Professional Documents
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DT & NDT
DT & NDT
NDT & DT
Destructive Testing
Testing Methods
Specimen as per code
Non – Destructive Testing
Testing Methods
Visual Inspection
Specimen Selection Criteria
Acceptance Criteria as per Codes
AN OVERVIEW
The term mechanical testing is used to describe a group of test methods
for establishing or confirming the mechanical properties of a material or a
completed weld. Most of these tests involve sectioning or otherwise destroying
some part of the object being tested and thus they are sometimes called
destructive tests. The tests are generally classified by the property they are
intended to define. Each follows a well-established procedure, which is part of a
published standard, allowing individual test results to be compared to other
results or statistical norms. This section describes the following mechanical tests,
some of which are destructive, that are carried out on welds:
- macroscopic & microscopic examinations
- bend test
- tension test
- hardness test
- charpy vee notch test
- Izod test
- crack tip open displacement test
- nick break test
- chemical test
Bend Test :
The bend test is a popular test method that is found in many welding standards and
specifications throughout the world due to the simplicity of the test method and
equipment required. The history of the bend test dates back to the early years of
wrought iron and steel testing before the advent of modern testing equipment. Bend
specimens are prepared typically from a test plate rather than from an expensive
finished product and are used to evaluate the ductility and soundness of welded joints.
There are two different bend testing methods:
- guided bend test
- free bend test
Guided Bend Test
The guided bend test is commonly used in welder and procedure qualification tests
to determine the ability of the welder to make sound welds. The test is performed by
bending prepared specimens of a specific dimension (usually specified in the relevant
code) in a special jig. The dimensions of the jig will vary with specimen thickness and
material.
It is important to note that the strain applied to the test specimen
depends on the spacing of the rollers and the radius of the member. The
strain on the outside fiber of the bend specimen can be approximated from
the following formula:
e = 100 t / ( 2R + t )
where
e = strain, %
t = bend test specimen thickness, mm. (in)
R = inside bend radius, mm. (in)
When performing qualification tests the specimen thickness and bend
radius are chosen according to the ductility of the metal being tested.
An elongation in the outside fibre of 20 percent can be easily achieved
on sound mild steel welds. Bend tests will consistently fail if the
specimens contain weld discontinuities that are on are near the surface
of the material.
After bending, the welds are examined for the presence of
discontinuities. Many welding standards and specifications consider that
a bend specimen has failed if on examination of the convex surface after
bending there is a crack or open defect exceeding 3mm (1/8 in.).
There are three types of guided bend tests:
- root bend tests
- face bend tests
- side bend tests
A root bend test puts the weld root in tension while a face bend test does
the same for the weld face. Both types are generally used on material thickness
of 10 mm (3/8 in.) or less. When the material thickness is greater than 10 mm
(3/8 in.) side bend test specimens are usually chosen due to the difficulty in
bending the thicker material. Side bend test specimens are typically 10mm (3/8
in.) thick. This test strains the entire weld cross section, and thus is especially
useful for exposing defects near the mid-thickness that might not contribute to
failure in a face or root bend test.
Bend Test Limitations
The same weakness that tensile tests suffer from also affects bend
tests. Nonuniform properties along the length of the specimen can cause
nonuniform bending. Bend testing is sensitive to the relative strengths
of the weld metal, the heat-affected zone, and the base metal.
Many problems can develop in transverse bend tests such as an
overmatching weld strength may prevent the weld zone from conforming
exactly to the bending die radius, and thus may force the base metal to
deform to a smaller radius. This will not produce the desired elongation
in the weld. Alternatively, with an under matching weld strength, the
specimen may bend in the weld to a radius smaller than the bending die.
In this case failure may result when the weld metal ductility is
exceeded, and not because the weld metal contained a defect.
These problems with weld strength mismatch can be avoided by using
longitudinal bend specimens which have the bend axis perpendicular to the
weld axis. In this case all zones of the welded joint (weld, heat
affected zone, and base metal) are strained equally and simultaneously.
This test is usually used for the evaluation of joints in dissimilar
metals.
The hardness test is by far one of the most valuable and the most widely used
mechanical test for evaluating the properties of metals as well as certain other materials.
In general, an indenter is pressed into the surface of the metal to be tested under a
specific load for a definite time interval, and a measurement is made of the size or depth
of the indentation.
The main purpose of the hardness test is to determine the suitability of a material, or
the particular treatment to which the material has been subjected to
Hardness testing may be used alone or to
complement other test methods.
This is what makes the hardness method so
popular because of the relationship that exists
between hardness and other properties of the
material.
For instance, both the hardness test and the
tension test measure the resistance of a metal to
plastic flow.
Such correlations are approximate and must be
used with caution when applied to welded joints
or any metal with a heterogeneous structure.
It should be noted that hardness is not a fundamental property of a
material and a hardness value is an arbitrary number. There are no
absolute standards of hardness and it has no quantitative value, except
in terms of a given load applied in a specified manner for a specified
duration and a specified penetrator shape.
Measurements of hardness can provide information about the
metallurgical changes caused by welding. For example, in alloy steels a
high hardness could indicate the presence of untempered martensite in
the weld heat-affected zone, while a low hardness may indicate an over-
tempered condition. In cold-worked or age-hardened metal, welding may
result in significantly lower heat-affected zone hardness due to
recrystallization or over aging.
Hardness testing is divided into two categories: macrohardness
and microhardness.
The hardness testing methods in use today for
testing metals are:
- Brinell
- Rockwell
- Vickers
- Knoop
CHARPY IMPACT TEST
The Charpy vee-notch impact test is the most common fracture toughness
test used by industry. A notched specimen is broken by a swinging pendulum and
the amount of energy required to break the specimen is recorded in foot-pounds or
joules. This is determined by measuring how far the pendulum swings upwards
after it fractures the specimen. If the specimen is tough, the pendulum will only
swing up a small distance since part of its energy has been absorbed by the
specimen. If the specimen is brittle it will absorb little energy thus allowing the
pendulum to swing up to almost its original height.
Charpy vee-notch impact testing machine
(Ref Appendix C Fig 45)
The amount of energy absorbed can be
read directly off of the dial indicator
that is located on the machine.
The specimen is supported in place
as shown and the pendulum strikes it
from behind the notch.
Visual Inspection
Specimen Selection Criteria
MPI uses magnetic fields and small magnetic particles, such as iron filings to detect flaws
in components. The only requirement from an inspectability standpoint is that the component being
inspected must be made of a ferromagnetic material such iron, nickel, cobalt, or some of their
alloys. Ferromagnetic materials are materials that can be magnetized to a level that will allow
the inspection to be effective.
The method is used to inspect a variety of product forms such as castings, forgings, and
weldments. Many different industries use magnetic particle inspection for determining a
component's fitness-for-use. Some examples of industries that use magnetic particle inspection are
the structural steel, automotive, petrochemical, power generation, and aerospace industries.
Underwater inspection is another area where magnetic particle inspection may be used to test items
such as offshore structures and underwater pipelines.
Ultrasonic Testing Methods(UT)
Ultrasonic Testing (UT) uses high frequency sound energy to conduct examinations and make
measurements. Ultrasonic inspection can be used for flaw detection/evaluation, dimensional
measurements, material characterization, and more. To illustrate the general inspection
principle, a typical pulse/echo inspection configuration as illustrated below will be used.
UT -
MT -
PT -
Notes :
Appendix C
Non-Destructive Testing
DP Test
Fig 8 Fig 9
DP Test Result
Fig 10
Non-Destructive Testing
MT Test
Fig 14
Fig 16
Non-Destructive
Fig 11 Testing
Fig 12
Fig 13
Crack Detection
thru MPI Crack Detection
MT With Powder Fig 15 thru MPI
MT Test Fluorescent
Fig 17
Fig 18
Fig 19 Fig 20
Non-Destructive Testing
Radiography Films
Fig 21 Cold Lap Fig 22 Porosity
Fig 28 Internal
Fig 27 Suck Undercut
Back
Fig 30 Offset or
Fig 29 External Mismatch
Undercut
Fig 31 underfill Fig 32 Over Fill
Fig 36
Fig 37
Bend test jig dimensions
Successful bend test Unsuccessful bend test
Fig 39 Fig 40
All weld metal test specimen Transverse weld Longitudinal
weld tension test
Fig 40 Fig 41
Hardness scan - fillet welds
Hardness scan - butt weld
Fig 43
Fig 44
Charpy vee-notch impact testing machine Charpy vee-notch specimen holder
Fig 45
Fig 46
Charpy vee-notch specimen dimensions Impact energy vs temperature
Fig 47 Fig 48
Fig 49
Izod specimen set up
Fig 50
Izod impact specimen dimensions
Fig 51