A fluorescent tracer has a pigment that fluoresces under ultraviolet light making the determination of the degree or percentage of coverage quick, easy and foolproof. Use of this tracer eliminates the need for 200-percent coverage in order to be assured of complete peening. Distributed exclusively by Electronics, Incorporated, Fluoro-Finder III Shot Peen Tracer meets requirements of AMS-S-13165 and is approved by General Electric, Engine Division, GE Spec D50TF9 and Class A Rev S3. Fluoro-Finder III is available in liquid form (with Methyl Ethyl Keytone) or powder form (customer must add Methyl Ethyl Keytone). Fluoro-Finder III is manufactured by American Gas & Chemical Co. Ltd. (Liquid form available only in the United States.)
U.S. and Canadian sales have a minimum order of two cans of Fluoro-Finder III Liquid.
International sales have a minimum order of one carton (four cans of Fluoro-Finder III Liquid).
Instructions for use
- Clean the parts to be peened. Remove all dirt, oil or residue.
- Prepare a control specimen of the actual workpiece material.
- Cover parts with Fluoro-Finder by brushing, dipping, or spraying (do not dilute). Allow a few moments for the coating to dry.
- Confirm full coating with black light.
- Shot peen control specimen using the correct intensity and parameters specified for complete coverage.
- Inspect with 10x magnifier to confirm proper coverage.
- Re-examine under black light. Full coverage is indicated by the degree of tracer removal at the point of full coverage shown under 10-30X visual examination.
- Establish coverage of actual production pieces using the same procedure for each part or on a statistical sampling basis. As the peening progresses, it removes the Fluoro-Finder film, causing the glow to fade.
- Compare the production tracer removal to the control specimen to assure proper peening coverage.
- Coverage: 1 pint will cover approximately 32 square feet or 3 square meters.
If the part is not properly pre-cleaned, tracer removal may be erratic.
Complete removal of tracer does not guarantee full or complete coverage. Coverage may be in excess of 100%. During process development, you should determine these two requirements:
- If there is a dent, then the tracer should be removed
- If the tracer is removed, there should be a dent
Very low intensity peening may not remove the tracer although the proper dents have been produced. Very high intensity peening may allow low angle impacts (ricochet) to scrape away the tracer yet no proper dent is formed. You must correlate surface denting to tracer removal to validate this process.
Learn more about the importance of coverage to a quality shot peening program and many other shot peening fundamentals at an Electronics Inc. shot peening workshop.
