Bad Welds from poor weld management

[Elderberry]

ED CRAIG. www.weldreality.com.

In a world where lawers get rich from simple, everyday manufacturing issues, from oil platforms to trucks, weld liabilty cost consequences can be extraordinary and should be a concern for every manager involved with welded products.

It's a sad refection on the weld industry, that Weld Risk Assesment is almost none existant, when in reality it should be the norm at most companies. While some global weld standards (sub sea - nuclear) are becoming more rigid, and many alloy applications are becoming more complex, few weld or plant managers have an understanding of the most widely used weld processes, MIG and flux cored and even fewer have any comprehension of the weld process controls - best weld practices, that are required for consistent weld optimization.

More: http://weldreality.com/bad%20weld%20section.htm

[thackney]

I was a field engineer on a large pipeline job in California.  Kern River expansion from Wyoming.

The primary welding inspector was in charge of review all x-rays of all the pipeline welds in our area.  Main line was 36 inch diameter.  Every weld was x-rayed.  Every X-ray was reviewed by him and passed or needed repair based upon his review.

Near the end of the job, some questions raised, another inspector reviewed some of the record x-rays.

Most were of such poor quality they were unreadable.

We dug up miles and miles of 36" pipeline at every weld to re-X-ray.  Most were good, all were not.

Turns out there was some money being exchanged between the X-ray company and the inspector.