INTRODUCTION OF NON DESTRUCTIVE TESTING

Non destructive testing (NDT) also called as non-destructive

examination (NDE) and non-destructive inspection (NDI) is
testing does not destroy the test object. NDE is vital for
constructing and maintaining all types of components and
structures.
There are mainly two types of inspection techniques
1. Destructive testing
2. Non-destructive testing
(1) Destructive testing
Here the material is destroyed in the test and can’t be used any
more after test eg. tensile test
(2)Non destructive testing
Here the material is not destroyed and will be used after test
eg. ultrasonic NDT, radiography, liquid penetrate, magnetic
particle testing etc.
Comparison of destructive and non destructive tests
Destructive test
1 Test usually simulate one
or more service conditions.
Therefore they tend to
measure serviceability
directly and reliably.
2 Tests are usually
quantitative. There they
may give numerical data
useful for design purpose
or for establishing
standards.
3 Tests are not made on the
objects actually used in
service.
4 Tests often cannot be
made on complete
production parts. They are
limited to test bars cut
from the production part.
5 A single destructive test
may measure on only one
or a few of the properties.
That may be critical under
service condition.
Non-destructive test
Tests usually involve
indirect measurements,the
co-relation between these
measurements and
serviceability must be
proved by other means.
Tests are usually
qualitative and rarely
quantitative.
Tests are made directly on
the job to be used in the
service.
Tests may be made on the
entire production part.
Many NDT may be applied
simultaneously or in
sequence.
6 Destructive test are not
usually convenient to
applied to the parts in
service
7 Parts of very high material
cost will restrict the use of
destructive test
Nondestructive test may
often be applied to the
parts in service without
any shutdown
Costly parts can be tested
and are used by non
destructive methods.

8 Time and man hour Most NDT methods are

requirements are very rapid and require very few
high. hour and machine hour.

Objective of NDT
Following are the objective of NDT
-To find out whether the material is suitable for the required
purpose
-To determine the fundamental properties of material
-To access the operations and the time involved in fabrication
TYPES OF NDT METHODS, FEATURES AND APPLICATIONS
Types of NDT method Typical features Applications
Visual inspection To check surface Pipes, assemblies
corrosion, defects
that occur up to the
surface
Liquid penetrate To check the defect Metals, plastics,
method that break up to the glass etc.
surface
Eddy current To find the surface Used for any metal
method defects and
subsurface defects
Magnetic particle To identify defects Used for
method that break the ferromagnetic
surface, and materials
subsurface defects
Ultrasonic method To determine the Used for most of
internal defects as the materials such
well as surface as metal , plastic
defects etc.
Radiography To identify internal Any material may
defects, surface be checked by this
defects etc. method
Most commonly practiced NDT are:
1. Liquid penetrant inspection
2. Magnetic particle inspection
3. Radiographic inspection
4. Ultrasonic inspection
5. Eddy current inspection
1. Liquid penetrant inspection
Liquid penetrant inspection is also called as dye penetrant
inspection. It is widely applied and low cost inspection
method used to locate surface breaking defects in all non
porous material such as metal, plastics or ceramics.

Principle
Liquid penetrant inspection is a non destructive method
for finding discontinuities that are open to the surface of
solid and essentially non porous materials.

DPI is based upon capillary action, where low surface

tension fluid penetrates into clean and dry surface
breaking continuities. Penetrate may be applied to the test
component by dipping, spraying or brushing. After
adequate time has been allowed, the excess penetrant has
been removed, a developer is applied. The developer helps
to draw penetrant out of the flow where a visible
indication becomes visible to the inspector.

Capillary action is the phenomenon of rise or depression of

liquid in narrow cavities. Viscosity, another factor,
although has negligible effect on penetrating ability of
liquid, affects the flowing ability of penetrant.
Procedure for penetrant testing
Description of the process
Liquid penetrant inspection requires only five essential
steps:
(1) Surface preparation
All surfaces of work piece must be thoroughly cleaned
and completely dried, before it is subjected to liquid
inspection. Discontinuities exposed to the surface
must be free from oil, water or other contaminates
for at least 1in beyond the area being inspected if
they are to be detected.

(2) Penetration
After the work piece has been cleaned, liquid penetrant is
applied in a suitable manner so as to form a film of the
penetrant over the surface for at least 1/2in beyond the
area being inspected.
(3) Removal of excess penetrant
Then, excess penetrant should be removed from the
surface. The cleaning method is determined by the
type of penetrant used. Uniform removal of excess
 penetrant is necessary for effective inspection, but
over cleaning must be avoided.

(4) Development
A developing agent is applied so that it forms a film
over the surface. The developer act as a blotter to
assist the natural seepage of the penetrant out of
surface openings and it also provides uniform
background to assist visual inspection.

(5) Inspection
After being sufficient developed, the surface is
visually examined for indication of penetrant bleed
back from surface openings. Visible dye penetrant
inspection is performed in good white light. When
fluorescent penetrant is used, inspection is
performed in suitable area using black light.

Advantage
-Suitable for parts with complex shapes
-High speed of test
-low cost
- Portable ( Materials are available in Aerosol)
-limited training is required for the operator although
experience is quite valuable
-large surface area or large volumes of parts can be inspected
rapidly

Limitation
-Detection of only surface flaws, skin irritation
-Smooth & clean surface requirement
-Inspector must have direct access to surface being examined
-Requires multiple operation under controlled condition

(2) Magnetic particle inspection

Magnetic particle inspection is based on principle that
ferromagnetic material such as iron, steel, nickel, when
magnetized will have distorted magnetic fields in the vicinity of
material defects
Principle
When magnetized, ferromagnetic materials will have a
distorted magnetic field in the vicinity of flaws and defects.
Magnetic particles will be strongly attracted to surface regions
where the flux is concentrated.
Advantage
-Relatively simple, fast, easy to interpret portable units exist.
-Can reveal both surface and subsurface flaws and inclusions
and small tight cracks
Limitation
-Parts must be relatively clean
-Can only detect defects at or near surfaces
-Must demagnetize part offer test
-High current source is required
-Post cleaning may be required
Application
The principal industrial uses of magnetic particle inspection are
final inspection, receiving inspection, in process inspection and
quality control maintenance .

(3) Radiographic inspection

Radiography testing or industrial radiography is a
nondestructive tool widely used in industry. Its unique
advantage over other NDT methods is that it prevents a record
easy to read out.
Principle
Radiography is used to detect features of component or
assembly that exhibit a difference in thickness or physical
density as compared to surrounding material.
Radiography can detect only those features that have an
appreciable thickness in a direction parallel to radiation beam.

Characteristics of Gamma ray isotopes

Characteristics Cobalt-60 Iridium- Caseum- Thulium-
192 137 170
Half life 5.27 74.3 days 30.1 years 129 days
years
Energy(MeV) 1.33-1.17 0.33-0.6 0.66 0.08-0.05
days
Rhm/Ci 1.35 0.55 0.34 0.003
Typical source
Curies 10 30 75 50
Size(dia mm) 2.5 2.5 10 2.5
Steel 200 mm 75 mm 40- 10 mm
thickness 100mm

Iridium 192 source is used in GNFC. It is available in 60 curie in

India and 120 curies in Foreign. Half time of iridium 192 is 74
days.
Radiography employs the penetrant capacity of radiation like X-
ray and Gamma rays to produce a shadow of internal condition
of a job on recording medium. The record on field is known as
“Radiography”.
Whenever there is a difficulty or discontinuity less amount of
rays will be absorb and then form darker image on recording
medium. The size and shape of the image will help in evaluating
the result.
Types of radiography:
(1) Single wall single image
Mostly used for plate welding
(2) Double wall single image
Mostly used for pipe welding of pipe dia. >2”dia.
(3) Double wall double image
Mostly used for pipe welding of pipe dia. <2”dia.
(4) Panoramic shot
For very large dia. Pipe and vessel, many exposures can
be taken in one shot, reduces time required.

X-ray radiographic procedure:

X-rays are produced in Coolidge tube when fast moving
electrons strike, a target material, a part of their kinetic energy
is converted into X-rays.
The portion of the casting where defects are suspected is
exposed to X-rays. During exposure, the X-rays penetrate the
casting and thus affect the X-ray film. Since most of defects like
blow holes, porosities, cracks etc. are less dense than the sound
metal of casting, they transmit X-rays better than the sound
metal does, and so, the film appears to be darker where the
defects are in line of the X-ray beam.
Advantage
-The ability to detect internal flaws
- The ability to detect significant variations in composition
-Permanent recording of raw inspection data
Limitation
-Radiography is expensive
-Large capital cost and space allocations are required
-Certain types of flaws are difficult to detect. Cracks can’t be
detected unless they are parallel to the radiation beam.
-Certain areas in many items cannot be radiographed because
of geometric considerations involved.
Application
-Radiographic inspection is used extensively on castings and
weldments, particularly where there is a critical need to ensure
freedom from internal flaws.
-It can be used to inspect most types of solid material both the
ferrous and non-ferrous alloys as well as non-metallic materials
and composites.
-It is well suited to the inspection of semiconductor
Devices for cracks, broken wires, foreign material etc.
(5) Ultrasonic inspection
In Ultrasonic testing, very short ultrasonic pulse waves with
Center frequencies ranging from 0.1-15 MHz and
occasionally up to 50 MHz are launched into materials to
detect internal flaws or to characterize materials. This
technique also used to determine the thickness of the test
object.

a = s sinß
ß = probe angle
F a' = a - x s = sound path
s a = surface distance
d' = s cosß a‘ = reduced surface distance
0 20 40 60 80 100 d‘ = virtual depth
d = 2T - t' d = actual depth
T = material thickness
a
x a'
ß Lack of fusion d
s
Work piece with welding
Principle
It is non-destructive method in which beams of high frequency
Sound waves that are introduced into the material being
inspected are used to detect surface and subsurface flaws.
Sound waves travel through material with some attendant loss
of energy and are reflected at interfaces. The reflected beam is
detected and analyzed to define the presence and location of
flaws.

Advantage
-It is a fast and reliable method.
-It is more sensitive than radiography.
-Superior penetrating power which allows the detection of
flaws deep in part.
-High sensitivity permitting the detection of extremely small
flaws.
-Only one surface can be accessible.
-Greater accuracy than other non-destructive methods in
determining the position of internal flaws.
Limitation
-It is sensitive to surface roughness, so some primary
machining is required.
-In complex castings the interpretation of the
oscilloscope trace may not be easy.
-The test method is highly operator dependent. Hence,
highly skilled operator is required for data interpretation.
-Parts that are rough, irregular in shape, very small or
thin or not homogeneous are difficult to inspect.

Application
-In routine inspection of aircraft, rail and road vehicles
-To identify weld defects
-To check bonding defects between two metals
-It is used for quality control and materials inspection in
all major industries

(6) Eddy current inspection

Purposes:
-Useful for checking nonmagnetic tubes
-Useful for checking heat exchanger tube condition
-Detect tube thickness, pits, leakage etc.
Principle:
The alternating current in the coil generates changing magnetic
field which interacts with test specimen and generates eddy
current. Variations in the phase and magnitude is sensed by
receiver coil. Variations in the electrical conductivity or
magnetic permeability of the test object, or the presence of any
flaws, will cause a change in eddy current and a corresponding
change in the phase and amplitude of the measured current.

Advantages:
-Crack detection
- Material thickness measurements
- Coating thickness measurements.
-It can be applied to many inspection problems provided
that the physical requirements of the material are compatible
with the inspection method.

Limitations:
- Only conductive materials can be inspected.
-Surface must be accessible to the probe.
- Skill and training required is more extensive than other
techniques.
- Surface finish and roughness may interfere.
- Reference standards needed for setup.
- Depth of penetration is limited.

Eddy current inspection can be used:

To measure such condition and properties as electrical
conductivity, magnetic permeability, grain size, heat treatment
condition, hardness etc.
To detect cracks, voids and inclusions
To measure thickness of a nondestructive coating on a
conductive metal
(7) Thickness survey
Purpose:
-Most widely used Condition Monitoring technique.
-Gives idea about extent of uniform and localized metal
loss due to corrosion and erosion by measuring remaining
metal thickness

Principle
It is based on ultrasonic inspection, timing the reflection of
high frequency waves from the far wall of the test piece. The
frequency range used by gage does not travel through air,
so a coupling liquid such as glycerin or gel is used between
the face of the transducer and the test piece.
The sound waves generated by the transmit side of the
transducer coupled into the test piece, travel through it, and
are reflected back from the opposite side.
The reflected sound waves are into the receive side of the
transducer where they are converted into electrical signal.

Application:
1. Pressure vessels
2. Tanks
3. Pipelines
4. Boiler water wall tubes

In-situ metallography
Field metallographic procedures are performed “on location” or
in the “field” on components that are too large to bring to the
metallographic laboratory. Generally, these components are
still being used in service or must be returned to service and
cannot be destructively sectioned. Field metallography is also
called in-situ metallography, and it is sometimes called
nondestructive metallography.
The technique of in-situ metallography involves location
selection, mechanical grinding & polishing / electrolytic
polishing, electrolytic etching or chemical etching, replication
and microstructural observation.

Photo. 1 shows the in situ metallography kit comprises of portable electrolytic

ether/polisher with portable grinder and microscope.
Equipment and consumables used for in-situ metallography is
shown in Photo. 1. The kit of in-situ metallography comprises of
portable grinder, light grinder with variable speed controller,
electrolytic etcher/polisher, microscope and variety of
consumables. The consumables can be listed as self-adhesive
polishing papers of different grit size, selfadhesive velvet cloth,
solvents, water bottles, diamond paste, and suspended
alumina, electrolytes and replica films.
 LOCATION SELECTION

VISUAL EXAMINATION

ROUGH GRINDING

MECHANICAL FINISH UP TO 600 grit (Through 80, 60, 120, 240, 320, 400,
600 grit.)ROUGH GRINDING

MANUAL POLISHING ELECTROLYTIC POLISHING

MANUAL POLISHING

MECHANICAL POLISHING UPTO

1000 grit THROUGH 800, 1000 grit,.

POLISHING WITH DIAMOND

PASTE (5µ AND 1µ)

ALUMINA POLISHING
(GRADE I, II AND III.)

ETCHING

MANUAL ELECTROLYTIC

MICROSTRUCTURE VIEWING

REPLICATION

RECORDING OF DETAILS

2.1) LOCATION SELECTION:

The location is selected on the basis of a careful analysis of
the involved components. Because of the local nature of
replica inspection, the selected position must be most
critically representative one in the anticipated damage
mechanism. There are two types of considerations
mentioned hereunder.
a. Mechanical consideration, where parameters like stress,
vibrations, bends, weld / HAZ and stress generated from due
to self-weight of components in addition to the operating
stresses.
b. Process considerations; where parameters like
Temperature, Pressure, Flow rate and reaction with the
environment are taken in to account.
For instance, in a typical examination of welds normally sets
of 5 spots across the weld are usually examined. These 5
spots are positioned in the two base materials; the two heat
affected Zones (HAZ) and Weld metal so that all the
microstructure regions are covered.
VISUAL EXAMINATION AND GENERAL
2.2)
REQUIREMENTS:
Visual examination is done to assess the surface condition
and accessibility for the person with equipment. It must be
possible to keep the test position clean, dry and free of dust.
The temperature of the examined metal must be ambient.
MECHANICAL GRINDING & POLISHING:
2.3)
Small area of 1 sq. inch is rough ground to remove oxide
scale or decarburized layer formed in operation. To keep in-
situ metallography investigation nondestructive, the total
material removed by grinding must not exceed 0.5 to 1 mm.
On a small rotating shaft, abrasive papers at least in three
steps with successively finer grits of paper ending with emery
paper No 600 are attached.
If a weld or repair weld to be examined Macro etching must
be carried out between grinding and polishing. This makes
the weld metal and heat affected zones visible. The polishing
is done in one of the following two ways
1.Electro polishing with portable electro polishing
equipment
2. Mechanical polishing with polishing disk via 800, 1000 grit
finish and with the help of diamond.
When macro cracks are detected, mechanical polishing is
preferred as it does not affect the crack faces strongly. If
electro polishing is carried out it should be performed after
examination of the mechanically polished surface.
ETCHING:
2.4)
The prepared surface is etched either chemically or
electrolytically. Optimum care is necessary in etching the
surface. Over etching or under etching will mislead the
result. In chemical etching with the help of the cotton swab,
etchant is applied on prepared surface; where as in
electrolytic etching etchant is circulated or kept in a soaked
cloth.
2.5) MICROSTRUCTURE EXAMINATION:
Stage wise examination right from the fine polishing can
result into true microstructure development.
REPLICATION:
2.6)

After ensuring the properly developed microstructure, a

plastic tape made of Cellulose acetate material is soaked in
Acetone and kept on prepared surface. By gentle pressure
the microstructure features can be replicated on plastic tape.
A tape can be self-refractive or if not it can be painted. There
are various methods of replica technique like, Cast resin
technique or extraction replica. With the extraction replica,
analysis of carbon precipitated at elevated temperature can
be found out. The photo 2 shows replication process.

AFTER CARE OF REPLICA

2.7)
After the preparation of replicas these may be coated with
gold or other light reflecting and conductive material under
vacuum to improve the contrast in the light optical
microscope.
3) DAMAGE MECHANISMS THAT ARE DETECTED
THROUGH MICROSTRUCTURE STUDIES
The principle deterioration mechanisms that could be
detected by using in situ metallographic techniques are the
microstructural degradation like graphitization,
spheroidzation of pearlite, creep, thermal fatigue, hydrogen
attack, carburization, grain boundary oxidization and
embrittlement of microstructure etc.
GRAPHITISATION:
3.1)

Graphitization can take place in ferritic steels after exposure

to high temperature beyond 400° C for extended time, owing
to reversion the cementite in pearlite to a more stable
graphite phase. The mechanical strength is greatly reduced.
Steel embrittlement takes place when graphite particles and
nodules are formed. The graphitization can take place at the
low temperature edge of weld heat affected Zone (HAZ).This
form of graphitization can result in significant reduction in
loads bearing capacity and thus increase the potential for
brittle fracture along this plane.
Photo. 3 and 4 indicates graphite formation in plain carbon
steel.
Photo:3 ( 100X) Photo: 4 ( 500X)

3.2)DEGRADATION OF PEARLITE:
Prolonged high temperature exposure of carbon and low-
alloy steels renders pearlite colonies into spheroids.
However, addition of alloying elements like Chromium and
Molybdenum retards spheroidzation. Photo. 5 & 6 shows
globular pearlite due to high temperature exposure of steel
material for prolonged use. The spheroidzation of pearlite
reduces the mechanical strength of the steel and alloys
steels. When complete spheroidzation occurs it needs
replacement of the component.
Photo:5 (200X) Phtoto:6 (1000X)

Photo: 5 and 6, Spheroidzation of pearlite is observed – the upper microstructure shows in

situ spheroidzation whereas lower structure shows complete spheroidzation.

3.3) CREEP DAMAGE:

Creep is one of the most serious high temperature damage
mechanisms. It involves time dependent deformation and
high temperature creep cracking, develops at grain
boundaries in engineering components that fail over an
extended time. These include boiler super-heater and other
components operating at high temperature, petrochemical
furnace and reactor vessel components and gas turbine
blades. At higher temperatures, with local overheating,
deformation may be localized with large plastic strains and
wall thinning. At somewhat lower temperatures and under
correspondingly higher stress level. The fracture is eventually
intergranular in nature.

The three stages of creep and associated microstructure

degradations are represented in sketch: 3.Photo: 7 & 8 are
the optical and SEM micro-photograph of Cr-Mo steel
material exposed different creep levels. The life assessment
studies on components undergoing creep damage.

Photo: 7 (1500X) Photo:8 ( 5000X)

3.4) HYDROGEN ATTACK:

 Hydrogen damage, arising particularly in petrochemical
industries, can occur in carbon steels through diffusion of
atomic hydrogen in to the metal, where it combines with
carbon in Fe3C to form Methane and to eliminate pearlite
constituent. Photo: 9 shows carbon steel in which carbides
from the original pearlite has been converted to methane
producing voids and loss of carbon form he microstructure.
Photo: 10 shows complete cracking of steel microstructure
due to methane formation and decarburization.

Photo.9 (1000X) Photo.10 (100X)

THERMAL FATIGUE:
3.5)
Fatigue, involving repeated stresses, can lead to failure at
high temperatures as it does at low temperatures. In
components operating at high temperatures it often arises
through temperature changes that can lead to cyclic thermal
stresses. Eventually thermal fatigue cracking would take
place in the areas where temperature fluctuation and
variations are more. The nature of cracks are trans-granular
in nature. Photo: 11 shows crack formation In chrome molly
ferritic steel due to thermal fatigue of a tube at the entrance
of outlet header of secondary super heater boiler operating
at 540° C. Photo. 12 shows development of thermal fatigue
crack with SS 316 at the steam inlet of paper digester.

Photo: 11 (100X) Photo: 12 (200X)

HIGH TEMPERATURE OXIDATION:

3.6)
Under highly oxidizing atmosphere grain boundary
oxidization takes place that penetrate inside. Thus, the
thickening of grain boundaries in carbon steels can be seen
with etching response in situ metallography Photo: 13 and 14
 DECARBURISATION:
3.7)

The carbon in the steel can react with oxygen and in the
atmosphere at high temperature to get decarburization of
the surface. The loss of carbon in the surface of steel can be
found out from microstructure examinations. The absence of
pearlite phase due to decarburization in a oxidizing
atmosphere at high temperature can be identified in
microstructure which is shown in photo 15.

Photo 15 (100X)
 GRAIN COARSENING:
3.8)
Grain coarsening takes place with prolonged high
temperature exposure which decreases the strength of the
steel. This can be easily noticed by microstructure
examination.
Embrittlement and carburization
3.9)
Embrittlement from precipitations arise in a number of
different ways for instance, sigma phase formation in
austenitic stainless steels maintained at high temperature or
cycled through the critical temperature range of 565 to 989 °
C causes loss of ductility and embrittlement. Ferritic stainless
steels may be subjected to embrittlement phenomenon
when held at or cooled over the temperature range 550 to
400 °C. Photo: 16 grain boundary sigma formation of SS 316
stainless steel tubes used in the high temperature service.

Photo: 16 (500X)

Carburization can produce brittle material when a

component is exposed to carburizing atmosphere for
 extended time at high temperatures. Cracks can initiate from
the brittle carburized layer, which has little resistance to
bending. This can be detected by metallography.
Specific forms of corrosion:
(1) Crevice corrosion
It is localized electrochemical corrosion, which
occur in crevices and under shielded surfaces
where stagnant solutions can exist. It occurs under
gaskets, rivets, bolts etc. It occurs in many alloys
such as stainless steel and titanium, aluminum and
copper alloys.
Figure shows the mechanism of crevice corrosion
of a stainless steel in an aerated sea water.
The mechanism initiates with anodic and cathodic
reaction on the surface of the crevice. They are as
follows:
Anodic reaction: M = M+ +e-
Cathodic reaction: O2 +2H2O + 4e- = 4OH-
Chloride is hydrolyzed by water to form the metal
hydroxide (MOH) and free acid (H+ CL-) as
M+ CL- +H2O = MOH + H+CL-
The crevice corrosion can be minimized by the
following methods:
-Using welded butt joints instead of riveted or bolted
joints in engineering structures
-Using nonabsorbent gaskets such as Teflon etc.
 (2) Erosion corrosion
It arises due to relative motion of corrosive fluid on
metallic components.
This type of corrosion refers to the combined effect
of (1) Mechanical abrasion on the metal surface
caused by the impingement of entrained air
bubbles, abrasive particles suspended in the liquid
or turbulent flow of liquid and (2) Chemical
corrosion on metallic surface
Erosion corrosion can be reduced by improving
design of the component which can eliminate fluid
turbulence and impingement effects.
(3) Intergranular corrosion
Intergranular corrosion is localizes corrosion attack
taking place at the grain boundaries of alloys. In
this grain boundary regions become very reactive
with corrosive environment, resulting in
intergranular corrosion which causes the loss of the
strength of the alloy. It is a non-uniform corrosion.
It is found to take place in some aluminum alloys
and copper alloys and in austenitic stainless steel.
The austenitic stainless steel heated to high
temperature, when cools slowly through
temperature range of 500-800”C, the chromium
carbide precipitate at the grain boundary interface.
Thus the chromium level in these regions
decreases below 12% chromium level.
 As shown in figure, the area at the grain boundary
start corrosion, when it gets exposed to corrosive
atmosphere. The region of low Cr content around
the grain boundary becomes anodic with respect
the rest of the grain mass which is cathodic. This
forms a galvanic couple and corrosion takes place
at the grain boundaries.
(4) Stress corrosion
Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) takes place due to
combined effect of tensile stress and corrosive
atmosphere to which alloy is subjected. The stress
may be due to applied load or residual within the
component, many stress corrosion failures take
place in the corrosive environment due to high
residual stresses built up with in the material due to
Uneven cooling, precipitation and phase
transformation, cold working and welding.
Most of the SCC involves initiation of crack at a pit
or other discontinuity on the metal surface. As
shown in figure, the crack grows in a plane
perpendicular to the tensile stress till fracture take
place.
(5) Cavitation damage
Cavitation damage is a special form of erosion
corrosion. The cavitation problems are found in
hydraulic turbines, pump impellers etc. The static
pressure at the region near surface of the metallic
component falls below the evaporating pressure
and collapse near the metal surface. The collapsing
pressures are found to be as high as 4000 bars.
This entire phenomenon is known as cavitation.
Cavitation corrosion may be minimized by the use
of high strength, corrosion resistant metal such as
Cr-Ni stainless steels.

(1) Anodic Protection

As shown in figure (a), the anodic protection of the
tank can be achieved by applying DC power source
that would passivate the tank metal.

(2) Cathodic protection