BRITISH STANDARD BS EN ISO

23278:2009

Non-destructive testing
of welds — Magnetic
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particle testing of
welds — Acceptance
levels (ISO 23278:2006)

ICS 25.160.40

NO COPYING WITHOUT BSI PERMISSION EXCEPT AS PERMITTED BY COPYRIGHT LAW

 BS EN ISO 23278:2009

National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN ISO 23278:2009.

It is identical to ISO 23278:2006. It supersedes BS EN 1291:1998 which
is withdrawn.
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The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical

Committee WEE/46, Non-destructive testing.
A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on
request to its secretary.
This publication does not purport to include all the necessary provisions
of a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.
Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity
from legal obligations.

This British Standard was Amendments/corrigenda issued since publication

published under the
authority of the Standards
Policy and Strategy Date Comments
Committee on 31 January
2010.
© BSI 2010

ISBN 978 0 580 66703 9

 EUROPEAN STANDARD EN ISO 23278
NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM November 2009

ICS 25.160.40 Supersedes EN 1291:1998

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English Version

Non-destructive testing of welds - Magnetic particle testing of

welds - Acceptance levels (ISO 23278:2006)

Contrôle non destructif des assemblages soudés - Contrôle Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung von Schweißverbindungen -
par magnétoscopie des soudures - Niveaux d'acceptation Magnetpulverprüfung von Schweißverbindungen -
(ISO 23278:2006) Zulässigkeitsgrenzen (ISO 23278:2006)

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 24 October 2009.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European
Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national
standards may be obtained on application to the CEN Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation
under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN Management Centre has the same status as the
official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal,
Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION

COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION
EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

Management Centre: Avenue Marnix 17, B-1000 Brussels

© 2009 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN ISO 23278:2009: E
worldwide for CEN national Members.
 BS EN ISO 23278:2009
EN ISO 23278:2009 (E)

Foreword
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The text of ISO 23278:2006 has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 44 “Welding and allied
processes” of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and has been taken over as EN ISO
23278:2009 by Technical Committee CEN/TC 121 “Welding” the secretariat of which is held by DIN.

This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical
text or by endorsement, at the latest by May 2010, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the
latest by May 2010.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. CEN [and/or CENELEC] shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

This document supersedes EN 1291:1998.

According to the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following
countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Endorsement notice

The text of ISO 23278:2006 has been approved by CEN as a EN ISO 23278:2009 without any modification.

3
 BS EN ISO 23278:2009
ISO 23278:2006(E)

Foreword
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ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies
(ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO
technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been
established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and
non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.

The main task of technical committees is to prepare International Standards. Draft International Standards
adopted by the technical committees are circulated to the member bodies for voting. Publication as an
International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies casting a vote.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

ISO 23278 was prepared by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) Technical Committee
CEN/TC 121, Welding (as EN 1291:1998 and its Amd.1:2002 and Amd.2:2003), and was adopted, under a
special “fast-track procedure”, by Technical Committee ISO/TC 44, Welding and allied processes,
Subcommittee SC 5, Testing and inspection of welds, in parallel with its approval by the ISO member bodies.

This document constitutes a consolidated version.

Requests for official interpretations of any aspect of this International Standard should be directed to the
Secretariat of ISO/TC 44/SC 5 via your national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be
found at http://www.iso.org.

© ISO 2006 – All rights reserved iii

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BS EN ISO 23278:2009
 BS EN ISO 23278:2009
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 23278:2006(E)

Non-destructive testing of welds — Magnetic particle testing

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of welds — Acceptance levels

1 Scope
This International Standard specifies acceptance levels for indications from imperfections in ferromagnetic
steel welds detected by magnetic particle testing.

The acceptance levels are primarily intended for use during manufacture examination, but where appropriate
they can be used for in-service inspection.

The acceptance levels in this International Standard are based on detection capabilities that can be expected
when using techniques specified in ISO 17638 and parameters recommended in Annex A. The acceptance
levels can be related to welding standards, application standards, specifications or codes. Such a relationship
is shown in ISO 17635 for ISO 5817.

2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
document (including any amendments) applies.

ISO 5817, Welding — Fusion-welded joints in steel, nickel, titanium and their alloys (beam welding
excluded) — Quality levels for imperfections

ISO 17635, Non-destructive testing of welds — General rules for fusion welds in metallic materials

ISO 17638, Non-destructive testing of welds — Magnetic particle testing

ISO/TS 18173, Non-destructive testing — General terms and definitions

EN 1330-2, Non-destructive testing — Terminology — Part 2: Terms common to the non-destructive testing
methods

EN 1330-7, Non-destructive testing — Terminology — Part 7: Terms used in magnetic particle testing

3 Terms and definitions

For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO/TS 18173, EN 1330-2 and
EN 1330-7 and the following apply.

3.1
linear indication
indication having a length greater than three times its width

3.2
non-linear indication
indication having a length less than or equal to three times its width

© ISO 2006 – All rights reserved 1

 BS EN ISO 23278:2009
ISO 23278:2006(E)

4 Testing parameters
Many parameters, either individually or in combination, will affect the ability of a technique to detect
imperfections of a given size and orientation with respect to the condition of the test surface.
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Detection of small imperfections is highly dependent on the surface condition of the weld and the detection
media used. Examples of the application of these parameters to give a high probability of detection are given
in Annex A.

5 Acceptance levels

5.1 General

The width of the test surface shall include the weld metal and the adjacent parent metal up to a distance of
10 mm on each side.

Acceptance levels prescribed for linear indications are those corresponding to the evaluation level. Indications
lower than this shall not be taken into account. Normally, acceptable indications shall not be recorded.

Local grinding may be used to improve the classification of all or just part of a test surface, when it is required
to work to a higher detection limit than that expected by the existing weld surface condition.

Acceptance levels are given in Table 1.

Table 1 — Acceptance levels for indications

Dimensions in millimetres

Acceptance level a
Type of indication
1 2 3

Linear indication
l u 1,5 lu3 lu6
l = length of indication
Non-linear indication
du2 du3 du4
d = major axis dimension
a Acceptance levels 2 and 3 may be specified with a suffix "X" which denotes that all linear indications detected shall be assessed to
level 1. However the probability of detection of indications smaller than those denoted by the original acceptance level can be low.

5.2 Grouped indications

Any adjacent indications separated by less than the major dimension of the smaller shall be assessed as a
single, continuous indication.

Grouped indications shall be evaluated in accordance with application standards.

5.3 Removal of imperfections

Where the product specification permits, local grinding may be used to reduce or remove imperfections which
are the cause of unacceptable indications. All such areas shall be re-tested and evaluated with the same
magnetic system and technique.

2 © ISO 2006 – All rights reserved

 BS EN ISO 23278:2009
ISO 23278:2006(E)

Annex A
(informative)

Recommended testing parameters

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Recommended testing parameters for reliable detection of small imperfections are given in Table A.1. The
surfaces are in the as-welded condition. It can be necessary to improve the surface condition, e.g. by abrasive
paper or local grinding, to permit accurate interpretation of indications The detection media are given in order
of preference.

Table A.1 — Recommended testing parameters

Acceptance level Surface condition Detection media

1 Fine surface a Fluorescent or colour contrast with

contrast aid
2 Smooth surface b Fluorescent or colour contrast with
contrast aid
3 General surface c Colour contrast with contrast aid or
fluorescent
a The weld cap and parent material offer smooth clean surfaces with negligible undercut, rippling and spatter. The surface finish is
typical of welds, made by automatic TIG-welding; submerged arc welding (fully mechanized) and manual metal arc welding with iron
powder electrodes.
b The weld cap and parent material offer reasonably smooth surfaces with minimal undercut, rippling and spatter. The surface finish
is typical of welds made by manual metal arc welding vertical downwards and MAG-welding using argon rich gas for the capping runs.
c The weld cap and parent material are in the as-welded condition. The surface finish is typical of welds made by manual metal arc
welding or MAG-welding in any position.

© ISO 2006 – All rights reserved 3

 BS EN ISO
23278:2009
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