Inspection of non-ferrous cast material is routinely carried out looking for casting defects inherent for the manufacturing process. The NDT methods employed are Radiography and Ultrasonics, primarily for sub-surface or internal defects and Penetrants fo r surface breaking defects. Electromagnetic techniques have not been used on cast material except maybe for conductivity determination. This limitation resulting fi7om the surface roughness normally associated with cast surfaces and the fact the other techniques mention above have been very successful in finding and evaluating the discontinuities sought. The possible application of Electromagnetic techniques on surfaces in the as-cast condition of non-ferromagnetic material came about because of specific problems experienced by industry. Two major investigations were offered namely; 1) Investigation of CNC material - CuNiCr [1.6%Cr] castings exhibiting oxide entrapment in the form of networks. 2) Investigation of NAB - Nickel Aluminium Bronze exhibiting selective phase corrosion on immersion in seawater. The detection and measurement of both oxide entrapment and phase selective corrosion was difficult and in cases impossible with conventional NDT methods employed for quality control of these material/component types. Time of Flight DiMaction Ultrasonics did give some 50% detectability of phase selective corrosion, but the method was found to be expensive and very time consuming. The metallurgical properties of the material and morphology of the defects have been studied for both Cupro Nickel Chromium and Nickel Aluminium Bronze cast alloys. An investigation was then conducted to study the effects of eddy current signals and their potential in detecting, both linear and cluster type defects which were predominantly interdendritic with some reported as intergranular in nature. For inspecting Cupro Nickel Chromium castings two successful eddy current methods have been developed. Detection of surface flaws was achieved by high frequency [2MHzj examination and subsurface flaws by using low frequencies [1--'IKHz] but using specifically developed sensors that provided good penetration but maintained sensitivity to the fine defects. In the case of Nickel Aluminium Bronze material, the investigation was to look at electromagnetic techniques, which best utilizes the inherent feature of permeability/conductivity associated with this non- ferromagnetic material and any changes that phase selective corrosion may produce. Some meaningful results were obtained using a combination of edd'y current excitation with detection via magneto -re s istive sensors. Testing through 30-40mm of material to detect small magnetic variation produced by only 1-2 mm of corrosion penetration was difficult to quantify. Detection and assessment however appeared hopeful when examination was carried out from the corroded surface. With quantifiable samples a meaningful technique using eddy current excitation and magneto-resistive sensor for detection can be developed.
展开▼
