How the quiz works
Each set serves all 18 questions in a shuffled order, with the options shuffled too. 8 questions show a drawing of a penetrant indication: visible red dye on white developer, or a fluorescent glow on a dark field. The rest are technique questions on penetrant types and removal methods, dwell, developer, removal steps, viewing and process checks. Check your answer and you get the reason the right option is right, why each of the other three is wrong, and the document the point rests on.
You score one point per question. At the end you see your score by the four topics ASNT publishes for the PT General exam: Review PT Principles, Selection of the Appropriate PT Method, Inspection and Evaluation of Indications, Inspection Procedures and Standards, weakest first, so you know where to spend your next hour. Hit New shuffle for a fresh order, and quote the set number if you report an error.
Worked examples
Example 1: crack or porosity, from how the bleed-out grows
Step 1: look at the first view, soon after developer. The top drawing shows a fine line; the bottom one shows a few small dots. Step 2: watch how each one grows. The line widens but stays a line, because a planar opening keeps feeding penetrant along its length. Each dot spreads evenly into a round blot, because each is a small cavity with its own pocket of penetrant. Step 3: name them. The top one is a crack and reads as a linear indication. The bottom one is porosity and reads as rounded indications. Step 4: read inside the time window your procedure sets, because bleed-out keeps spreading and a late reading oversizes everything.
Example 2: a real indication or a false one?
Step 1: note the shape. A smudge of curved ridges near the edge of the plate looks like a fingerprint, not like any discontinuity. Step 2: test it rather than guess. Wipe the spot with a swab lightly dampened with remover, reapply developer and watch. Step 3: read the result. Nothing bleeds back, so there was no opening holding penetrant. It is a false indication from handling. Had the same shape bled back in the same place, it would be a true indication, to be classed as relevant or nonrelevant and then evaluated. The PT process control and indications guide sets out that observe, interpret, evaluate order as a worksheet.
New to the process itself? How liquid penetrant testing works walks through all seven steps and where each one goes wrong. For the exam format and choosing a method, see the PT Level II exam guide.
Penetrant testing quiz FAQ
How many questions are on the PT Level 2 exam?
ASNT lists the PT Level II General exam as 50 questions in 2 hours, under four topics: principles, method selection, indications, and procedures and standards. If you also take a Specific exam for a sector, that one is 40 questions in 2 hours. This quiz is scored against the same four General topics.
Do I need to memorize dwell times and UV light levels?
Know the reasoning first. On the job the written procedure sets dwell, light levels and acceptance limits, and those numbers change with the penetrant, the material and the code. Questions usually give you a situation and ask what goes wrong or what to do next, so knowing why a step matters earns more points than a remembered number.
What's the difference between a nonrelevant and a false indication?
Neither is a discontinuity you reject the part for, but for different reasons. A nonrelevant indication comes from a real opening the part is designed to have, like a thread root or a press fit. A false indication has no opening under it at all, just penetrant that got onto the surface from a glove, a rag or a fixture. Wipe it and redevelop: a false one doesn't come back.