Paul Lang, chief global strategy officer for the American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT) and executive director for ASNT Certification Services LLC (ASNT CS), shares his thoughts on trends and liquid penetrant testing.

NDT certification is essential for professionals in industries where material and structural integrity is critical. It demonstrates expertise and professionalism, benefiting individuals and organizations by improving career prospects, quality control, and compliance with industry standards.

Liquid penetrant testing (LPT) is a versatile, portable, simple, and sensitive method for detecting surface defects. It can be used on a wide range of materials and is excellent at finding surface discontinuities such as defects, porosity, lack of fusion, or surface-breaking cracks.

Human error is inevitable, but nondestructive testing (NDT) helps prevent disasters by meticulously checking materials and components, ensuring their readiness and averting potential losses of lives and finances.

Aircraft wheels are put through aggressive and cyclic NDT inspection protocol and the wheel’s potential for failure has led manufacturers to require various repetitive inspections at regular intervals.

Liquid Penetrant Testing (PT) is one of the oldest, widely used and important methods of nondestructive testing (NDT) available today.

Flaws can be found in every type of material and component, no matter the method of manufacturing, processing, or finishing used. Selecting the proper detection method is crucial, because, even if a flaw is not actually a defect, you still want to be able to detect and evaluate them.

Nondestructive testing (NDT) is the most important industry you’ve never heard of. That’s how I typically start a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) demonstration.

According to ASTM E1316-17a and NET.net, a flaw is defined as ‘‘an imperfection or discontinuity that may be detectable by nondestructive testing and is not necessarily rejectable.” 

When I was 19 years old, my first paying job in the nondestructive testing (NDT) industry was inspecting a weld repair on a water intake pipe at the Seabrook Station nuclear power plant in New Hampshire.