Solar Atmospheres, Hermitage, Pa., announces that it has been certified by Nadcap for fluorescent liquid penetrant inspection. In this process, a liquid penetrant is uniformly applied to the part, allowed to remain for a pre-determined length of time, and then washed away. The part is then air dried by passing through a controlled temperature dryer, and slowly advanced through a darkroom where fluorescent lighting and magnification are used to identify crack locations. Cracked parts are rejected and segregated, and the customer is notified.
The company has been continuously Nadcap NDT certified since 2009. The original certification resulted primarily from an audit of current inspection work on major aerospace structural parts.
As a nationally recognized, Nadcap-certified vacuum heat treater, Solar Atmospheres, with three plants across the United States, has numerous third party quality certifications as well as many prime certifications. This renewed certification recently awarded to the Hermitage plant covers a process where fluorescent light is used to check for cracks immediately following heat treating.
The company also recently passed, with merit status, a Nadcap heat treating audit, an accomplishment not common among heat treaters. Merit status allows Solar to go 24 months before their next Nadcap Heat Treat audit. “Achieving Nadcap accreditation is not easy: it is one of the ways in which the aerospace industry identifies those who excel at manufacturing quality product through superior special processes. Companies such as Solar Atmospheres of Western PA go above and beyond achieving Nadcap accreditation to obtain Merit status and they should be justifiably proud of it,” said Joe Pinto, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at the Performance Review Institute.
