Our radiographic facilities at Marchwood are one of the biggest in the South of England.
The Company performs radiography to pipework, pressure vessels, aircraft structures, defence products, forgings and castings, sub-sea structures, pharmaceutical products; as well as composite materials and components and many more products.
Site radiography is also undertaken, a minimum of 7 days notice is required for a site visit, where an initial Risk Assessment must be carried out prior to working. These jobs may require 3 operators on site to insure we conform to H.S.E. requirements.
The Radiographic technique involves the use of penetrating gamma or X-radiation to examine parts, welds and products for imperfections. An X-ray machine or radioactive isotope is used as a source of radiation. Radiation is directed through a part and onto film.
The beam of radiation must be directed to the middle of the section under examination and must be normal to the material surface at that point, except in special techniques where known defects are best revealed by a different alignment of the beam. The length of material or weld under examination for each exposure shall be such that the thickness of the material at the diagnostic extremities, measured in the direction of the incident beam, does not exceed the actual thickness at that point by more than 6%. The specimen to be inspected is placed between the source of radiation and the detecting device, usually the film in a light tight holder or cassette, and the radiation is allowed to penetrate the part for the required length of time to be adequately recorded.
The result is a two-dimensional projection of the part onto the film, producing a latent image of varying densities according to the amount of radiation reaching each area.
