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PenetrantTestingMaterials

PenetrantTestingMaterials
Thepenetrantmaterialsusedtodayaremuchmoresophisticatedthanthekeroseneandwhitingfirst
usedbyrailroadinspectorsneartheturnofthe20thcentury.Today'spenetrantsarecarefully
formulatedtoproducethelevelofsensitivitydesiredbytheinspector.Toperformwell,apenetrantmust
possessanumberofimportantcharacteristics.Apenetrantmust:
spreadeasilyoverthesurfaceofthematerialbeinginspectedtoprovidecompleteandeven
coverage.
bedrawnintosurfacebreakingdefectsbycapillaryaction.
remaininthedefectbutremoveeasilyfromthesurfaceofthepart.
remainfluidsoitcanbedrawnbacktothesurfaceofthepartthroughthedryinganddeveloping
steps.
behighlyvisibleorfluorescebrightlytoproduceeasytoseeindications.
notbeharmfultothematerialbeingtestedortheinspector.

Allpenetrantmaterialsdonotperformthesameandarenotdesignedtoperformthesame.Penetrant
manufactureshavedevelopeddifferentformulationstoaddressavarietyofinspectionapplications.
Someapplicationscallforthedetectionofthesmallestdefectspossibleandhavesmoothsurfaces
wherethepenetrantiseasytoremove.Inotherapplications,therejectabledefectsizemaybelarger
andapenetrantformulatedtofindlargerflawscanbeused.Thepenetrantsthatareusedtodetectthe
smallestdefectwillalsoproducethelargestamountofirrelevantindications.
Penetrantmaterialsareclassifiedinthevariousindustryandgovernmentspecificationsbytheirphysical
characteristicsandtheirperformance.AerospaceMaterialSpecification(AMS)2644,Inspection
Material,Penetrant,isnowtheprimaryspecificationusedintheUSAtocontrolpenetrantmaterials.
Historically,MilitaryStandard25135,InspectionMaterials,Penetrants,hasbeentheprimarydocument
forspecifyingpenetrantsbutthisdocumentisslowlybeingphasedoutandreplacedbyAMS2644.
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OtherspecificationssuchasASTM1417,StandardPracticeforLiquidPenetrantExaminations,mayalso
containinformationontheclassificationofpenetrantmaterialsbuttheyaregenerallyreferredbackto
MILI25135orAMS2644.
Penetrantmaterialscomeintwobasictypes.Thesetypesarelistedbelow:
Type1FluorescentPenetrants
Type2VisiblePenetrants

Fluorescentpenetrantscontainadyeorseveraldyesthatfluorescewhenexposedtoultraviolet
radiation.Visiblepenetrantscontainareddyethatprovideshighcontrastagainstthewhitedeveloper
background.Fluorescentpenetrantsystemsaremoresensitivethanvisiblepenetrantsystemsbecause
theeyeisdrawntotheglowofthefluorescingindication.However,visiblepenetrantsdonotrequirea
darkenedareaandanultravioletlightinordertomakeaninspection.Visiblepenetrantsarealsoless
vulnerabletocontaminationfromthingssuchascleaningfluidthatcansignificantlyreducethestrength
ofafluorescentindication.
Penetrantsarethenclassifiedbythemethodusedtoremovetheexcesspenetrantfromthepart.The
fourmethodsarelistedbelow:
MethodAWaterWashable
MethodBPostEmulsifiable,Lipophilic
MethodCSolventRemovable
MethodDPostEmulsifiable,Hydrophilic
Waterwashable(MethodA)penetrantscanberemovedfromthepartbyrinsingwithwateralone.
Thesepenetrantscontainanemulsifyingagent(detergent)thatmakesitpossibletowashthepenetrant
fromthepartsurfacewithwateralone.Waterwashablepenetrantsaresometimesreferredtoasself
emulsifyingsystems.Postemulsifiablepenetrantscomeintwovarieties,lipophilicandhydrophilic.In
postemulsifiers,lipophilicsystems(MethodB),thepenetrantisoilsolubleandinteractswiththeoil
basedemulsifiertomakeremovalpossible.Postemulsifiable,hydrophilicsystems(MethodD),usean
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emulsifierthatisawatersolubledetergentwhichliftstheexcesspenetrantfromthesurfaceofthepart
withawaterwash.Solventremovablepenetrantsrequiretheuseofasolventtoremovethepenetrant
fromthepart.
Penetrantsarethenclassifiedbasedonthestrengthordetectabilityoftheindicationthatisproducedfor
anumberofverysmallandtightfatiguecracks.Thefivesensitivitylevelsareshownbelow:
LevelUltraLowSensitivity
Level1LowSensitivity
Level2MediumSensitivity
Level3HighSensitivity
Level4UltraHighSensitivity
ThemajorUSgovernmentandindustryspecificationscurrentlyrelyontheUSAirForceMaterials
LaboratoryatWrightPattersonAirForceBasetoclassifypenetrantsintooneofthefivesensitivity
levels.ThisprocedureusestitaniumandInconelspecimenswithsmallsurfacecracksproducedinlow
cyclefatiguebendingtoclassifypenetrantsystems.Thebrightnessoftheindicationproducedis
measuredusingaphotometer.Thesensitivitylevelsandthetestprocedureusedcanbefoundin
MilitarySpecificationMILI25135andAerospaceMaterialSpecification2644,PenetrantInspection
Materials.
Aninterestingnoteaboutthesensitivitylevelsisthatonlyfourlevelswereoriginallyplanned.However,
whensomepenetrantswerejudgedtohavesensitivitiessignificantlylessthanmostothersinthelevel1
category,thelevelwascreated.Anexcellenthistoricalsummaryofthedevelopmentoftest
specimensforevaluatingtheperformanceofpenetrantmaterialscanbefoundinthefollowing
reference.
Reference:
Flaherty,J.J.,HistoryofPenetrants:TheFirst20Years,194161,MaterialsEvaluation,Vol.44,No.12,
November1986,pp.13711374,1376,1378,1380,1382

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