When stress builds up in a component, it doesn’t spread out evenly – it concentrates around certain features. You can see this beautifully demonstrated when polarized light shines through a clear plastic sample under tension: rainbow-colored bands appear, clustering tightly around notches or sharp corners. These tight bands show us exactly where the stress is concentrating.
These high-stress areas, called stress raisers, are important in NDT because they’re often where things start to go wrong. You’ll find them around common features like sharp corners, holes, sudden changes in thickness, and welds. They’re particularly important during inspections because even a small defect in a high-stress area can cause big problems. That’s why NDT technicians pay special attention to these regions during inspections, often applying stricter standards when evaluating any discontinuities they find in these areas.
We cover this in great detail in our prerequisite course – Material science in NDT course that can be done 100% online or in-person. See more details and our schedule here: kuzer.com/schedule
