Overview of Welding
Welding is the process of joining separate metals together using extreme heat. Welding can be used for a number of different purposes. For example, repair welds are minor welds that are applied to structures to repair areas of minor surface damage. Weld overlay, on the other hand, is a process that is used to add an outer layer to a piece of equipment.
There are multiple different welding processes. Some of the more common types of welding are shielded metal arc welding, CO2 welding, Metal Inert Gas (MIG) welding, Submerged arc welding, and Plasma Transferred Arc (PTA) welding.
After performing any weld. it is important to perform a post weld heat treatment (PWHT) on the weld area to reduce residual stresses. If this is not done, then the weld is more likely to experience brittle fracture. PWHT is also able to reduce the chances of hydrogen induced cracking (HIC) in the weld as well.
Hot Work
Hot work refers to any work involving electric or gas welding, cutting, brazing, or similar flame or spark-producing operations. In many oil and gas or chemical processing enviroments, hot work has the potential to ignite a combustible material and cause significant process safety incidents. Extreme caution must be used whenever planning and performing any hot work.
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January/February 2020 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
There are many sources and occurrences of metal fatigue in the chemical and refining industries. They range from low-cycle thermal stresses in an FCCU, to the relentless pressure cycling of a PSA, to the ultra-high cycles of a rotating pump.
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BlogJanuary 6, 2020
We’re excited to announce a new section of our website that is dedicated to equipping inspectors with greater knowledge and proficiency across various subject matter areas.
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November/December 2019 Inspectioneering JournalBy Dave Holthaus at Comprehensive Procedure Reviews, LLC (CPR), and Kevin Gaskin at CHS, Inc.
This article helps shine light on some common industry problems that can occur by having inferior UT procedures and practices, while providing several lessons learned through a case study that resulted in nearly $1 million in turnaround repairs.
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FFS Forum: Creep in Heater Tubes and Other Components – Part II: Strategies for Evaluating & Managing Remaining LifeJuly/August 2019 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
This is the second of a two-part column on “Creep.” This second part discusses the approach to creep assessment in plant equipment.
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May/June 2019 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
This is the first of a two-part column on “Creep”. It presents an engineering overview of the phenomena, answers the question: “What is Creep?”, and provides readers with foundational knowledge for evaluating and managing remaining equipment...
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Partner Content
Our proprietary furnace tube inspection system, FTIS is an ultrasonic inspection technology capable of rapid, automated fired heater coil inspection in refinery fired heaters. The data captured by our furnace tube inspection system is...
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Assuring Pressure Part Manufacturing & Repair Quality - Has ticking the box become more important than the end product?March/April 2019 Inspectioneering JournalBy Andreas Fabricius at Tetra Engineering, James Malloy at Tetra Engineering, and Mark Taylor at Tetra Engineering
The quality of the thousands of factory and field welds present in pressure part modules is critical for assuring reliable operation over the life of a plant. Companies should be doing more than paying lip service to quality. Don't just tick a box.
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January/February 2019 Inspectioneering JournalBy Qasem Fandem at Saudi Aramco
Welding imperfections vary in impact from being acceptable to requiring repair. It is important to ensure the quality of welds using NDT and to ensure the strength of the entire piping system with hydrotesting.
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January/February 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy Phillip E. Prueter at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc.
Given the concern throughout industry regarding the potential for brittle fracture failures, PWHT guidance to address potential issues arising from the recent changes in PWHT code requirements for carbon steel is examined in this article, and...
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Partner Content
LOTIS utilizes laser profilometry to conduct internal steam reformer tube inspections. The data captured by LOTIS is exceptionally powerful when combined with our LifeQuest™ remaining life assessment capabilities, providing an integrated...
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July/August 2016 Inspectioneering JournalBy Sanjoy Das at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, and D. Mukherjee at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
The structural integrity of components is controlled by material properties, the presence of flaws, and levels of applied stress. Several factors such as temperature, type of loading, toughness, corrosion resistance, micro-structural stability, cost...
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July/August 2016 Inspectioneering JournalBy Mark Geisenhoff at Flint Hills Resources, Jonathan D. Dobis at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc., Phillip E. Prueter at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc., and Dr. Michael S. Cayard at Flint Hills Resources
This article summarizes a recent finite element analysis (FEA)-based study that employs creep simulation techniques to investigate the elevated temperature response of piping with peaked longitudinal weld seams.
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March/April 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Connie LaMorte at EWI, and Jon Jennings at EWI
Weld inspection using lasers is not new, but doing it 75 meters inside a pipe or streaming inspection data wirelessly is new. As laser technology has improved, more industries such as oil & gas are beginning to require laser inspection as part of...
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To Test or Not to Test: A Comparison of the Pressure Testing Requirements between ASME B31.3 and ASME Section VIII, Division 1January/February 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Hugo Julien, P.E. at GCM Consultants, and Serge Bisson at GCM Consultants
Are you still hitting the welded joints of pressure vessels with a hammer during hydrostatic testing? If yes, then you’re due for a refresher on the pressure testing requirements of ASME Section VIII Division 1 since this requirement was for...
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BlogNovember 10, 2014 By Nick Schmoyer at Inspectioneering
One of the more insidious problems within the industry is the issue of atomic hydrogen dissolving into steel equipment. This can happen to some steel components under certain circumstances and can cause weld failure, or what is known as “hydrogen...
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Abnormal Cracks Led to Premature Decommissioning of Boiler Feed Water Exchanger – What Happened and Why?
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May/June 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Neil Ferguson at Hydratight
In November 2013, ASME released its updated PCC-1 guidelines for pressure boundary bolted flange joint assemblies. Contained within the document is Appendix A, which represents a major change from the previous 2010 release and is considered to be...
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January/February 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Marc McConnell, P.E. at Pro-Surve Technical Services, Josh Yoakam at Holly Frontier Companies, and Frank Dean at Ion Science, Ltd.
This is the second of two articles published in Inspectioneering Journal discussing the value of hydrogen bake-outs. Our first article was published in the May/June 2013 issue and received a great response from the Inspectioneering community. In...
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January/February 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Neil Ferguson at Hydratight
If necessity is the mother of invention, then the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are the parents of guidelines, standards,...
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January/February 2013 Inspectioneering JournalBy Ana Benz at IRISNDT
In this article you will find the failure investigations of six 0.094 inch thick carbon steel vessels. These vessels were in service in natural gas well facilities; some functioned as dryers and were subjected to cyclic loads. Metallographic tests,...
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September/October 2010 Inspectioneering Journal
For years the WRC has provided the documented technical basis for many decisions made regarding design, repair, remaining life estimation, and fitness for service of pressure equipment in our industries. Many codes and industry recommended practices...
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March/April 2007 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
In the welded condition many stainless steels are susceptible to rapid intergranular corrosion or stress corrosion cracking. This is because the heat from welding sensitizes the base metal heat affected zone (HAZ) and the weld.
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March/April 2007 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
A myriad of issues need to be considered before welding to or repairing weld overlayed or clad equipment. (By clad we mean roll-bonded or explosion bonded, i.e. basically 100% metallurgically bonded, and not a loose or seam-welded liner, e.g., not...
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March/April 2007 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
When we talk about welding QA/QC we typically focus on the technical requirements and what QA/QC is needed to assure that the technical requirements are met. Examples include the preheat, interpass, and PWHT temperatures and how to assure that the...
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May/June 2006 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
As noted in the discussion on delayed cracking, when the steel contains hydrogen as a result of service exposure (or corrosion, or high temperature - high pressure hydrogen processing) then a hydrogen bake out may be needed to avoid cracking...
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January/February 2006 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
After a pressure equipment or piping failure, it’s not uncommon to find out during the failure analysis part of the investigation that the failure initiated at a welding flaw of some sort.
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January/February 2006 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
Among other things, a welding QA/QC program needs to ensure that only qualified welders, utilizing qualified procedures are allowed to weld on any pressurized equipment, including storage tanks and piping.
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July/August 2005 Inspectioneering JournalBy Jonathan D. Dobis at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc., and David N. French
This bulletin is part of a series of WRC Bulletins that contain the technical background and other information to evaluate damage mechanisms in various industries to facilitate the use of API 579. These bulletins, shown below, will be updated based...
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May/June 2005 Inspectioneering JournalBy Julian Speck at TWI Ltd., and Amin Muhammed at TWI
Current BSI and ASME codes for the construction of pressure vessels, boilers and piping specify that post-weld heat treatment is required if the thickness of the components being welded exceeds a specified value. This value depends on the type of...
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January/February 2004 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
Repair welds can be another undetected and insidious "fabrication defect" that eventually results in equipment failure. Any experienced metallurgist that has completed numerous failure analyses over the years will tell you that periodically they see...
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January/February 2004 Inspectioneering Journal
When we specify that some equipment (vessels, flanges, fittings, etc.) be overlaid with a corrosion resistant alloy, we need to pay attention to making sure that the chemistry of the top layer of alloy welding, that will be exposed directly to...
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January/February 2004 Inspectioneering Journal
DMW cracking is another fabrication issue that can and does result in equipment failure. It usually occurs at the weld juncture where carbon steel or low alloy steels are welded to austenitic (300 series) stainless steels in high temperature...
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January/February 2004 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
Cracks along the toe of a weld are not uncommon during fabrication, and can occur for a wide variety of reasons involving the metallurgy and process control of the the same issues covered above on repair welds can apply to repair welds on...
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January/February 2004 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
Inadequate PWHT is one of our pressure equipment nemeses. We normally specify PWHT for a variety of pressure equipment integrity reasons including when we need to lower residual stresses, increase resistance to cracking or soften weld hardness. All...
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May/June 2003 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
A new recommended practice from the API is in the final stages of preparation before publications. It is API RP 577 on Welding Inspection and Metallurgy.
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November/December 2000 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
Part 4 of this article continues to outline the 101 essential elements that need to be in place, and functioning well, to effectively and efficiently, preserve and protect the reliability and integrity of pressure equipment (vessels, exchangers,...
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September/October 1999 Inspectioneering JournalBy Reggie Cross at ND Tech
This paper describes the use of a UT fixture for detection of stress corrosion cracking in ferrous heat exchanger tube-to-tubesheet welds and external tube corrosion or pitting near the tubesheets including crevice OD corrosion.
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July/August 1998 Inspectioneering JournalBy Constance Reichert at Edison Welding Institute
Visual inspection is the most common nondestructive testing method. For critical applications, machine vision technology provides advantages over visual inspection.
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July/August 1998 Inspectioneering Journal
The debate about advantages and drawbacks of the application of the TOFD (time of flight diffraction) approach for ultrasonic weld inspection should not forget the original reasons for its introduction in the 1960s. The major advantage at that time...
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May/June 1997 Inspectioneering Journal
Case 1: Fuel Gas to Boilers in boiler house: in 1992 two flanges were installed for installation of knock blinds. No degassing was completed. Both welds were radiographed and noted as acceptable. Case 2: Alky Unit Flare Header: No degassing...
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November/December 1996 Inspectioneering JournalBy Shaun W. Lawson at Mechatronic Systems and Robotics Research Group, University of Surrey
The basic approach to the inspection and repair procedure for welding has barely altered for three decades. The normal practice has continued to be to inspect a weld only after the welding programme is complete. Thus by the time a defect is...
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May/June 1996 Inspectioneering JournalBy Del Underwood at Det Norske Veritas
This final issue on gusset problems will discuss why gussets are "stiffeners" rather than "strengtheners." The effective load bearing capacity of a member of given strength is based upon how large a cross-sectional area is carrying the load....
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January/February 1996 Inspectioneering JournalBy Del Underwood at Det Norske Veritas, and Tim Munsterman at Det Norske Veritas
Last issue, in keeping with the evaluation that "gussets are stiffeners, not strengtheners," we discussed welding around the ends of the gusset plate instead of just along the sides in order to reduce the stress concentration. A further improvement...
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September/October 1995 Inspectioneering JournalBy Del Underwood at Det Norske Veritas
A key to any piping evaluation program is to understand where problems can occur. Vibrating piping can propagate a crack relatively quickly. Have you ever installed gussets to stabilize a vibrating pipe situation only to find, shortly thereafter,...
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May/June 1995 Inspectioneering JournalBy Bob Browne at ERA Technology
For reason of economy, the hot reheat pipework in many US power plants is fabricated from seam-welded low chrome-moly carbon steel spools. Unlike girth butt welds, where the critical weldment microstructures can off-load stress to the stronger...
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Published on April 24, 2018The CSB has released an animation detailing the events leading up to the February 8, 2017 explosion at the Packaging Corporation of America's DeRidder, Louisiana, pulp and paper mill. The incident killed three contract workers and injured seven.
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Published on June 7, 2010U.S. Chemical Safety Board safety video discussing key lessons to prevent flammable vapor explosions caused by welding and cutting.
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