DATE
Penetrant testing began in the second half of the 19th century. First known as “Oil and Whiting” (materials are immersed in oil and after cleaning, they are immersed in a chalk & alcohol mixture, thus creating discontinuities), this method was first used in the railway industry to detect invisible faults.
Before and during the second world war, the rapidly growing aircraft industry began using more non-magnetic light metals, which could not be checked with the Magnetic Particle test. Companies such as Magnaflux, Switzer, Brent Chemicals started the production of fluorescent and dye penetrants.
WHAT?
Penetrant testing is another inspection method used to detect surface defects. Defects to be detected must be open to the surface, errors below the surface cannot be detected. Therefore, the test surface of the material to be applied must be smooth and clean. If the pre-cleaning is not done adequately and properly, it will cover the faults and cause no indication of fault during the test as the penetrant liquid cannot penetrate into this fault.
The biggest advantage of this method is that it is not limited by material type. So steel, ceramics, glass, plastic etc. Can be used on many materials.