Patent ID: 8616077

Claim:
A non-destructive inspection method for detecting the presence of a tin contaminant that has alloyed with a nickel-alloy of a part, comprising: (a) injecting a hydrochloric acid solution into an internal cavity of the part to expose the internal cavity to the hydrochloric acid solution for less than two hours to avoid chemical attack of the hydrochloric acid solution on the nickel-alloy, without exposing an outer portion of the part that has a protective coating thereon to the hydrochloric acid solution; (b) extracting at least a portion of any tin contaminant that has alloyed with the nickel-alloy into the hydrochloric acid solution; and (c) subjecting the hydrochloric acid solution that has been exposed to the nickel-alloy to inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analysis to determine whether the hydrochloric acid solution includes any of the tin contaminant, to thereby determine whether the part includes the tin contaminant.