The European standard, which was introduced in 1994, replaces well-known national standards such as DIN 54 109 and BS 3971. The wire diameters and system of numbering follow the previous DIN practice. IE-NDT Ltd manufactures EN 462-1 IQIs in steel, aluminium, copper and models W6, W10 and W13 in titanium.

Description. Wire type IQIs to EN 462-1:1994 manufactured by IE-NDT Ltd. comprise seven parallel wires 10, 25 or 50mm long, which are encapsulated in thin, transparent plastic along with a radio-opaque identification plaque. Each IQI is supplied in a wallet. For ease of recognition, the wallet carries stickers showing the IQI model and wire length it contains. These are colour coded:

    Blue     Yellow        Red         White
    Steel    Aluminium    Copper    Titanium

Encapsulation. The wires in models W1, W6 and W10 as well as W13 in FE and CU are encapsulated in thin PVC. Because of the low radiation energy normally appropriate when models W13AL and W13TI are used, these wires are encapsulated in thin, less radiation absorbent polythene (complies with Standard requirement 4.2 ).

Identification. Most models are encapsulated with cast, white metal identification plaques. To avoid distracting glare when viewing radiographs containing a W13AL or W13TI model, these identification plaques are made of thin copper on a GRP substrate (complies with Standard requirement 4.3).

Quality Assurance. Manufacturing, including inspection, follows a written procedure, which forms part of a Quality Management System registered according to ISO 9001. Each IQI carries a unique batch number. The Declaration of Conformity provides a complete manufacturing history as well as a printout showing the measured diameter of each wire.



The official description of an IQI reads, for example, IQI EN W10 FE 50. This means an IQI containing wire W10 to W16 in steel with a wire length of 50mm.