PWL#074 - Welding Supervisors Duties, welding Stainless Handrails, Lead Free Solders, Importance of Welding Flux Composition and Particle Size in SAW, Wave Soldering, Laser Drilling, Interview with Anthony Rangus, Wave Soldering, Laser Drilling and more...

DON'T USE REPLY to send us your messages! Use Contact Us instead.

This publication brings to the readers practical answers to welding problems in an informal setting designed to be helpful and informative.
We actively seek feedback to make it ever more useful and up to date.
We encourage you to comment and to contribute your experience, if you think it may be useful to your fellow readers.
Click on Contact Us (opens new page).

You are urged to pass-along this publication to your friends, if you like it, and if you want to help them. If you received this from a friend and if you like what you read, please subscribe free of charge and you will also receive a bonus book on Practical HARDNESS TESTING Made Simple.
Click on Subscription (opens new page).

Note: References to articles or other documents are given here in one of two forms. If the links are "live" (usually underlined or otherwise highlighted) they are operated with a click of the mouse.

If they are URL's (Uniform Resource Locator), which is the analogue of an address, they begin with "http://..." or "www.". These are not live and must be copied and pasted entirely into the browser (after having been selected with the mouse or otherwise). If they are long they may be displayed in two or more lines. In that case one has to care that the URL be copied completely in a single line without any space, and Enter.

1 - Introduction

2 - Article - Welding Supervisors Duties

3 - How to do it well: welding Stainless Handrails

4 - Lead Free Solder Filler Metals

5 - Online Press: recent Welding related Articles

6 - Terms and Definitions Reminder

7 - Article - Importance of Welding Flux Composition and Particle Size in Submerged Arc Welding

8 - Site Updating: Wave Soldering, Laser Drilling

9 - Short Items

10 - Explorations: beyond the Welder

11 - Contributions: Interview with Anthony Rangus

12 - Testimonials

13 - Correspondence: a few Comments

14 - Bulletin Board

1 - Introduction

This 74th Issue of Practical Welding Letter, opens with a note on the duties of Welding Supervisors: this was the subject of one of the Queries recently addressed to our site.

It happens that the American Welding Society dedicated thought and time to study the problem and established the framework for issuing official Certifications to candidates that pass successfully the examination. AWS also produced documents that define the requirements.

Furthermore, to stress the importance of suitably prepared Supervisors, AWS participated in a Study where welders' productivity was investigated in view of improving it. Enlightening lessons were learnt that could be applied throughout the industry.

Then we touch briefly to a problem of corrosion on the welds of stainless handrails. It is easily avoided if one knows the problems beforehand.

In the filler metal section we consider lead free solders, now requested everywhere as more friendly to the environment. Although the transition from lead-tin eutectic is not without problems, important progress was achieved in the last two decades, and much experience has been gained.

I am glad to publish here the second article of Mr. Naddir M. Patel whose vast experience with Submerged Arc Welding makes him a most knowledgeable adviser worth of being carefully studied.

In the review of the new website pages of this Month, Wave Soldering and Laser Drilling are introduced, specialized processes of importance in definite niches.

A new Interview is published with a longtime welder and welding engineer ready to share with us his experience, thoughts and recommendations. Readers who declared their readiness to participate in this project are urged to send us their contributions.

The other sections can be found at their usual place. We invite your comments and feedback. Please don't use REPLY. Use the Contact Us form instead.

2 - Article - Welding Supervisors Duties

A Query was recently posted asking about the duties of a Welding Supervisor. It is certainly an important topic as AWS decided to establish a curriculum for a short study course followed by an examination opening the way to an official Certification document.

Obviously the short course can only stress the main subjects and the needed previous experience of the candidates, but emphasizing the required knowledge may be a useful trigger for deeper study in selected areas.

AWS recognizes that in any organization using welding as a major manufacturing process, knowledgeable and adequately prepared Welding Supervisors can fulfill important tasks. There is a constant need, not always clearly acknowledged, for improving the four most important measurable parameters of welding operations: quality, cost, productivity and safety.

If a supervisor is unable to improve the department's productivity, the underlying cause can often be traced to inadequate knowledge, and to the minimal amount of time that a supervisor actually spends with welders.

Regarding knowledge, the AWS Certified Welding Supervisor program was created to rectify these conditions by offering welding supervisors (and their companies) the opportunity to put them in a support position for the welders.

This program identifies a body of knowledge all welding supervisors should know and understand in order to increase productivity and improve weld quality.

Regarding the time the supervisor is expected to dedicate to actual interactions with welders, this obviously depends on the management's attitude and no Certificate can make up for its scarcity.

As a much needed proof of the importance of such a program, AWS quotes the results of a study performed with the National Shipbuilding Research Program and reports on the advantages of training welding supervisors, showing the effects on production cost efficiency.

The final Report of the above study, a recommended and instructive reading, is available at
http://files.aws.org/research/weld_sup_trng.pdf

Those interested in considering the above AWS course and Certification might see the page
http://www.aws.org/w/a/certification/CWS/
Additional information is available from the links at its bottom.

The following Technical Documents can be downloaded:

QC13: 2006
Specification for the Certification of Welding Supervisors
from
http://files.aws.org/certification/CWS/QC13-2006.pdf

The duties and responsibilities of Certified Welding Supervisors
are listed in Section 5 of
AWS B5.9:2006
Specification for the Qualification of Welding Supervisors
downloadable from
http://files.aws.org/certification/CWS/B5.9-2006.pdf

Supervisors can improve productivity, but it is up to management to support them and to let them work.

3 - How to do it well: welding Stainless Handrails.

Q - I had a contractor install handrails on the stairway.
I wanted stainless steel which he used however at the "welded joints" we are seeing what looks like corrosion.
If he did use stainless filler rods why would we see corrosion?
How can we fix this corrosion with a paint or chemical?

A - Assuming that your contractor installed austenitic stainless steel type 302 or 304 handrails, and assuming that the filler rods were correct (should have been type 308L or 347), there is nonetheless the question of sensitization as explained in my page
https://www.welding-advisers.com/Welding-stainless.html

It appears that the contractor either did not know or did not care. He should have looked for base material type 304L or 321 to avoid the corrosion problem in the first place, with the above filler material.

If the corrosion is concentrated at the joints, to mask it you may possibly paint with aluminum pigments paint, but you may need to repeat painting frequently.

4 - Lead Free Solder Filler Metals

As a complement to my new page on Wave Soldering, described further down in Section 8, we provide here a few links to online sources of information relative to Lead Free Solders.

Review and Analysis of Lead Free Solder Material Properties
http://www.metallurgy.nist.gov/solder/clech/Introduction.htm
(see all the pages by linking on the titles in the left column)

Database for Solder Properties with Emphasis on New Lead-free Solders
http://www.boulder.nist.gov/div853/lead_free/solders.html

Lead-free Solders in Microelectronics
Science Direct

Solder
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solder

Lead-Free Solder Partnership
http://www.epa.gov/dfe/pubs/projects/solder/index.htm

Current Status of European Lead-Free Soldering
Lead-free soldering status survey 2006
http://www.europeanleadfree.net/POOLED/DOCUMENTS/a285702/ELFNET%20Implementation%20Status%20Report%202006.pdf

Assembly Technology Using Lead Free Solder (9 pages)
http://www.fujitsu.com/downloads/MAG/vol43-1/paper06.pdf

Technology Evaluation for Environmental Risk Mitigation
http://www.teerm.nasa.gov/projects/LeadFreeSolderTestingForHighReliability_Proj1.html

Achieving reliability with lead-free solders
http://mae.pennnet.com/display_article/317439/32/ARTCL/none/none/1/Achieving-reliability-with-lead-free-solders

Under Bump Metallurgy for Lead Free Solder
http://www.nexxsystems.com/pdfs/nimbus/AP%20leadfree.pdf

Lead free Solder, Tips and Nitrogen
http://www.us-tech.com/RelId/700152/ISvars/default/Lead_free_Solder%252c_Ti.htm

Using Lead free solder for drinking water fittings
http://www.dwi.gov.uk/consumer/faq/lead-free.htm

5 - Online Press: recent Welding related Articles

Enhancing the GTAW process
http://www.thefabricator.com/ArcWelding/ArcWelding_Article.cfm?ID=2286

TIG Weld Your Way to Successful Aluminum Repairs
http://millerwelds.com/resources/articles/TIG-Weld-Your-Way-to-Successful-Aluminum-Repairs/

Massive Q-Max carriers
http://www.nickelinstitute.org/index.cfm/ci_id/19076.htm

Explosion Welding (Video)
http://www.vidoemo.com/yvideo.php?explosion-welding=andi=bGRsNmZJcWuRpREdRNUU

Introducing Welding with the Handler 140 (Video)
http://tv.fooyoh.com/fooyohtv_videos_viral/4348257

6 - Terms and Definitions Reminder

Effective Throat is the minimum distance, excluding convexity, between the weld root and the face of a fillet weld.

Fusion Welding is any welding process that uses fusion of the base metal for welding.

Plenum Chamber is the space between the electrode and the inner surface of the constricting nozzle in a plasma torch.

Root Face Extension is a base metal addition at the root adjacent to the groove face, used to provide backing and improve penetration.

Stud Welding is a general term used to indicate the joining of a metal stud, by any of a number of different processes, to a workpiece.

Twin-Wire GMAW process uses two electrically isolated electrodes, which are melted together in a single molten pool.

Ultrasonic Couplant is a substance (water, grease etc.) used to transfer waves between a transducer and a test piece in ultrasonic testing.

Wiped Joint is made with a solder of wide melting range poured onto the joint. The filler is manipulated with a suitable hand tool to obtain correct size and contour.

7 - Importance of Welding Flux Composition and Particle Size in SAW

Following his enlightening note published in the last PWL issue, Mr. Naddir M. Patel from Calgary, Alberta, Canada kindly submitted also the following Article illustrating how to fine tune other parameters for successful process control. We thank him for his very interesting contribution.

Background:
Submerged Arc Welding (SAW) is a very versatile process that can be used across a range of materials and plate thicknesses for fabrication of water and petrochemical pipelines, gas cylinders, ship building and repair, and resurfacing (hardfacing) applications in the mining, mineral processing and power industries.

One such application is the high speed welding (at 450-500A; 28-32V; 1400-1500mm/minute, 2 weld runs) of LPG (liquid petroleum gas) cylinders in India.

About 10-12 years back, while I was managing Silico Products, a company manufacturing Submerged Arc Welding fluxes in Mumbai, India, we were approached by some five of our best customers, who were manufacturing LPG (liquid petroleum gas) cylinders, with a complaint that their current SAW operation resulted in up to a 20% weld integrity reject rate. It was clearly an unsustainable position.

Electrode specifications in terms of chemistry and wire diameter are very clear: under the classification F65A0-EL8, of AWS A5.17 (Specification for Carbon Steel Electrodes and Fluxes for Submerged Arc Welding), the electrode is well defined (EL8 is an AWS D1.1 designation for a Cu-coated mild steel wire with nominal composition: C = 0.1% max, Mn = 0.4-0.6%,
Si = 0.03% max, Cu = 0.14% max., P and S = 0.03% max.), as are the mechanical properties of the expected weld metal.

No details however are forthcoming about the other consumable, the SA welding flux, which is a critical component for achieving a sound weld that, due to its proprietary nature, has always been restricted to a gray area, with the consumer having to depend almost totally on the vendor, and chalking off defects to unavoidable processing conditions.

The Mild Steel plate thickness being barely 3mm in the above application (HRC [hot rolled coil] of thickness 2.9mm and nominal composition:
Mn = 0.9%, Si = 0.25%, C = 0.2%, P and S = 0.035% max.), the problem of burn-through and weld defects involving oxide inclusions and porosity was a serious time and cost multiplier.

As process parameters required 2 runs, (circumferential and bung) the challenge was, therefore, to design a uniform melting and fast self-peeling flux able to handle welding abuse (unclean surfaces, no pre-heat, no flux pre-heat etc.) which is very endemic within the unregulated welding sectors of India.

As the major suppliers of SAW flux to a wide range of industries, we could not remain indifferent to those grievances. We had to start doing something immediately.

It must be pointed out that Submerged Arc Welding fluxes, are complex, multipurpose ceramic compositions whose mineral and alloy ingredients are mixed together in proprietary combinations, and processed (either by electric fusion or agglomeration) to yield a granular ceramic product.

These granulated products are used as consumables, in various proportions, with the welding wire in Submerged Arc Welding applications. The flux, physically deposited to cover the welding arc zone (hence the name Submerged Arc) shields the weld arc zone from the atmospheric contamination.

Unlike the exclusively shielding characteristics of gas combinations used in the MIG/TIG processes, the SAW flux takes on the triple role of shielding the weld from the atmosphere, refining the weld metal (addition of alloying elements and removal of tramp oxides), and peeling off as a slag once the welding is complete.

Like any chemical reaction, the flux has to be designed (formulated) to incorporate Thermodynamics, Kinetics and Transport phenomena. It must:

1. Melt just below the temperature of the steel being welded via material balance and phase diagrams to achieve the ideal eutectic point. (Thermodynamics).
2. Mix with the parent material in the molten zone and refine the weld metal, adding elements such as Mn, Si, Cr, etc and removing rust and non metallic oxide inclusions from the weld zone, by enveloping the oxides in a Silicate-aluminate matrix. (Kinetics).
3. Float up (Transport) the oxides to the surface before the steel solidifies and peel off automatically (self lifting slag).

Thus the formulation must melt uniformly at specific temperatures and possess operational characteristics such as specific gravity and fluidity to refine the weld metal, and surface tension characteristics to ensure speedy slag peel off.

An action plan was formulated to collect process data and to research the welding process. We set forth a standard report to follow on current production, and asked the manufacturers to report details of their operations.

The main data we sought were Operational Parameters (A, V, welding speed, parent material thickness and chemistry and electrode chemistry) and defect identification (burn through, porosity, slag inclusions, pock marks, surface discoloration etc.).

Whereas the operational parameters were immediately available, there was resistance to the supply of weld defect identification and tabulation documentation. The management was concerned about information leaking out and the union was worried that this could be a tool used for decreasing productivity based wages.

A compromise was arrived at, in that we supplied the manpower with a very specific mandate not to identify the weld station or the welder and to collect weld defect data strictly on a cylinder/weld run basis. We of course guaranteed that the data would stay strictly confidential with us and there would be no identification of the manufacturer.

Utilizing a VOC (Voice of Customer) methodology, an operational data collection drive was set-up to monitor cylinder welding. Defects were then stratified and plotted as Pareto charts. Fish bone (Ishikawa) diagrams were then set up to arrive at the root causes of the defects.

Based on a sampling number confidence level of 95%, weld defect data were then collected over a week (6 days) evenly divided between 2 shifts and 4 welding stations.

These data were then stratified as per the type of weld defect and charted. Analyzing the data collected for a week, it stood out that porosity (Pinholes, pock marks on the weld surface and surface discoloration) was the main culprit that needed to be focused on, followed by burn-through and slag inclusions.

Whereas burn-through is strictly a welding heat input based problem, the data analysis clearly indicated that the flux designed to weld water pipes needed a drastic makeover for this application of welding thin gauge gas cylinders.

This was of-course not a 2 step process, but a repetitive process of continuous improvement identified as PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) and incorporating Design of Experiments (DOE) protocols. Design of Experiment (DOE) is a structured methodology of effectively and efficiently exploring the cause and effect relationship between numerous process variables (Xs) (in this case material inputs and their proportions), and the output or process performance variable (Y) (in this case, welding characteristics, mainly unacceptable flaws).

It was determined that uniformity of the welding flux components, flux fluidity, flux reducing capability and flux surface tension after welding were the Critical to Quality components.

• If a uniform mixture was to be ensured, the mineral components would have to be melted. Physical mixing would never result in a 100% mixed material. This validated the customers’ contention that agglomerated/bonded fluxes had already been tried and were rejected due to persistent operational inadequacies. The solution was to offer a Fused SAW flux.
• High welding speeds and high currents resulted in molten flux run-off. Flux fluidity therefore required reduction through adjustment of input proportions.
• Lack of joint cleanliness required a superior de-oxidation capability to address both the oxide inclusions and porosity due to ambient moisture. Components that increased Si and Mn deposition in the weld metal were then added or increased.
• At roughly 45seconds/revolution, slag not detaching immediately after the first run would cause defects in the form of inclusions in the next run. Components that influenced the surface tension at the metal-slag interface were then added or increased.

A fused Mno-SiO₂-CaO system based SAW flux, duly tweaked, as explained above was offered and accepted.

Whereas a customized variation of this fused welding flux (Fluxomelt BRD-1, discontinued since 2003) became the standard flux used for this process in India and Bangladesh, from the "lean" point of view (meaning elimination of all sources of waste like process variation, including re-work) though, there were still random weld defects that could not be accounted for even after welding parameters were all fine tuned.

As users of SAW flux are aware, fluxes are sold in mesh size fractions such as 8X48, 12X100 or 20X150. These fractions indicate particle size distribution within the upper and lower control limits of the mesh sizes indicated. Thus 8X48 implies 100% of the material passed a sieve of mesh size 8 and 0% passed the sieve of mesh size 48. Mesh sizes are measured in various standards worldwide such as Tyler, ASTM (US), BSS (UK) etc.

A general rule of thumb requires decreasing the flux particle size as both the welding speed and the current increase.

For this application, unfortunately, finer sizes created porosity based weld defects, probably due to the flux not being heated prior to use. As the chemical/mineral components of the flux had already been fine tuned, attention was therefore focused on the mesh size (particle size) of the flux granules.

By collecting the experimental data in Tables and Bar Charts it was made evident that a particular mesh size fraction, namely that described as 8x48 was responsible for the least number of weld defects.

This mesh fraction was then re-sieved into narrower fractions of material passing a series of sieve meshes. Welding runs were then made with each individual fraction and a bar chart generated against defects.

The end of the development program was reached when the mesh fraction 18x24 was singled out as that minimizing the number of defects.

Conclusion:

The mineral/chemical composition and particle (granular) size of a Submerged Arc welding flux are two elements, very critical to quality parameters for ensuring defect free welds.

Welding of CS (carbon Steel), SS (Stainless steel) or ultra low C steels require fluxes of different chemical components to facilitate the optimal weld microstructure.

Whereas similarly acceptable welding results are possible from two or more fluxes having totally different components, users should explore, possibly with external help, which set of flux components are most optimal for their application, based on the chemistry and microstructure of the parent metal and that desired of the weld metal.

Similarly the particle/granular size affects the rate of melting and wetting of the parent metal (within that limited time window of arcing) and is unique to the user and needs to be optimized.

It is therefore important for SAW shops to take maximum advantage of this versatile and highly efficient process by implementing statistically valid (Six sigma based) data collection and analysis drive to arrive at both the optimal base composition of the flux required, and the optimal granule size fraction, required for their specific process parameters.

The goal is to ensure a robust, defect and breakdown free production process, insulated from human error. Not only are these processes simple and economical to implement, but in this economical situation, squeezing out processing waste would go a long way in addressing operational profitability and international competitiveness.

I am very grateful to Mr. Naddir M. Patel who, extending the scope of his own Article published in the last issue of PWL, was so kind to share with us his valuable experience in developing successful materials and SAW procedures.

Readers with case histories likely to interest our audience are urged to send us their notes using the Contact Us form.

8 - Site Updating: Wave Soldering, Laser Drilling

The Pages of this Month are devoted to two mass production processes, quite important in their own right in the specialized industries they serve. These are modified processes, the general versions of which are exposed in other pages.

The first, on Wave Soldering, deals with the industrial automated assembly of Printed Circuit Boards, where the brief exposure of the prepared board face to a "wave" of molten flux produces the simultaneous soldering of all the joints at once.

The process has very strict requirements and must operate in a narrow parameters window, with constant monitoring of composition and contamination of the consumables involved.

The success of this process, jointly with components miniaturization, is a major factor responsible for the continuously dropping cost of devices to the consumer.

The second page, on Laser Drilling, permits the achievement of consistent quality in the production of large numbers of precision holes in hard to machine materials. This is required in advanced technologies for a number of delicate applications.

Readers can subscribe to the RSS feed as explained in every page of the website under the NavBar. The Site Map can be consulted for finding specific pages.

Comments and feedback are welcome. Don't use REPLY. Use the Contact Us form instead.

9 - Short Items

9.1 - Discontinuous Yielding is a localized, nonuniform plastic flow of a metal exhibiting a yield point, often an upper one where sudden drop of stress is noticed, and a lower one, where from, after some oscillations, the stress increases again. Plastic deformation is inhomogeneously distributed along the gage length.

9.2 - Interrupted Quenching is a quenching procedure in which the workpiece is removed from the first quench at a temperature substantially higher than that of the quenchant and is then subjected to a second quenching system having a different cooling rate than the first.
Used for avoiding the hardest micro structures likely to cause cracking.

9.3 - Isostatic Pressing forms a powder metallurgy compact by applying hydraulic pressure equally from all directions to metal powder contained in a sealed, flexible mold.

9.4 - End-Quench Hardenability Test is a laboratory procedure used for determining the hardenability of a steel or other ferrous alloy, widely referred to as the Jominy test. Hardenability is determined by heating a standard specimen above the upper critical temperature, placing the hot specimen in a fixture so that a stream of cold water impinges on one end. After cooling to room temperature is completed, hardness is measured on a longitudinal ground strip, near the surface of the specimen at regularly spaced intervals along its length. The data are normally plotted as Rockwell C hardness versus distance from the quenched end.

9.5 - Reduction, for wrought items obtained by forging, rolling, or drawing, is either the ratio of the original to final cross-sectional area or the percentage decrease in cross-sectional area.

9.6 - Stabilizing Treatment is performed to avoid deformations likely to appear in service in metastable micro structures as retained austenite. Before finishing to final dimensions, repeatedly heating a ferrous or nonferrous part to or slightly above its normal operating temperature and then cooling to room temperature to ensure dimensional stability in service. Or transforming retained austenite in quenched hardenable steels, usually by cold treatment.

10 - Explorations: beyond the Welder

Dwarf Planet Has a Mystery Spot
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=haumea-dark-red-spot&sc=WR_20090922

Virtual Reality Chamber
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=allosphere-ucsb&sc=WR_20090922

Questions that Plague Physics (4 pages)
http://genesis1.asu.edu/~krauss/0804082.pdf

Aluminum Cast Alloys: Enabling Tools for Improved Performance (68 pages)
http://www.diecasting.org/research/wwr/WWR_AluminumCastAlloys.pdf

Human Rights and Sustainable Development (video)
http://www.earth.columbia.edu/videos/watch/95

11 - Contributions: Interview with Anthony Rangus

Name: Anthony Rangus
E-mail Address: removed for security
Country: United States
Introduce Your Organization: Bechtel Oil, Gas and Chemicals
Responsibility: Principal Engineer

Q: What did appeal to you when you first considered welding as your Career?
A: My father was a career Naval Officer who was the Commanding Officer, San Diego Naval Station Welding School from 1958-1960 and 1962-1964. I started going to work with him in 1962 during school summer vacations. I was only 10 years old at the time but my father wanted me to have a fall-back career in case I couldn't cut-it in college. I started out learning how to strike an arc with E6010 and maintaining the correct arc length by welding one inch diameter weld buttons. I continued my welder training after my father retired from the Navy, when he took a job as a Welding Instructor at the San Diego City College Skills Center in 1967. Every summer vacation from 1967 through 1970 I practiced OFW, SMAW, GTAW, GMAW and FCAW for 8-10 weeks.

Q: How did you start your welding Career?
A: I started my welding career in 1972 at San Diego Marine and Shipbuilding Company as a Journeymen Welder building super-seiner [fishing net or trawl] tuna boats during my 10 week summer break from college. I again went to work for San Diego Marine and Shipbuilding during the summer of 1973 and during the summer of 1974 I worked for Campbell Machine Company in San Diego building and repairing tuna boats and Naval vessels. The money I earned during those three summers completely paid for my last three years of college and allowed me to graduate with a Bachelors Degree in Physics from the University of California at San Diego in 1975. Even in the 1970(s), skilled Journeyman welders were making anywhere from 5 - 10 time minimum wage, which in those years varied from $1.25 per hour to $1.35 per hour, and I got full benefits. After graduation I went to work for the Bucyrus-Erie Company in Idaho, as Journeymen Welder building large mining equipment (walking draglines, electric shovels, blast-hole drills). In late 1976 I went to graduate school in physics in Idaho. In 1978 I rejoined the Bucyrus-Erie Company as a Journeymen Welder and in early 1979 I joined the Engineering Department as a Manufacturing Engineer. I joined The Bechtel Group of Companies in late 1980 as a Welding Engineer and have been with them ever since.

Q: Did you plan to achieve definite Career milestones in a given timeframe?
A: Most definitely.

Q: In which field of welding are you active?
A: I am active in the material sciences, metallurgy, corrosion engineering, welding engineering and nondestructive examination portions.

Q: Which were your major achievements during your Career in welding?
A: I helped build two of the largest pieces of mobile mining equipment in the world while employed with the Bucyrus-Erie Company. The two largest walking draglines weighed-in at 19 million pounds apiece and each had a 175 cubic yard bucket with over a 100 meter boom. Over the last 28 ½ years with Bechtel I have worked on world class refinery, petrochemical, chemical, power, pipeline, chemical demilitarization and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) plant projects. I have worked in the United States Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Weapons Complex and on two DOE radioactive waste vitrification plants.
I also attended graduate school at Rice University and received my Master of Materials Science Degree in 1990. During those years in graduate school, I worked fulltime for Bechtel and I was married and raising three children. My employer allowed me to attend graduate school during working hours and paid for over 80% of my tuition and fees.

Q: Which of your achievements procured to you the highest satisfaction?
A: Performing engineering work for the DOE Weapons Complex and waste vitrification plants.

Q: Which challenges did you find hard to overcome?
A: Dealing with personnel, both internal and Client, who lacked the basic understanding of the Codes and Standards used for design, fabrication, welding, examination and testing of pressure equipment and structural steel.

Q: What did help you in persisting and overcoming the difficulties?
A: Endless discussions and patience; putting on in-house training seminars; and sometimes downright nastiness.

Q: Which is the most important lesson you would like to transmit to young welders?
A: Practice, practice and more practice and never stop learning and honing new welding skills.

Q: Which goals should a young welder aim to reach?
A: Be safe at all times. Protect your eyes as number 1 priority and the rest of you and your colleagues as number 2 priorities.

Q: Do you foresee interesting developments likely to change the welding profession?
A: Yes, but not for the better. There is currently way too much emphasis on lengthy training of personnel to be the consummate "Combo-Welder", highly skilled in SMAW, GTAW, FCAW, GMAW and SAW for both ferrous and nonferrous materials. The bulk of the welding today, as it has been for the last 50 years, is carbon and low alloy steels with SMAW followed by FCAW, GMAW, GTAW and SAW. You DO NOT need to "train" a person for two years to become a good welder. Six hours a day of intensive all position for: one week OFW, sixteen weeks of SMAW, and two weeks each for GTAW, FCAW and GMAW coupled with interspersed three weeks of welding symbols and blueprint reading. A grand total of 26 weeks, everything else should be OJT! (On the Job Training) There is also very little emphasis that I have seen, to instill "pride in ones work". Welding is an art form that takes dedication, endless practice, and continued improvement forever. Too many people are trained to only "deposit weld filler material" with no regard to quality and pride in one's work output.

Q: How would you invite young people to consider welding as their Career?
A: Try it when you are young, no later than freshman year of high school. The biggest hurdle I have seen for people is to overcome their fear of the arc! A welding arc is a scary thing, not only can you be shocked, but your cloths catch on fire and slag and spatter really hurt bare skin. You can make a very good living with little formal education past a high school diploma, as a lot of people are not cut-out for college. I was lucky, I received an excellent college technical education but I also learned a downright outstanding skill! It was that skill that paid my way through college and during my younger years as a new husband and father, allowed me to provide those things important to a family!

This is the second Interview received and published here.
Thanks to Anthony Rangus for having shared with us his career highlights and the lessons learnt from his welding experience. This note is instructive and nice to read.

I am sure we can read on many other interesting stories. I would like to REMIND to the readers who, answering to the recent questionnaire, expressed their readiness to be interviewed, TO SEND US THEIR ANSWERS. I will not write personally to each one of them, but I would like to urge everyone to participate in these interviews.

12 - Testimonials

First Name: Dale
Last Name: Starry
E-mail Address: removed for security
Country: United States
Introduce Your Organization: Department of Defense
Describe Your Responsibility: Environmental Scientist
Date: 08 Sep 2009, 07:11:39 AM
Subject: flux

Thank you.
Dale

On Wed Sep 09 14:08:43 2009, the following results were submitted from the "Form 5" on welding-advisers.com:

First Name: Robert
Last Name: Denikas
E-mail Address: removed for security
Country: United States
Introduce Your Organization: North Highland, Inc.
Describe Your Responsibility: Sales Engineer

Good morning Elia,
Thanks for your response. I might have a couple of test samples also prepared and do a controlled force test.
If so I will forward the results for your future reference.
Bob

13 - Correspondence: a few Comments

Among the various requests we receive currently we can point out:

How to dispose of surplus flux in an environmentally acceptable way.

How to find data for Market Research on contract welding.

How to compare test data for different spot welding techniques.

How to connect to the mains a brand new welder.

How to repair pin holes in brass castings.

How to find the Company that made an old flash butt welding machine.

How to get training as a Welding Inspector.

How to become an Accredited Weld Test Facility.

How to repair blowholes in cast iron blowers.

How to repair an old anvil.

How to find comparison with European Standards...

...and so on. It is all very interesting but unfortunately the answers cannot usually be compressed in a short note, especially if the inquirers do not detail sufficiently their requests. Anyhow I always try to provide readily available information.

14 - Bulletin Board

14.1 - Looking for a Welding Job?
Check the following
http://www.GetWeldingJobs.com
and bookmark the page for your reference or for helping your friends.

14.2 - 17th Steelmaking Conf., 7th Ironmaking Conf. &
1st Cleaner Production Seminar (IAS-JICA)
Nov 10-12, Tenaris University, Buenos Aires, Argentina
www.siderurgia.org.ar/conf09/index_english.html

14.3 - FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show including METALFORM
Nov 15-18 - McCormic Place, Chicago, Ill. USA
www.aws.org

BUILT BY:

Click on this Logo NOW!

Copyright (©) 2009, by Elia E. Levi and
www.welding-advisers.com
All Rights Reserved

See you next time...