Case Study – Use of SPOTCHECK® SKL-WP2 for inspecting welded fabrications

October 2016

Customer

Our customer is one of the largest engineering and fabrication companies in the UK. The employ around 600 staff across 14 divisions, operating in many different industries including aerospace and defence, oil and gas, nuclear, mining, and automotive. Within their Fabrication Division, they carry out non-destructive testing using visible red dye penetrant to check for defects associated with welds.

Challenge

The customer had some concerns about the current visible red penetrant that they were using; it was running off the areas to be inspected and not allowing any defects to be detected. They needed to find a visible red penetrant system that met with their technical requirements, and which they could source locally. They wanted to evaluate the equivalent penetrants from a number of UK suppliers, including Magnaflux EMEA.

Solution

Our direct product equivalents to what they had been using were SPOTCHECK® SKC-S (solvent-based cleaner and remover), SPOTCHECK® SKL-WP2 (solvent-removeable and water-washable penetrant) and SPOTCHECK® SKD-S2 (solvent-based developer). We sent aerosol samples of all three products, along with the applicable Product and Safety Data Sheets, to our customer to support their evaluation process.

Magnaflux EMEA has a comprehensive distributor base within the UK, so we were able to give our customer the choice of two geographically-close distributors from whom they could purchase our products.

Results

Our customer carried out a side-by-side evaluation of a number of visible red penetrant systems from different suppliers. Whilst the results of the testing were not dissimilar the results obtained with the SPOTCHECK range of products were better. Specifically, SPOTCHECK SKL-WP2 showed red indications on welds which exhibited surface breaking defects. The use of SPOTCHECK SKD-S2 solvent-based development enhanced the visibility of these indications, allowing decisions to be made quickly on any identified faults.

They are now sourcing the products through a distributor that is ca. 50 miles from their plant and have no issues in obtaining stock to meet their demand needs.