When welding was developed especially during World War 2, faster fabrication could be achieved over the conventional fabrication methods of rivets and bolts. Today, welding is everywhere from the tiny electrodes welded to motherboards to very large structures like ships and wind turbines. Welding is still a challenging manufacturing method. Welding Procedures have to be developed to minimise defects which are common in welds. Defects are the source of failure, so standards have to be applied correctly in the design and fabrication of the welded structures.
Welded structures are everywhere and range from fire extinguishers to large pressure vessels and from bridges and steel fabricated buildings to ships and pipelines which are solely fabricated by welding. Welding is a truly versatile manufacturing process which has changed all our lives.
Dwan Forensic Engineering have a wide experience in welded structures both from welding technology to welded structure design against failure, e.g. Pressure Vessels, wind turbines, offshore installation ships.
Weld failure and Root Cause investigation is a major area of our expertise. Depending on the investigation, it can range from WPQR & WPS right up to stress analysis of the welded structure to get to the root cause of failure. Various standards are used in the investigation of the weld failure and fatigue & fracture assessments are undertaken when defects have been found. The typical standards used are BS 7910, API 579-1 and DNVGL-RP-F108. This then can be used to show whether a component is safe for continued service or whether repairs have to be undertaken. In addition to this, we are frequently asked to review design before fabrication has begun in order to ensure the welded structure or joint will achieve its expected life. Different standards are used in this part of the design, examples being BS 7608, API579-1 and DNVGL-RP-C203.
