Ms. Susanna Kivikoski used to want to become a police officer. After many twists and turns, she now holds an important position as ATA Gears NDT inspector catching other kinds of “villains”. At ATA Gears she is responsible for conducting the magnaflux tests, a special non-destructive process, to check and verify the quality of a finished gear using a magnetic field. Luckily Susanna has a sharp eye. A fluorescent magna liquid is sprayed onto the surface of all bevel or cylindrical gears to detect in UV light any discontinuities, fractures or damage to the surface of the gear.
Inspection is a highly responsible job. The inspector signs off on all tests to guarantee that the customer gets a faultless and durable gear. Any faults detected are most often small grinding cracks, which can be remedied by turning the gear again. Sometimes, however, a clearly faulty gear is detected. To her great surprise however, Susanna in her tests has never detected any faults in the gears’ teeth. And she is definitely actively looking.
So exactly what does a Magnaflux inspector’s work entail? ”Definitely accuracy and good eyesight – and persistence. You need to be careful and systematic every time, although damage is seldom found. Not a millimetre of the gear surface may go unchecked,” declares Susanna.