Please identify this Magnaflux tool

[Kestas]

We have a Magnaflux mag particle inspection machine in our shop. The guys who use it showed me this tool that says "Stresscoat" and is made by the Magnaflux Corporation. What is it and what is it used for? I don't want to throw it out if it can be useful for someone in the future. This board is the closest audience I can think of to post this question.

 

[Elroy]

Sense everyone is kicking the door in here, Elroy will respond.

"Stress Coat" is a method for determining the location and degree of localize strain. The stress coat method involves coating a part in a very thin coating of paint. This paint is basically a very thin coat of very brittle lacquer. A part is manufactured and then highly polished. The part is then covered in "stress coat" and loaded in the laboratory

With in the range of young's modulus, stress is proportional to stain.

Ouch, Elroy's head hurts

Anyway... After loading the part, location of high deformation will be revealed on the surface of the part as small cracks in the brittle lacquer "stress coat".

Elroy believes that the parts you have there was used to calibrate the "stress coat". In other words a test specimen is coated and then stretched in the fixture shown where the scale is used to measure the strain per unit length for a given coating thickness.

That's Elroy story and he's sticking to it.

That is definitely some old school technology as these days stress analysis is determined via computer algorithm such as Algor Finite Element Analysis (FEA).

http://www.algor.com/products/default626.asp

Been a long time sense Elroy had to pull that out of the brain.

 

[BillK]

Kest,
Here is Magnaflux's website. Your mission is to see if they will tell you what it is and then let us know
http://www.magnaflux.com/index.asp

 

[Elroy]

Kest,
Here is Magnaflux's website. Your mission is to see if they will tell you what it is and then let us know
http://www.magnaflux.com/index.asp

The current web site states:

"Aeronautical engineer Greer Ellis is granted a patent for Stesscoat®, a brittle coating used in quantitative stress analysis. During that same year, Continental Motors uses Stresscoat® for design/weight reduction and gets published in LIFE magazine giving widespread exposure to MAGNAFLUX."

Like Elroy said initially:

That is definitely some old school technology

Elroy thinks 1942 definitely classifies as "Old School"

 

[Elroy]

I don't want to throw it out if it can be useful for someone in the future.

So its been right at a year and we has to know. Did you throw it away or did you keep it??

 

[rsegriggy]

So what have you discovered/done with this? I just found a similar item while cleaning here...

 

[Kestas]

I set it aside. I'm certainly not throwing it out. It stays with the instrument until the next guy picks it up and wonders what it is.

But I did print out this thread and put it with the tool.

 

[ishiboo]

Please enjoy the attached image.

Looks like Elroy is right.

 

[Sick Puppy]

I'm pretty sure this was the term used that I mentioned to a Mechanic and resulted in him looking at me crosseyed... it's used on engine blocks as crack testing, or at least that's what I remember it saying in the book I read...