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SGS provides PMI services and NDT methods

A SGS SA - Industrial Services product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Mar 18, 2009

SGS Industrial Services offers positive material identification (PMI) services, combined with other advanced or standard non-destructive testing (NDT) methods.

With its portable equipment, the company claims that it can conduct a measurement of heat exchangers, steel constructions or petrochemical installations almost anywhere.

The sorting of big bulk of metals is also said to be possible.

Material properties such as structure difference and heat treatments have no influence on the results of the PMI measurements.

However, it is important that the surface is identical to rest of the material.

The plant or components and raw materials can be mapped into any asset integrity management system in order to prevent unexpected failures or extension of maintenance periods.

While engineers push the boundaries of material capacities to their limits in the design, traceability of proper material becomes ever more important.

In addition to compatibility issues, several other reasons exist for material specification, including design, corrosion resistance and compliance to codes and standards such as the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code.

Quality procedures are put in place to document materials as they are received and as they move through the production process.

Each time raw material changes hands - from the mill to service centres and processing plants (such as pipe, tube and fittings) to subcontractors - the opportunity for error increases, resulting in questionable material quality.

With PMI, the alloy composition and, thus, the identity of materials can be determined.

PMI is often used for high-quality metals, such as stainless steel, and high-alloy metals.

There are two methods of PMI, one of which is x-ray.

The equipment contains radioactive sources or a low-voltage x-ray generator, which sends out radiation.

The exposed material then sends temporarily element-specific radiation back, generating energy.

As every element has its own atomic structure, this reflection will generate a different energy level for every element.

This energy is measured and detected, identifying the alloy elements.

The disengaged radiation is very low and extra safety means are not necessary, according to the company.

The important advantage of the XRF method is that it can be executed without damaging the material.

Directly after the inspection, the user will receive the results.

The spectrography method, meanwhile, is based on optical emission.

The equipment consists of a probe, which releases a spark that is used to vaporise the material being analysed.

The atoms and ions in this vapour produce a spectrum that can be optically measured and then recalculated to determine the components of the material.

SGS provides NDT services as well as NDT training courses and certification services in accordance with European (EN473) and US (ANST) standards, available at the SGS NDT Training Center in Shanghai.

Find out more about this article. Request a brochure, download technical specifications and request samples here.

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