Non-destructive testing (NDT) is required for nuclear and military industries as well as quite popular for pressure or extreme environment applications. NDT also provides an advantage to proactive foundries like Stainless Foundry & Engineering (SF&E) when using it for first article inspection. InspecTech Corp. has been SF&E’s No. 1 NDT partner since it opened a location on our Milwaukee campus in 1996. Their expertise, precision, and dependability are key factors in SF&E quality and production efficiency.
Founded in Marinette, Wisconsin in 1991, InspecTech Corp. is the NDT leader in X-ray, digital radiography and all other NDT services for large casting inspection. They have made considerable investments in NDT technology and automation to provide fast turnarounds on high volume projects without compromising quality.
“SF&E makes parts for nuclear submarines and impellers for the main cooling tower in nuclear power plants – as critical of components as you can make. Without NDT, they would not know if a casting was sound internally,” said Matt Blessinger, General Manager of the Milwaukee location of InspecTech Corp. Blessinger has more than 30 years of NDT expertise. “You could do a visual inspection to make sure there were no gross defects, but an NDT magnetic particle inspection or liquid penetrant will find indications or defects we can’t see with the naked eye.”
InspecTech labs are strategically placed around the country with teams of Level 3 technicians providing magnetic particle NDT, liquid penetrant inspection and x-ray/digital radiography or computed radiography inspection.
The type of NDT performed depends on the casting and the acceptance criteria required by the customers contract. Liquid penetration is one of the most widely used to detect casting surface defects. InspecTech’s digital X-Rays can penetrate up to 12” of cast steel and handle castings up to 10 tons. Magnetic particle inspections are a requirement of many industries to determine minute linear cracks and imperfections that lead to the surface.
“InspecTech is a pleasure to work with – they are very knowledgeable, helpful, and they make our jobs a lot easier,” said Joshua Bowden, Quality Manager for SF&E. “Matt Blessinger is probably one of the best in his profession when it comes to radiography. And with their turnaround rate, we have a competitive edge over foundries who don’t have a resource like this at their fingertips.”
The Milwaukee InspecTech lab is directly attached to SF&E, so all team members have to do is open a door to move castings of all sizes back and forth.
“If there is a big rush of parts that need to be shipped, or a first article to inspect after it is poured, whether it is 10 parts or 100 parts, we can get SF&E an answer same day in most cases,” Blessinger said.
This setup is also convenient for a fast turnaround if a defect is found.
“Other offsite NDT companies we have used required a 3-week turnaround for the initial inspection,” Bowden said. “We could have a part inspected, repaired, sent back over for X-Ray, and still be able to ship the casting within the 3-week time period it would have taken to start the NDT process with another company.”
The partnership between InspecTech and SF&E is strong, collaborative, and efficient. Just what we need for handling our most critical components. If you are interested in learning more about our NDT capabilities, contact us at sales@stainlessfoundry.com.
