J. Test. Eval. July 1992, Vol20, No.

Clement I&rtl and Krishna Rampem&

Magnetic Particle Testing of Turbine Blades Mounted on the

Turbine Rotor Shaft

REFERENCE: I-. C.a d Rampend. K.. "- hrYek potential danger to plant pemnnel. Preventive maintenance.
TaPI3ldTrrllirWMarcdmtLtTrLlrWW," iwrporating N o n - D e s t d v t Evaluation (NDE)techniques, is
loumal of Tcsring d E w l u p t i o n . JTEVA, Vd. 20. No.'l, 1992. vital for sustenance of the reliability of turbine components. In
pp. 2%-300.
this regard. Mading represents one of the key areas requiring
AWRACT: Turbiwr oonstirutc so- of the morl cdkd d a k n t s improved crack detection methods 131.
in sudl things as aimah engines and power pmr*w pbaa &re This paper reports on the use of UP1 in the examination of
breakdowns can bt camrophic. l4cvcnuvc m a i n t m b M o r e martensitic stainless steel turbine Mades in power plants in Trin-
vital in such -si Non-Destructive E - t b 0 mys
a idad and Tobago in order to csiablish procedures for the detec-
signifiint rok in srrdr maintenaxe pmpmmm. TPrbiv #dr fail-
ure can occur w i- warning and witb disastrous &. ! k b fail: tion of dixontinuities. Tht techniques outlined define the test
urcs are, for tk nat pm. c a d by cracks or bs -, by methodology with respect to the configuration and placement of
inclusions. Such are readily k t & by NDE such the magnetizing coils and arc applicable to ferromagnetic turbine
as magnetic prWk m i o n (MPI) if they arc on or
'ktuta blades in general. A subsequent paper will deal with the rela-
and accessibk. whch is the cw in turbine blrdcs.
This paper o u W t k general technique d M f I of tvrbir Y d c s tionships between crack chuacteristics such as length, depth.
mounted on the t m b c rotor &aft witb sDtcifie Feferaot io the direction and location and the flux density.
placement of the -ng coits. Of the & prrecial-,
the method of plofi.l 8 preformed coil over n Rumber d Y.la in EqerbcaWPnmdtlrrdRmlts
one row is preferred BD rht method of wmpp@ the coil lirord the
rotor shaft across ra entire row of blades.
Tcrr Equipment
KEY W O R M t*. magnetic partlck impkclion. rotor The equipment used for the tests consisted of a Magnaflux
shafts. turbine blada
portobk magnetic unit - Typc M-500.a Bell 610 gaussmeter
model H7B1-0608 with transverse probe. and a Magnaflux u1-
Magnetic partick testing is the most widely used NDE m t h o d traviolct light Model ZB. Magnaglo 14A magnetic particles were
for the inspection d ferromagnetic turbine Ma&s for tbc detec- used. suspended in water with magnaflux WA-2A conditioner.
tion of flaws. Tbt Typc M-500 Magnaflux unit is designed to furnish dialed
In the magnetic particle inspection of turbine bhdcJ in situ self-regulated high amperage alternating and half-wave direct
(i.e. without rrmoving them from their working poQitirlrr on the current for inspection of medium to large machinery compo-
rotor. diaphragm im cylinder) the indications sough are cracks mnts. Maximum intermittent current ratings are 4000 A alter-
transverse to the w h of the blades. nating current or 4000 A d i m current through 9 m (30 ft) of
It is very importan that the parts to bc inspcctcd (tkturbine 95 rnm2 (440 AWG) cabk. The continuous rating is 1200'A.
blades) are ckan prior to testing. IIbe blades must dwm k mag- Output currents are regulated by means of a calibrated system.
netised rn the kmgbdmal direction &d any disumti&tynormd Tbc &I1 610 gaussmitcr is solid state construction and uses
to the t~nesof flux. nrch as a transverse crack,will kgnetic Hal cifcct magnetic fie!d probes capabk of measuring field strength
particles on tbc ndacc to form a dintinct rbiMt pattun, in tfK range of 1 to 100 000 gauss.
Blading failure-hs been the subject of fairly study The Magnaflux model ZB black light is a 100 W mercury
at the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Comnriadaa ia t k recent vspour arc lamp capabk of &livering sufficient energy in the
past [ I ] . 'Rmc fdlrrts have been very costly in tcraa af down- 356 nm tange well above the minimum intensity requirement for
time. replacement p a t s and restoration of units to -. As inspection (WpWfcm2at the inspection surface). Actually the
Armor [2] has paiatcd out. fractures In the *
Ipcm arc
usually catastrapbiE ta the generating equipment .8d a h pme
source u d had a strength of 1800 fiWlcm2 300 m m away.

General Test Parameters

+bnuscripr rrcEired 9R7P91; accepted f
a @ ~ b t i u111992.
a Because the cracks in turbine blades can be very tight and also
dies. St. Augurdat. T t i d x .
Ebneering' Um because of the complex structure of the blades and acassibitity.
In-
Trinidad & T - Eka*ty commission, m,h n + o ~ + the Wet f l ~ o r t x e nmethod
t d MPI was found to be most effec-
Spun. Trinidad. tive.

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 The blades are cleaned by dust blasting but care must be taken
not to interfere with the integrity of any coating on the blades.
This was done by spaying the blades with silica flour in an air
stream of approximately 5.5 bars (8)psi). The blades are mag-
netized in the longitudinal direction. Magnetic particles are then
applied to the blades which are inspected under ultraviolet (black)
light.
Half-wave rectified single-phase current was used instead of
AC current in order to &tea both surface and subsurface de-
fects. Whereas surfaa (fatigue) cracks are the main cause of
fa~lureof turbine blades, subsurface defects have. on the odd
occasion. also caused failures. This method prov~desexcellent
sensitivity 141. The residual magnetism method was tried but
found to be unsatisfactory as indicated by U.S.m ~ l i t aspeci-
~
ficatlon MI L-STD-1949A IS]. Therefore the continuous method
was used.

Turbine Blades Tcstcd

Several different shapes (curvatures) and sues of blades.
mounted on their shafts, were tested. The blades. martensltlc
sta~nlesssteel Type 416. ranged in size from 65 mm long b) 50
mm average width to 640 mrn by 60 mm. The results reported FIG 2- C d m f i g u r a t r o n and tnugncrirficfdfor cod wrap@ a+mnd
here are for the largest blade. rotor body a r m ow r o w of blades.

Three sets of tests were performed which represent the meth- DIRECTfar f s IN M
ods that can be used to magnetize the blades In the desired AXIS BMEs. AS
(W 'I)E

dlrectron. The methods were: FU?n€SDGLE~IW

F I W 1 rnTWOOI1
( 1 ) Forming a coil around an individual blade wh~chwas de-
a)nFIQIRATIQ( fW FIQJCIE.
tached from the rotor (Fig. 1).
( i i ) Wrapping a coil around the rotor b o d y or shaft. with the 2 T)1E (wxPI)Il FWX
same number of t u r n on one side of the row of blades as on the mIn AT m TIP OF TN
other side (Fig. 2). euEWSLUSUFlEDAS
(iii) Making up a coil and placing it over a number of blades YU AS TELVE lEADDllS
in one row on the spindle or shaft (Fig. 3). w Flux DMSITY AUIG M
emrwlt€eunm
Coil Formed Around a Stngle Detached Blade- Figure 1 shows
the coil configuration and the magnetic field direction for the EVERY V A U n w -.
coil formed arwnd a single detached blade. A coil of 5 turns

FIG. 3-Coil bQprd over number of bladcs nl one row

.
I
and 280 mm diameter was used. The blade length was 640 mm
MAGNETIC and average cros section of 60 mm wide. The area in which tbt
fwx LINES inspection w l s performed was enclosed and darkened. A hrlf-
wave D .C. was applied, varylng from MO A to 12.00 A in steps
of 100 A. The aormponding field strengths along the body of
the blade and at tke tip were measured and tabulated for taeb
current in-. Flux density at t k tip of the blade w s mud!
higher than t h .long the body of the blade for the same m-
nctizing c u m . The field strength along the body (i.e., away
from the tip) rrr not constant, and as such an average value was
w d to plot -tic field strength vs. magnetizing current. Thc
average was tJea from readings at twelve points (as shown in
FIG. 1 -Coil configuration and firld directton for detached Fig. 1) on the bbdc surface. After this was completed, the bbde
blade was demagnctircd using a rapidly. continuously diminishing id-

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298 JOURNAL OF TESTING AND E V A L U A m

ternating c u m s t horn 1500 to 0 A. Figure 4 plots of

average magnetic 6cW strength vs. magnctkiag ~lmeat,and
maximum blade tip magnetic field strength vs.
. cur-
rent for the &trkul blade.
Two blades with known fatigue cracks were in twn p k e d in
the mil. Starting ridr a current of 200 A half-mrc D.C., wet
fluorescent partida were applied to the Modc in adnnous
mode. As before, t k current was increased in deps d MO A to
1200 A each timt bapecting the &&. As tbc flrr &nsity
increased the crack iadicatiom appeared c h u d y at .bout 50
gauss and became more distinct as thc current (ad fhl3C dtnsity)
increased. At 60 grrrr the indications were very distind w e a s -
ing in intensity up to h u t 100 gauss which corrapaadr roughly
to the upper point d inflection on the curve.
Coil Wrapped h d Romr Body -F~gutt 2 &CWS tk coil
FIG. 5-Flux densir?;versus mgmctizrng current for a coil formed
configuration d -tic fitld direceioR when t k ad kd* anwnd turbinr shfr (rotor body) across cmc row of blades
around the rotor b d y . As can be seen, tbc fkxibk dk,after
making a coil (of thra turns) on orrc side of rht dWes,
is looped over to t k other si& and the coil mtp is -ed
in reverse direction SO the fint coil (for thrce turer as rrdl). This
creates similar mrgrtie poles on either sick of the mw d b & s .
The net effect is to h c e the magnetic flux liner the
longitudinal diredm of the blades.
Figure 5 shows t& plots of aver- magnetic fidd vs.
magnetizing m a Jong the body and at the tip of t kW e s
with the coil wrappod around the rotor body. As in tbc case of
the single detacbed bbde the values of flux dtmity vtrisd along
the body of the b k k for any given v n t and tbcrrhrr an

-
average value was rped to plot the current vmrrs fkx dtnsity
curves. As prevrarsly the average valw was taken froa twelve
points along the smfwr of the blade. This was Plso c&nc few the
method (next sectiao) where a preformed mil kqbd over
a number of Madcs in one row.
PnfomdCdLoopcdomaNumbciofBIadakOrrRow- FJG. 6-RUX demir); venw " l o y t i z ~ n gcurrent for a preformed coil
Figure 3 Bows tbc amfiguration and field dirtction of lk pre- 100ped owr u number af blades in one row
formed coil looped m r a number of blacks in om row- A coil
was formed three turns of d a p a t c size to amr one
third the number d W s in a row. The coil was tbsri placed
over the b l a b . F w 6 s h o r n plots of average fieid
strength versus magmizing current. for a prcforrkd dboped S Turbine Bladrs
R s p w C U N ~of
over a number of btrks in one row, along thc body a d at the
tip of the blades. The Flux Density vs. Magnetizing Current curves presented
in Fw. 4. 5. and 6 for the largest blade tested (640 mm by 60
mm) arc similar to results obtained for the other sizes of blades.

Single Detached Blade

The coil f o m d around the detached blade was used to es-
tablish tbe characteristics of the magnetic field which is required
to be induced in or&r to &tcct cracks. The flux density at the
tip of the blade was between thrce to three and a half times the
flux density along the body. Tbc standard deviation of the flux
& d t y along the M y of the blade within the 50 to 100 gauss
range was between 7 to .I0 gauss. The cracks in the defective
blodts served to establish the range of magnetization in which
kfeets arc distinctly visible.
Became of t k configuratioo of the blades when assembled on
thc mtor, it is impractical and uatconomical to have them-either
detacbed for impection or to vnp a coil around each individual
Mndc on the rotor. Thus the results obtained from the detached
Mpdc were used as a reference for the other (in situ) methods
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and t o determine the maximum magnetization for optimum de-
tectability of defects in turbine blades mounted on the shaft.
Blades Assembled on Rotor Shaft
The second method of testing (with the coil wrapped around
the rotor on both sides of a row of Mades in situ) yielded results
generally similar to the test on the detached blade as Figs. 1 and
5 show.
In the (third) method. where a preformed coil is placed over
a number of blades as shown in Fig. 3. a similar pattern of flux
was obtained a5 for the method of wrappng the coil around the
rotor body but with a higher magnitude of flux density for the
same current used. From the graph in Fig. 6 a current of 550 A
induces an average magnetic flux of approximately 70 gauss along
the M y of the black compared to 600 A for the same average
flux by the second melhod, a difference of about 10% . Also. the
flux was more evenly distributed. using the third method. along
the surface of the blade as can be observed from the results.
It should be noted. however. that the blades near the ends of
the coil experienced increasing change in direction of flux con-
sistent with the change in direction of the coil. The effective
range of inspection within the coil is therefore confined to blades
that are essentially perpendicular t o the coil direction.
The standard deviation of the flux density along the body of
the blade. within the 50 t o 100 gauss range was about 5 gauss
for the third method, as compared to 15 gauss for the second
method. where the coil was wrapped around the rotor shaft. The
flux density at the tip, however. is over four times that along the
M y of the blade at the higher levels of flux density.
Using the basic method of wrappng the coil around the rotor
body. the coils were wrapped such tbat two rows of blades were
with~nthe m i k (Fig. 7) instead of one row as in Fig. 2. When
the magnetic flux was checked along the surface of the blades.
it was found that no field was detected albng the inner side of
both rows of blades.
Figure 8 shows the coils wrapped around the rotor body but
w ~ t ha wrong configuratim (i.e.. the coil continues In the same
FIG 7- Coil configurpnb~and mugndcfild for coil w r ~ p p r daround
rotor body bm loo@ amass wo raws of blodcs.
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FIG. 8 -Coil ~ ~ l l f i g u r a t r oand
n mugMic field for coil w r a p p d orounrl
raor body but &the wrong corrfigumrion OCtd5J the row ofblrdn f i e . ,
m thc same d i e ) .
direction on bathsides of the row of blades). This did not prmke
the desired heid in the blades because dissimilar poks were
created across t k row of blades so that the field remained con-
fined. mcue a ks. t o the turbine shaft.
As Figs. 4, 5, md 6 clearly indicate. the maximum flux, mucfi
higher than w b l was measured dong tht body of the Madt.
was obtained rt the tip. This should be expected sina it is tbe
point where tbt majority of flux Leaves the Ma& in l m g i t u d i d
magnetizatioa bearuse of the severe geometric discontinuity at
the tip.
As can be obmved from the results in Fig. 5 . even at a current
as low as 300 A, dK flux measured at the Ma& tip was 60gams
at which value ia t& body of the bh& defects are clearly visibk.
However. the r m a g e flux in the body of the blade was only 10
gauss. which is aruch too low for proper determination of defects.
1. The single black technique is only practical for detached
blacks- new a repaired blades. for cxampk.
2. Of the fwo practical methods of inducing magnetic fields
for Magnetic Artick Inspection of turb~ncblades fixed on tbc
rotor, the mctLod of placing a preformed coil over a number of
blades in one mw as shown in Fig. 3 is preferred t o the method
of wrappng tbt cod around the rotor b d y across one row as
shown in Fig. 2 Tb~sis because there is greater uniformity of
magnetic flux i m h c d and lower current required to induce pd
equate flux dndty with the prcfonned mil. However, both
methods p r d satisfactory magnetic flux and tither can be
uscd. When t& latter method thcrr sharld only be onc rm
of~witt61ObccoiisinocOnlythe(wtcr)ridcsdtbcModes
nearest t o t h c d w a l k l be properly mpgrctiaed. ThisisilhstrPted
in Fig. 7. Ako tbe coil must change dhectirm on either sick of tbc
row of blacksb Et dw d does not c b q e dimdim the flux &ec-
tively stays in tLt iolor. Thts is ilhustmtcd in Fq.8.
3. Optimum dcfaet detection occurs at a current well below
the pomt where tbc flux &nsity saturates. thus climmatmg ony
tendency for " e g " of indications that tends to take p b a
close to and the saturation point. It has been confirmed
that defect i d b t b m show up most d t d y in the range of 60
100 gauss in tbt body of the blade.
4. It is ncaavry t o ensure that sufficient magnetization is
induced in tht bcdy of the bladc since tbc ratio d G. density
at the tip of the bhdt to tbe body d wity be a*sr four to
one and mcosuriq flux density at the tip waald k: rcry mis-
leading.
[ I ] Irnbcrt, C . uul -harp, K.,DcpvtmclK d
gineering. Tbc M t y of the West Iaditc. !&. -,
dad. SNml Rqom for rlrc Trinidd d -T l % d d y Com-
missron.
(21 Annor. A. F.. 'mnc-Geaentor NDE: Aa EIW m i v e , "
Nonkrtnrtive Evaluation of Turbines and Generaton: m e d i n g s
~ Wohshop: WS-80-133. pp. 1.3- 1.24. Editors:
of C o n f c and
R. H.Richmpn and T.Rcrtig. Cllifornta: Aptech Engnccring Scrv-
kc. 1981.
(3)Reinhart, E.R.. "A Study of NDE Mcthods for Turhnc Blades and
a Cntial RtncrJ of Twbiac Spndle Inspection." NondeUruaivc
Evdwtion of Turbtnes a d Geeerators: Proceeding of a Conference
8ntl Workshop: WS-80.133. pp. 3.43-3.63 Editors: R H. Richman
En- md T. Rettig. Calif&: Apcch Engineering Service. 1981.
Trini- [ I ] Cuudian Gcmral S t u d r r d r Board. Manuul on Magnetic Pcmmcle
Inspdon: # - G P - i I M . 1981.
M U.S. Military Standard. 19B9. "Magncr~cPartlcle Inspection: MIL-
SfD-1949 A." Washington. D.C.

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