi).
- Fluidity is measure of the ease with which a liquid can flow.

- Now in case of liquid penetrants viscosity does have an important

practical consideration in their choice. It is an important factor in
determining the speed with which a penetrant will enter the defect.
Fluidity is the reciprocal of viscosity and thus a viscous penetrant
will penetrate or emerge more slowly than a less viscous one.
- In the other hand the viscosity is too low, the excess penetrant on
the surface of the penetrant will drain away too quickly and not
leave a pool of penetrant to act as a reservoir to top up the defect
as penetration takes place.
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SURFACE TENSION

- Surface tension in a liquid is an example of

cohesive force, where the molecules are attracted
to like molecules. The cohesive force tends to bind
them together, having affinity for each other.
- Water and Mercury. When either of these liquids is
spilled, they tend to form spherical shapes, the
cohesive force binding them together by surface
tension.
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Surface tension is one of the two most important

properties which determines whether a liquid makes a
good penetrant but is not in itself the controlling factor.
The term surface tension can be described as force
per unit length on imaginary line drawn on the surface
of a liquid.
The surface tension of the liquids is affected by
change in temperature, density of liquid and nature of
surface in contact. With rise in temperature surface
tension of a liquid decreases.
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GIVEN FORMULA MEANING UNITS

g Acceleration due to 980 cm/sec^2
gravity
p Density of the liquid Gram/cm^3
h Height of liquid rise in cm
capillary tube
r Radius of the capillary cm
tube
T Surface tension Dynes / cm
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ANGLE OF CONTACT BETWEEN LIQUID
AND SOLID
- Determines the wetting ability of the liquid. It is
defined as the angle made between the surface of
the liquid and the point of contact as the liquid
advanced along the surface.
- The magnitude of contact angle determines the
penetrativeness of fluids. Liquids with high contact
angle make them poor penetrants.
- Water though has a high surface tension but due to
high contact angle is a poor penetrant.
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WETTING ABILITY, A FUNCTION OF CONTACT ANGLE.

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CAPILLARITY
 The mechanism of entry and coming out of fine
discontinuities is due to capillary forces.
 The capillary pressure is a function of the surface
tension of the liquid and its ability to wet the surface
of the tube.
 A liquid will rise to a considerable extent it the
upper end is closed.
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BASIC PRINCIPLE OF CAPILLARITY

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GIVEN FORMULA MEANING

T Surface tension
Theta Contact angle between the liquid and
crack surface
W Width of the cracks
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BEHAVIOR OF LIQUID PENETRANTS

- Wettability

- Penetrability

- Washability

- Retention and bleeding

- Influence of surface state of the sample, the

contamination and temperature
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WETTABILITY
- Has an important effect on overall performance of
the penetrant. A penetrant that has a good wetting
properties will spread completely over the surface
of the treated part.
- Wetting ability refers to the angle of contact with the
surface like water, is an excellent solvent, with a
very high surface tension.
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PENETRABILITY

- A good penetrant is the one which has a high

penetrativeness. Parameters such as viscosity and
wetting ability have an influence on the liquid to be a
good or bad penetrant.
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WASHABILITY
- An important requirement for a good penetrant is its
suitable removability from the surface of the part
after the penetration into defects has taken place.
- This implies that the penetrant must be soluble in
the solvent, remover, or in water to achieve this.
- Removal performance is very important since
surplus penetrant must be removed form the
surface of the part or the entire part will have a high
background/fluorescence.
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INFLUENCE OF SURFACE STATE OF THE
SAMPLE, THE CONTAMINATION AND
TEMPERATURE
- The principle of all penetrant processes is that the
penetrant must enter the surface openings of
discontinuities if it later to identify them.
- Unless the part is clean and free from foreign
materials that may cover the discontinuities, or
perhaps later confuse the indications, reliable
inspection cannot be made.