Mystery Revealed: Magnaflux is NOT Impossible To Understand

Magnaflux: If you are like most people, then you probably have no idea what Magnaflux is. The truth is, unless you work in the field, there aren’t many reasons why you should. The main problem arises the moment you need magnetic particle testing: many people find it difficult to understand how this works… it is a true mystery for them.

Are you one of those people? This article explains in plain English how Magnaflux works and how it identifies the “gaps” in your material.

Whenever you suspect that your ferromagnetic materials might be cracked, you take them to a specialist. They will take your material in one of their shop’s back rooms and come back to you after a couple of minutes with a verdict. How can they find out if your material is cracked?

The process is known as magnetic particle inspection or MPI. Electrical current is passed through the ferromagnetic material: both AC and DC can be used, but with different purposes. AC is used to identify cracks situated close to the surface, while DC detects flaws which are deeper.

If you are wondering about how the device looks like, you should know there are two machines which can be used during this test. One is u-shaped and it is known as a yoke, and the other is a machine where the material is clamped in.

So far we have electricity and this machine… The third thing they use is iron oxide. They sprinkle the iron oxide on the surface, and when they apply the AC or DC, it will be attracted to the area where the crack is.

One important thing to keep in mind is that every piece of material needs to be cleaned before the procedure. You cannot properly test greasy or oily objects.