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i don't mean to change the course of the discussion underway, but i'm curious as to exactly what the different welding certs indicate... even the engineers that i work around are very vague on the subject... i can't tell if they don't know, or just don't want to discuss it



the only ones that i see on a regular basis are asme 3, 8, &9... the aws codes are seldom used but it seems that i recall a D1.1 .....



i seldom see an actual cert. paper... i typically show up on a job and either go to work, if they have certs for me on file, or, i will be sent to a test booth and then to work.... when i do see a test paper it will give process info, base metal and filler info, smallest diameter certified to, and weld thickness allowed per process.....



if it aint' too much trouble could you enlighten me on these standards??? thanks,..... john w




johnw,



No trouble at all as long as you and the others don�t mind what will probably be the most boring post in Campfire history. I�d like to preface a couple of things though. First, I�ll apologize in advance for the writing style which I�m sure will come off as professorial or condescending. 99% of the writing I do is professional or technical related and I find in reading my posts here that style often doesn�t translate well. I�m going to plagiarize some of this from ASME and other publications as well for expediency. Secondly, I�ll start with the basics in case for some bizarre reason another member with a masochistic streak decides to suffer through it. I know you are a professional welder but others aren�t so don�t take the simplicity as an insult to your intelligence. (In other words don�t call me a jackazz, and my wife will certify to the fact that I�m faaaaaaar from qualified enough in the manhood department to go f#%k myself <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />) So, in very basic Reader�s Digest Abridged format�..





To start, a bit on standards. A standard can be defined as a set of technical definitions and guidelines, �how to� instructions for designers, manufacturers and users. Standards promote safety, reliability, productivity and efficiency in almost every industry that relies on engineering components or equipment. Standards can run from a few paragraphs to hundreds of pages, and are written by experts with knowledge and expertise in a particular field who sit on many committees. Standards are considered voluntary because they serve as guidelines, but do not of themselves have the force of law. Standards are a vehicle of communication for producers and users. They serve as a common language, defining quality and establishing safety criteria. Costs are lower if procedures are standardized; training is also simplified. Perhaps most importantly to many, standards promote commonality or interchangeability of commodities within a trade region.



There are over 50,000 voluntary standards commonly used in the US covering every facet of manufacturing and construction from design parameters to fabrication, quality testing, marking, labeling and certification. To coordinate all of these standards we have the American National Standards Institute. ANSI is a federation of corporations, standards developers, academics, government agencies and consumers who offer accreditations, training programs and other education and most germane to this discussion a mechanism whereby certain standards may be recognized as THE American National Standard for industry. For government, from local through state, regional and federal the National Institute of Standards and Technology performs this coordinating function. As stated earlier standards of themselves are voluntary. They become mandatory when through regulation they have been promulgated into law. A code is a standard that has been adopted by one or more governmental bodies and has the force of law. A specification is a document prepared by an engineer incorporating regulations, codes and standards for a given project or scope of work.



The ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code then is a set of standards developed and maintained by a professional organization, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, which through regulation is now adopted in part or in its entirety, by 49 states and numerous municipalities and territories of the United States and all the provinces of Canada. establishing the rules of safety for the design, fabrication, and inspection of boilers and pressure vessels, and nuclear power plant components.



The Boiler Code is made of 12 sections and contains over 15 divisions and subsections:



I. Power Boilers

II. Materials

Part A-Ferrous Material Specifications

Part B-Non-Ferrous Material Specifications

Part C-Specifications for Welding Rods, Electrodes, and Filler Metals

Part D-Properties (Customary)

New! Part D-Properties (Metric)

III. Rules for Construction of Nuclear Facility Components

Subsection NCA - General Requirements for Divisions 1 and 2

DIVISION 1 Subsection NB- Class 1 Components

DIVISION 2 Code for Concrete Containments

DIVISION 3 Containments for Transportation and Storage

IV. Heating Boilers

V. Nondestructive Examination

VI. Recommended Rules for the Care and Operation of Heating Boilers

VII. Recommended Guidelines for the Care of Power Boilers

VIII. Pressure Vessels

DIVISION 1

DIVISION 2 - Alternative Rules

DIVISION 3 - Alternative Rules for Construction of High Pressure Vessels

IX. Welding and Brazing Qualifications

X. Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Pressure Vessels

XI. Rules for Inservice Inspection of Nuclear Power Plant Components

XII. Rules for Construction and Continued Service of Transport Tanks





Companies desiring to perform work covered by the code must be accredited and certified to the applicable sections and must develop and maintain audited programs as a means of proving their compliance and are issued code symbol stamps by ASME as an indication of their conformity to the latest edition of the code. So, when for instance you hire out to work on a Heat Recovery Steam Generator on a gas turbine power plant the various work required for assembly such as the frame, skin, tube bundles, steam drums and piping mean the contractor must be certified to Sections I and II and carry an �A� stamp, Section V and a �P� stamp and section VIII and a �U� stamp. Each of these sections reference Section IX for welding. Section IX contains rules relating to the qualification of welding and brazing procedures as required by other code sections including essential and nonessential variables specific to the welding or brazing process used. It also covers rules relating to the qualification and requalification of welders, brazers, and welding and brazing operators in order that they may perform welding or brazing as required by other code sections.



So that�s really it in a nutshell. As you can see Section III which you mentioned is the same as the HRSG power plant scenario except for nukie work. AWS which you also mentioned is simply another standards organization and their Code D1.1 Structural Welding Code � Steel is the national standard for structural welding, so while you�re working on the boiler under ASME your ironworker buds are putting up structures, racks, stair towers, handrails etc under AWS�



I hope this is what you were looking for. I apologize to the rest of you for the diversion and we'll now rejoin our regularly scheduled program already in progress.....