Mechanical Engineering

MACRO SECTION Object: To examine a cross section of a weld for internal defects and soundness. Method:  A transverse section of the weld is cut out. The cross section is then visually inspected. The section is filed down from rough to smooth, then emery or wet/dry papered down to a surface finish of 600 grit. The surface is then etched in NITAL (5% - 10% nitric acid in alcohol), washed off, rinsed and dried. (Possibly a final clean with acetone and mount in Bakelite) The specimen is then inspected at up to 10-x magnification. Reporting Results: Material. Welding process. Specimen identification. Sentencing standard. Thickness. Geometric flaws - type, size and location. Internal flaws - type, size and location. Parent metal flaws - type, size and location. Accept or reject, to standard, for each flaw.    Comparison of macro section and micro section:                                                                         MACRO                                   

'NICK' BREAK (BEND) TEST Object :  As for fillet weld fracture, used on butt welds. Method: The specimen is cut transversely to the weld, and a saw cut is applied along the center of the weld face. The best place for the cut is at a start I stop. The specimen is fractured by bending or by hammer blows. The nick bend test will find internal defects. Reporting Results: Thickness of material.  Width of specimen.  Location of fracture.  Appearance of joint after fracture.

FILLET WELD FRACTURE TEST Object :  To break the joint through the weld to permit examination of the fracture surfaces for flaws and to check root penetration and fusion. Method: The specimen is cut to length and a saw cut, normally 2 mm deep, is made along the center of the weld face. The specimen is fractured by bending or hammer blows. Reporting Results: Thickness of parent material.  Throat thickness and leg length.  Location of fracture. Appearance of joint after fracture. Depth of penetration / lack of penetration or fusion.

CHARPY V NOTCH IMPACT TEST Object : To determine the amount of energy absorbed in fracturing a standardized test piece at a specified temperature. Method : A machined, notched specimen is broken by one blow from a pendulum. Because scatter occurs in the results, at least three specimens are used to assess the joint represented. Testing is carried out at a temperature specified in the appropriate application standard. Reporting Results: Location and orientation of the notch.  Testing temperature. Energy absorbed in joules.  Description of fracture appearance. Location of any defects. The Charpy impact test, measured in joules, is an assessment of TOUGHNESS. Transition temperature (curve) in steel.

TRANSVERSE TENSILE TEST Object:   Used to measure the transverse tensile strength under static loading of a butt joint employing butt welds. The reduced section tensile test normally fails in the parent metal and so it is not designed to give the tensile strength of the weld. The radius reduced tensile test is a test of the as deposited diluted weld metal. The all weld tensile test, using a longitudinal section from the weld only, is used to check the as deposited undiluted weld metal. (Usually used by consumable manufacturers.) Method: The test piece is clamped at each end and a load is applied by an hydraulic or screw mechanism. The load is increased until fracture occurs. Reporting Results: Type of specimen (e.g. reduced section).  Whether excess eld metal is removed or not. Tensile strength, in Newtons per mm squared, is calculated from maximum load and original cross sectional area. When excess weld metal is not removed, the cross sectional area shall be the prod uc

SIDE BEND TEST Object: To determine the soundness of the weld metal and HAZ in a cross section. This may be preferred to the transverse bend test on thick materials. It is also used on processes or procedures expecting lack of fusion (e.g. thick plate using MIG). Method: The testing method is the same as that used for transverse bends except the cap and root are not ground flush, to allow testing across the complete weld. Report Results: Width and thickness of specimen.  Angle of bend. Diameter of former. Appearance of joint after bending e.g. type and location of flaws.

BEND TESTS Object:   To determine the soundness of weld metal, heat affected zone and weld zone.These tests may also be used to give some measure of the ductility of the weld zone. It is not usual to use transverse and longitudinal bend tests for the same application. Method:   All specimens to be removed and prepared without causing significant distortion or heating. The cap and root are ground flush. The specimen is bent by the movement of a former of prescribed diameter, the relevant side of the specimen to be placed in tension. Angle of bend and diameter of former should be as specified in the appropriate standard. Reporting Results: Thickness of specimen Direction of bend (root or face) Angle of bend Diameter of former Appearance of joint after bending e.g. type and location of flaws

Vickers Hardness Test:- The Vickers hardness test method consists of indenting the test material with a diamond indenter, in the form of a right pyramid with a square base and an angle of 136 degrees between opposite faces subjected to a load of I to I 00 kgf. The full load is normally applied for I 0 to 15 seconds. The two diagonals of the indentation left in the surface of the material after removal of the load are measured using a microscope and their average calculated. The area of the sloping surface of the indentation is calculated. The Vickers hardness is the quotient obtained by dividing the kgf load by the square mm area of indentation. F= Load in kgf d = Arithmetic mean of the two diagonals, di and d2 in mm HV = Vickers hardness When the mean diagonal of the indentation has been determined the Vickers hardness may be calculated from the formula, but is more convenient to use conversion tables. The Vickers hardness should be reported like 800 HV/10, which means a Vickers

The Brinell Hardness Test The Brinell hardness test method consists of indenting the test material with a 10 mm diameter hardened steel or carbide ball subjected to a load of 3000 kg. For softer materials the load can be reduced to 1500 kg or 500 kg to avoid excessive indentation. The full load is normally applied for 10 to 15 seconds in the case of iron and steel and for at least 30 seconds in the case of other metals. The diameter of the indentation left in the test material is measured with a low powered microscope. The Brinell harness number is calculated by dividing the load applied by the surface area of the indentation. The diameter of the impression is the average of two readings at right angles and the use of a Brinell hardness number table can simplify the determination of the Brinell hardness. A well structured Brinell hardness number reveals the test conditions, and looks like this, "75 HB 10/500/30" which means that a Brinell Hardness of 75 was obtained us

Rockwell Hardness Test The Rockwell hardness test method consists of indenting the test material with a diamond cone or hardened steel ball indenter. The indenter is forced into the test material under a preliminary minor load FO usually I 0 kgf. When equilibrium has been reached, an indicating device, which follows the movements of the indenter and so responds to changes in depth of penetration of the indenter is set to a datum position. While the preliminary minor load is still applied an additional major load is applied with resulting increase in penetration . When equilibrium has again been reach, the additional major load is removed but the preliminary minor load is still maintained. Removal of the additional major load allows a partial recovery, so reducing the depth of penetration. The permanent increase in depth of penetration, resulting from the application and removal of the additional major load is used to calculate the Rockwell hardness number.                          

HARDNESS TEST Hardness is the property of a material that enables it to resist plastic deformation, usually by penetration. However, the term hardness may also refer to resistance to bending, scratching, abrasion or cutting. Measurement of Hardness: Hardness is not an intrinsic material property dictated by precise definitions in terms of fundamental units of mass, length and time. A hardness property value is the result of a defined measurement procedure. Hardness of materials has probably long been assessed by resistance to scratching or cutting. An example would be material B scratches material C, but not material A. Alternatively, material A scratches material B slightly and scratches material C heavily. Relative hardness of minerals can be assessed by reference to the Mohs Scale that ranks the ability of materials to resist scratching by another material. Similar methods of relative hardness assessment are still commonly used today. An example is the file test where

DESTRUCTIVE TESTING Destructive tests on raw materials, welded joints are usually made as part of the approval of material/ welding procedure or a welder. Commonly used destructive tests are: Hardness  Bend  Tensile Charpy Fracture tests Macro section TYPES OF TEST Quantitative (For measuring a 'quantity')  Tensile Charpy Hardness C.T.O.T. (crack tip opening test) Qualitative (For assessing joint 'quality') Bend test Nick break  Macro Fillet fracture The test pieces are cut from the test weld and their location is often specified in the standard. The areas for test are shown below.

ULTRASONIC TEST INTRODUCTION This method is used to test a variety of both metallic & non metallic products such as welds, forgings, castings, sheets, etc. It has an advantage of detecting sub-surface discontinues with accesses to only one side of the specimen. In this method beams of high frequency sound waves are introduced into the material being tested. The sound waves travel through the material with some loss of energy & are reflected back . This is detected & analysed to detect the presence of flaws. This test employs ultrasonic waves. These waves are mechanical waves that consist of oscillations or vibrations. METHOD TRANSMISSION SYSTEM This method employs two Transducers, one for sending & other for receiving the pulses. These may be short or continuous & are transmitted through the material. The result gets displayed on the CRO connected. The settings of the CRO can be adjusted with respect to time & distance. Prior to testing couplant is used to prov