Case Study

Comparison of penetrant inspection and eddy

current testing on a corroded test sample.

Customer
Our customer is an aerospace MRO (maintenance, repair
and operations) company based in the UK, with an
aerospace training college. Part of their training includes
teaching students about NDT capabilities within the
aerospace sector, identifying the strengths/weaknesses
and applicability of different NDT inspection techniques.

Challenge
One of the test samples used for training purposes is an
aluminium component from a heavily corroded Fokker 50 The aluminium test component, before testing.
main undercarriage The trainees are set a challenge to use
different NDT techniques to find a single crack within the
corroded test sample.

The trainees found that using eddy current testing to

interpret the test results proved difficult due to the intensity
of corrosion. The eddy current crack screen representation
was masked by the heavy corrosion indications, which
means it would be easy to miss a fatigue crack within a
heavily corroded area.

Solution
The test component was inspected using ZYGLO® ZL-60C, After applying ZYGLO® ZL-60C, the crack is clearly
Magnaflux EMEAR’s water-washable fluorescent Level 2 visible in the middle of the component, above the hole.
penetrant. ZL-60C is ideal for inspections where a medium
sensitivity penetrant is needed, such as general engineer-
ing components.

“The simplicity of penetrant inspec-

Results
tion using ZYGLO ZL-60C in such
Under UV(A) light, ZL-60C gave a clear visual indication of
a situation clearly highlighted its
the fatigue crack in the test component. Using the water
wash process, the crack was clearly differentiated from the benefit over eddy current testing,
background corrosion. where it is much more difficult to
differentiate between defect signals
and geometry effect signals.”
Date
April 2016

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