General Facts about Welding at Site

Ø Introduction:

In this document, some problems which normally occurs at sites during

welding (specialized/non specialized jobs) will be discussed. The qualification

tests of welders, selection of economical tools, the environmental

contingencies of open air welding and quality control/assurance will be

discussed. There are innumerable factors, which can be considered in regard

to site welding, hence, no single operational policy can be established to

cover for all site conditions. Therefore in this chapter, some of the factors

affecting site welding in general will be discussed.

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Ø Site Welding versus Shop Welding:

♦ One of the major discussions in pressure equipment construction work

(vessels, exchangers, piping etc.) concerns the division of work

between sub-contractors to permanent fabricating shops and the site

forces.

♦ Generally, where the freedom of choices exists, the decision would

favour the permanent fabricating shop rather than the site, but this is

not always the case. Exceptions are large projects of such duration as

to justify field shops, with facilities which may surpass those of

competitive manufacturers, and which may be limited to welding

operations or may include forming, bending, heat treatment, inspection

etc. In the absence of such field facilities, site assembly is limited to

constructions whose dimensions sometime exceed to late items which

are switched to field fabrication as a result of vendor delays or machine

delays, changes, additions etc. Often such site welding will reach an

impressive percentage of the overall project.

♦ From the unit cost standpoint, shop fabrication is usually lower,

although the difference is minimized and not infrequently reversed

where the site has a favourable work load and attendant higher

utilization of man-power or manufacturer handling costs are excessive

owing to dimensions or weight or where delivery requirements involve

appreciable shop overtime or where careful delivery is necessary

owing to space limitations and freight demurrage.

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♦ As regards the relative quality of work performed, the site fabrication

may surpass that of competitive manufacturers, perhaps because, the

major factor is acceptance of the need for more adequate supervision

and inspection to compensate for the disadvantages of less favourable

conditions; in addition, there is the greater availability at the site of the

customer’s inspection staff and engineers who have direct concern as

to adequacy of the work, whereas the manufacturer’s shops are less

conveniently located and his organization is much less directly

concerned.

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Ø Welding Operator Force:

♦ Lack of successive project continuity and attendant economies,

militate against a permanent welding operator force that can be

moved from job-site to job-site. The assembling of an adequate

numbers of welders of the various degree of required skill at a

given location could frequently be a major problem. The most that

can be done progressively to improve the general level of skill and

versatility is to maintain a nucleus of specialists for operations

demanding maximum skill, who also act as instructors to the

numerous project-hired operators, most of whom are new with the

company and often unacquainted with the type of work involved.

The supervisors, foreman, inspectors and engineers must carry the

remaining training burden.

♦ Standard Qualification tests for welding operator may be

inadequate as a measure of ability to perform production work at a

specific level of quality.

♦ For improved assessment, after the qualification test, the operators

are employed on non-critical work, such as temporary structures,

supports and so forth, which enables the welding supervisors and

inspectors to evaluate individual skills and establish various degree

of proficiency, so that tasks may be assigned in accordance with

ability.

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♦ Radiographic examinations of qualification test plates would be

helpful. However, a test plate represents the best quality of which

an individual operator is capable, rather than the average, which he

will attain in production.

♦ If at the job-site, sufficient numbers of skilled welders is not

available, two alternatives are available: to train welders at site or to

recruit skilled welders wherever available and transport them to the

site. The first alternative, at many places, has been especially

successful, particularly because of the usual willingness and

enthusiasm shown by unskilled or native labour when learning

specialized trade.

♦ It is only natural that the importation of skilled labour is construed

as a reflection on their latent capabilities.

♦ A factor that usually militates against the importing of skilled labour

is the psychological environmental effect. Men have been selected
for remote work on the basis of skill and productivity in their local
environments, and frequently, at the destination, became
dissatisfied so that their skill and productivity deteriorated. This is
particularly applicable to welding, as contrasted to other skills,
probably owing to less continuous and strenuous effort involved,
and the consequent opportunity for the mind to wander. Therefore
in selecting welders for remote site work, one would well advised to
base selection on emotional ability more than on skill and
productivity.

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Ø Tools, Equipment and Facilities:

♦ The welding site must be provided with the very best equipment

and facilities if costs are to compare with manufacturing shops,

which are so equipped. However, such equipment might suit the

special requirements of a given site and/or type of plant under

construction and might not be utilised again for some time. Also,

specific project economies are affected by equipment and by the

cost of temporary building to house it. Long-range economies in the

operation of a field organization dictate minimum overall cost, and

thus a compromise between equipment and production costs must

be reached.

♦ Specialised welding equipment often requires experienced

operators, who are not likely to be found or cannot be retained on a

permanent basis, owing to non-continuous operations. Often, even

though a field training program for the use of such equipment is

provided, the site welders resent change do not readily accept new

ways of doing things. The delay in overcoming this attitude, and in

acquiring sufficient experience for proficient use of the new

equipment, may mean that its potential economic advantages are

not realised. A possible solution to this problem is that operators of

such specialised equipment are hired on a permanent basis and

are available either directly to run the machines or to supervise

their operation.

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♦ Once a decision has been reached regarding the type and quality

of tools, equipment and facilities required at a given site, the details

of the field welding shop and arrangement of the equipment can be

based on sound industrial engineering practices.

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Ø Environmental Effects on the Site Welding:

♦ The basic differences between site welding and shop welding is the

uncontrolled environment at the site.

♦ At the site, often only crude, temporary shelters can be justified,

usually taking the form of tarpaulins attached to a simple wooden

framework to provide a minimum of shelter. Unless welders are

provided with a safe and reasonably comfortable working platform

or scaffold, the quality of work will suffer.

♦ Conventional welders’ uniforms are unsuited to extremes of the

climate. The helmets, leather jackets and aprons are unsuited for

dissipation of body heat in coastal or hot climate area. The usual

heavy clothing provided for extremely cold climate impedes the

necessary freedom in movement. A possible improvement is the

use of lightweight, fire proof fabrics for hot climate and likewise

suitable suits in cold climate. The need for the acclimatization of

welders is another factor emphasizing the advantages of employing

and training local labour for site welding.

♦ Extreme in environment have their effect on the weld deposit as

well as on the operator. In hot conditions, the problem of

maintenance of preheat may be nicely reduced or solved, whereas

in cold climate it will be accentuated. In frigid locations, the need for

preheat can be minimised by the selection of base material and

electrodes with low transition temperatures to reduce the hazards

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of brittle fracture. It has been experienced that welding of rimmed

carbon steel boiler plates in thickness of 25mm or less can be

successfully accomplished with low hydrogen electrodes with

preheat as low as one degree centigrade. In contrast to this,

preheat of 5 degree centigrade is required for welding with cellulose

coated electrodes.

♦ High wind velocities, if there at site, will considerably affect the

welding arcs and hence the weld deposits.

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Ø Site welding Quality Control/assurance:

♦ A discussion is necessary between the contractor and the client

before work is started, to agree upon the interpretation of the

applicable code or specification as to weld quality and the manner

and extent to which the various inspection tools are to be

employed.

♦ The need for this mutual understanding is especially evident in

regard to pipe-welding quality, where it is fairly common practice to

apply pressure vessel code criteria of acceptability to pipe which

can only be welded from outside. Here difficulties frequently arise

out of the welding operator’s inability to cope with the irregularities

to be expected in mill end pipe. Difference in internal diameter, out-

of-roundness and inability to rework the root of the weld, frequently

lead to indications on radiographs that tax the ability of an

extremely skilled interpreter to render a satisfactory estimate of

weld quality.

♦ Once the welding qualities have been agreed upon, the problem of

producing the welds to these requirements becomes paramount.

The first vital prerequisite is the accuracy of fit-up of the parts to be

welded. A welder of just adequate skill can generally make an

acceptable weld if he starts with good fit-up, whereas the most

skilled welder will frequently find himself unable to cope with the

situation if the fit-up is poor. The welding supervisor and inspectors

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can most profitably pay their way by insuring that the welders start

with well set up jobs.

♦ The depositing of the root weld pass is a critical factor, whether it is

a pipe or plate that is being welded. Where skilled welders are in

short supply, they may deposit only the root passes whereas

welders of lesser ability can generally complete the remainder of

the weld without difficulty.

♦ The maximum emphasis on fit-up and root welding applies to all

qualities of welding, but varies in degrees with the economics of the

quality aimed at. For example, on the lowest quality of welding,

assessed only by visual examination, accurate fit-up by

experienced pipe-fitters and extensive supervision, inspection etc,

cannot be provided at the cost allowed for this quality of welding.

♦ Usual non-destructive tools e.g. radiography, ultrasonic, magnetic

particle inspection, penetrant and fluorescent dyes, and visual aids

etc., can be employed to the extent required to provide assurance

that a given weld quality is being furnished.

Paramjit Singh

1240, BU – II.

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