With naked eye one does not see through the weldings. But you need to. Aluminium weldings can develop micro defects with repeated forces or vibration. Later it can lead to structural defects. Pontoons are of course checked in factory. But with this unusual application it is better to check them before the journey one more time.
This was possible in company Technical Inspection Service, or
TIS. In a busy week, Amphibear control was planned for Saturday.
TIS NDT inspector Ivan Podkhomutnikov and background of company certificates.
First stage of control is close inspection outside and inside of weldings. Inside is checked with endoscope. Endoscope is small camera with light at the end of long and flexible wire.
Simple and effective method to check weldings was used at next stage - marker color with chalk color.
First, cleaned weldings are painted with red marker colour. Then all visible color is cleaned away, and same place covered with chalk color. After drying chalk absorbs the marker color from micro defects and makes them visible. Microholes are visible as red dots on picture. There were no cracks found, also the holes were on the surface only.
Last control method used, was x-ray picture of weldings. As for the x-ray bystanders (me) were deported for their own safety, then no picture of the method.
TIS inspektors Ivan Podkhomutnikov and Andrei Martikainen with inspected Amphibear.
During inspection one can see the inside of the weldings. As usual, they do not look nice. However as conclusion, most of the weldings are high quality and no structural problems for pontoons. Only remark was to improve the weldings of engine mount.
Thank you
TIS team! Goodbye picture under corporate logo on office building.