Color and Fluorescent Brightness

Penetrant Color and Fluorescence

The color of the penetrant material is of obvious importance in visible dye penetrant
inspection, as the dye must provide good contrast against the developer or part being
inspected. Remember from our earlier discussion of contrast sensitivity that generally the
higher the contrast, the easier objects are to see. The dye used in visible dye penetrant is
usually vibrant red but other colors can be purchased for special applications.
When fluorescent materials are involved, the effect of color and fluorescence is not so
straightforward. LPI materials fluoresce because they contain one or more dyes that
absorb electromagnetic radiation over a particular wavelength and the absorption of
photons leads to changes in the electronic configuration of the molecules. Since the
molecules are not stable at this higher energy state, they almost immediately re-emit the
energy. There is some energy loss in the process causing the photons to be re-emitted at a
slightly longer wavelength, which is in the visible range. The radiation absorption and
emission could take place a number of times until the desired color and brightness is
achieved. Two different fluorescent colors can be mixed to interact by a mechanism
called cascading. The emission of visible light by this process involves one dye absorbing
ultraviolet radiation to emit a band of radiation that makes a second dye glow. Since the
human eye is the most commonly used sensing device, most penetrants are designed to
fluoresce as close as possible to the eyes' peak response.
For more information on how the human eye responds to colored light, follow this link.
Penetrant Brightness
Fluorescent brightness was erroneously once thought to be the controlling factor with
respect to flaw detection sensitivity. Measurements have been made to evaluate the
intrinsic brightness of virtually all commercially available penetrants and they all have
about the same brightness. Intrinsic brightness values are determined for thick liquid
films and the dimensional threshold of fluorescence (discussed on the next page) is a
more important property. The measurement of fluorescent brightness is detailed in ASTM
E-1135, "Standard Test Method for Comparing the Brightness of Fluorescent Penetrants."

Click here to learn why things fluoresce.

References:
Gram, B., Mechanisms Contributing to Fluorescence and Visibility of Penetrants,
Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Nondestructive Testing, May 1967,
pp 225-233.
Alburger, J.R., Dimensional Transition Effects in Visible Color and Fluorescent Dye
Liquids, Proceedings, 23rd Annual Conference, Instrument Society of America, Vol. 23,
Part I, Paper No. 564.
Alburger, J.R., Signal-to-Noise Ratio in the Inspection Penetrant Process, Materials
Evaluation, September 1974, pp. 193-200.