When performing liquid penetrant examination or magnetic particle examination, is the amount of base material to be examined adjacent to the weld defined somewhere in the code (Sec. I, V or VIII)?

Tried to find it, but had no luck.

No luck here either.
The area to be examined, such as a weld, should be defined by the contracting parties. Other ASME Codes define the area to be examined such as Section III and Section XI, and maybe others.....I am only familiar with those I mentioned. There may be good engineering practices elsewhere defining this.

Perhaps the proper approach for defining the area to be examined should be based upon the area required to be cleaned as defined in Section V.
As stated in Section V T-642(b) for PT and T-741.1(b) for MT, the surface to be examined and all adjacent areas within at least 1 in. (25 mm) shall be dry and free of all dirt, grease, lint, scale, welding flux, weld spatter, paint, oil, and other extraneous matter that could obscure surface openings or otherwise interfere with the examination.

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A question properly stated is a question half solved.

Yes, it is defined for example in Sec. III, Division 1, Subsection NB. According to NB-5140 it is 1/2" (13 mm) on each side of the weld. I would think that this can be used as a guideline if not defined otherwise.

In my opinion the Procedure should specify which area to be included in the scope of examination.

DK

I absolutely agree that it should (or shall) be specified in the procedure, but I'm just making some procedures and therefore started to look it up from the code.

anytime you are performing NDE like PT in this instance, the code or standard must be addressed. Like mentioned earlier, NB-5140 it is 1/2" (13 mm) on each side of the weld.

Also states 1' cleaned on each side of weld but penetrant shall be applied to a minimum of 1/2" on each side of the weld. Refer to ASTM E-1417-05 Standard Practice for Liquid Penetrant Testing

Robert P.
QA Manager