Testing & Inspection of Steel Castings
One of the primary steps of steel casting production is casting testing and inspection. There are certain minimum testing and examination requirements set forth in most standard casting specifications whether ASTM or others.
Essentially chemical analysis is required for all grades while mechanical testing, tensile or hardness, is required for most. Additional inspections, such as MT, UT, LP, or RT can be added, as necessary. It is important for customers to know that cost and delivery are all impacted by testing and inspection as these take both time and resources to accomplish.
Non-Destructive Evaluation
Several methods of NDE are used in the production of steel castings. Of course, visual examination is required by all specifications, while other forms of NDE, such as MPI, liquid penetrant, radiography, and ultrasonic are usually supplementary requirements.
The frequency and type of inspection is dependent on several factors, including application, safety factors, castability, history, pressure rating, etc. These inspections and frequencies are typically determined by the customer but feel free to inquire as our ASNT Level III engineer will be glad to discuss your options.
The ultimate goal of NDE is to ensure the quality of the casting through all stages of processing, as to meet the requirements and with no surprises at the machine/weld shop.
Material Testing and Evaluation
Another form of inspection is testing the material properties. At Sivyer, we are not strangers to extensive material testing, including chemical analysis, physical properties including tensile & yield strength, toughness, ductility, impact strength, grain type/size.
This testing can be performed on a per heat basis, or for every casting. Several of our castings, because of the application and criticality, have a number of these properties tested for each casting and provided before shipment.
It is important for you to know that the correct properties are in the casting by using these testing methods. We can test from standard ASTM test blocks, or coupons that match the casting section size. This could include test coupons that weigh several hundred to several thousand pounds!
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