NDT & Non-Destructive Weld Testing Services

Magnetic particle inspection detects surface and near surface cracks in ferromagnetic materials such as steel and iron. The component is magnetised and fine magnetic particles are applied, and any crack disturbs the magnetic field and draws the particles into a visible line along the defect.

MPI testing is fast, sensitive and ideally suited to welds, lifting equipment, shafts, hooks and fabricated steelwork, which is why it is one of the most requested inspections we carry out. It reveals the tight, closed cracks that a visual check would never see, at the stage where the fix is a repair rather than a replacement.

Dye penetrant testing reveals surface breaking defects in almost any non-porous material, including stainless steels and non-ferrous metals that magnetic methods cannot inspect. A coloured or fluorescent dye is drawn into any crack open to the surface, the excess is removed, and a developer pulls the trapped dye back out into a clear, visible indication.

It’s a simple method with an exacting technique behind it, and when done properly, it finds hairline cracks, laps, porosity, and fatigue damage in welds, castings, and machined components. We use it wherever the material or the geometry rules out MPI, and often alongside it to build a complete surface picture.

Ultrasonic testing sends high frequency sound waves through a material and reads the echoes, which makes it the method for finding what lies beneath the surface. This includes finding internal flaws, lack of fusion deep in a weld, laminations in plate, and wall thinning from corrosion that no surface inspection can measure.

Beyond conventional UT, advanced techniques take the method further. Phased array ultrasonic testing builds a detailed image of a weld or structure from multiple angled beams, and time of flight diffraction sizes cracks with real precision, which matters when an engineer has to decide whether a flaw is acceptable or the component comes out of service. Together they give you a defensible answer, not an estimate.

Every inspection starts with visual testing, direct or remote, using cameras and borescopes to reach the places an engineer cannot. Where the job calls for it, radiographic testing uses X-rays or gamma rays to reveal internal defects in a permanent image, and eddy current testing applies an electromagnetic field to find surface and near surface defects quickly across large areas.

The right method depends on the material, the geometry, the defect you are worried about and the standard the work answers to, and it is rarely just one. We select and combine methods to suit the component in front of us, and we will tell you plainly which inspections your equipment needs and which it does not.

Weld inspection is the heart of the work, both during fabrication and in service, and the same methods protect pressure vessels, pipelines, and structural steel, and serve the aerospace, marine, automotive, and energy sectors. Lifting equipment is a constant thread, because NDT supports the thorough examinations carried out under our LOLER inspection service, confirming what the competent person suspects and clearing what they cannot see.

NDT also underpins corrosion monitoring and thickness measurement programmes, and it is the first tool out of the box in a failure investigation, establishing how a component cracked and whether its neighbours are heading the same way. If equipment is important enough that its failure would be harmful, it is a candidate for NDT.