In my aircraft maintenance classes, I've been able to try my hand at dye penetrant inspection.
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| An example of cracks in a part. This is actually from magnetic particle inspection test. But the tests are similar, and it's the best picture I have! |
There are a few variations of the process, but the one I performed soaked the part in an light oil containing a phosphorescent dye.
The dye soaks into cracks and voids in the material. After soaking, the part is rinsed to remove penetrant on the surface of the part, and finally, it's sprayed with a powder like developer to draw some of the remaining penetrant out of the flaws so they can be seen with a UV light.
After inspection, the part is thoroughly cleaned and returned to service, assuming it passed inspection of course.
It's a quick, fairly easy to perform test, and can be a great to find surface flaws on a part.
It's also messy, at least where I learned how to do it! But a little mess never hurt anyone.
But my experience, isn't vast by any means. It's something I've tried enough to gain some familiarity with.
For a little more information, check out these resources.
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