Understanding Non-destructive testing
NDT or Non-destructive testing is the use of a number of methods to find flaws and damage in an industrial plant inspection. It is an essential part of the inspection using an engineering method to test materials while at the same time not changing them or destroying them, at all. This means there is no scratching at the surface of a material or cutting something open. It is an important option when it is important that the appearance of the material must not be affected or when the material itself is a danger. This is an essential aspect of industrial checks and maintenance to ensure plants are safe and fit to continue to operate.
Looking for damage or flaws
The reason behind NDT is to find out what the chances of flaws or damage are and then to help make a decision from there depending on the outcomes of all steps of the investigation or inspection. There is no measurement of a parameter that is fixed like pressure or temperature. It measures the effect or physical property from which flaws, some irregularity or damage is inferred. Various methods are used some of which are also used in medical situations such as ultrasound scans, x-rays, and endoscopes, methods of diagnosis called non-invasive. There are many other methods such as sonar and radar.
Checking performance without damage
Often NDT is performed before defects are even detected to find out whether the material is sound or not. Is a component working as it is meant to? There is no use of high temperatures, electric currents, or high pressure as these tests can cause damage.
The difference between destructive and non-destructive testing
A lot of what you do to any object or material has an impact on it and alters it in some way. Exposing something to radiation changes might not show any difference by sight but it is changed at the molecular or atomic level. Other tests may not impact a material right away, but may make very small changes over a period of time with frequent testing. For this reason, some say there is no method that is 100% nondestructive. If you have to take out a small sample of material it has lost some of its mass. Over time will that mass loss add up to something that affects how useful it is? Removal of anything is certainly an act of destructive testing even when moving minute quantities.
Therefore when considering Non-destructive testing think more along the lines of the material or object tested is still useful after the tests are done. If a test renders that object or material as of no use now, then it is destructive. If samples or materials are discarded after testing, then this is destructive too. Using completely non-destructive methods, this testing looks at issues where irregularities and structural anomalies might affect the lifespan of the material and make it more likely to be more easily damaged.
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