PNL QUALITY EXAMINER

The Phoenix metro has developed into a mecca for new construction due to exponential growth amid flourishing semiconductor manufacturers, their supplier industries, residential building, technology infrastructure and the ensuing population growth! This has caused a huge increase in requests for our quality testing services. This trend coincides with the significant reduction of highly skilled welders in the United States and abroad.

The nation finds itself desperately short of welders. According to the American Welding Society (AWS), the U.S. welder shortage will reach a deficit of 450,000 workers by 2024.  The shortage is due to a combination of the retirement of skilled welders, without a younger pool of welders to restore itself. The current generation has not perceived the trades, particularly welding, as important, worthy and vital work which yields a rewarding career trajectory and prosperous livelihood. This has been addressed recently at the secondary education level with the advancement of high school trade schools. Notwithstanding, the current crisis emphasizes the highly skilled nature of the welding industry loss. Due to a declining skilled welding workforce, the critical need for accredited 3rd party quality inspection is required more than ever before.

Over the last 6 months, we have seen over 50% of welder coupons failing radiography requirements either from testing at PNL or submitted by clients that administered their own test.  The majority of welders who take qualification tests claim to be trained and/or experienced in welding.  However, we have found many welder training programs do not prepare the individual to pass a welder qualification test for x-ray quality acceptance.  This clearly shows a need for further immediate training of welders in order to pass qualification tests.

In order to proactively manage this situation, an increase in welder training programs will be instrumental to the reduction of future weld rejection both at the qualification level and in the field. Phoenix National Labs offers customized welder training courses in order to help welders pass qualification tests.  We instruct welders in proper joint preparation, fit-ups, welding technique, machine settings for root, hot, and fill passes, bead sequencing, defect avoidance, and proper capping.  These initiatives can often improve a welder’s skills in one to two days, can be facilitated in groups of up to four and as many as six welders-however, we recommend four welders for optimum effectiveness.

The advantage of working with PNL, is that we are by far the Southwest’s premier supplier of expertise for steel and welding testing, including complete welding qualification services; structural steel, piping, tanks, and vessel inspections; as well as high strength bolting, epoxied anchors, spray applied fireproofing, and firestopping special inspections.  We will assure that all steel inspections are in accordance with welding codes and standards. Our technicians are highly qualified and certified in welding inspection and steel services.  In addition, most of our inspectors are experienced welders.

If you are interested in our welding technology services:

• Welder qualifications services
• Customized training courses
• Welding procedure specification (WPS)
• Procedure qualification record (PQR)

Contact Jared Keister at jared@pnltest.com 

The National Weather Service in Phoenix is predicting a very wet and active monsoon season for Arizona in 2022. AZ Central reported that there is nearly a 70% chance that the state will reach near or above normal precipitation this year. Typically, monsoon season is the months of July, August, and September, but can start as early as June, which happened this year. That's when afternoon thunderstorms are most frequent and severe. Every day it is wise to check the daily forecast before leaving home, especially for workers who work outside on construction projects. Check the weather, especially the surrounding mountains because the water flows rapidly from the heights of the mountainous areas outward to a 50-mile radius.

These extreme weather conditions pose a threat to not only the public but to businesses necessitating employers to provide a safe working environment to employees. As such, employers should prepare for the hazards associated with adverse weather conditions that may require special facilities and safety equipment being provided to employees, or in some instances, work stoppage to ensure the safety and health of workers. Wet weather and high wind conditions can pose a greater threat to employees working in the construction, mining, oil and gas, and shipbuilding industries. For instance, workers in the construction industry are bound to work in open spaces, at heights, with electrical equipment and metals, in excavation areas and trenches, and also handle hazardous materials as part of their work tasks, thereby exposing them to a myriad of safety hazards. The scope discussed in this feature will focus on working and driving during heavy rain, flooding of washes, dust storms, and crane operations.

Flash Floods/Washes

When driving during monsoon season your vehicle checklist should include windshield wipers/fluid, tire pressure, oil check, and coolant level. Keeping an American Red Cross safety kit is advised. ADOT tips for driving comprise of slowing down and keeping your distance, braking slowly, driving in the tracks of others, not tailgating, and keeping the headlights on.

The number one thunderstorm related killer are flash floods with most flash floods deaths occurring in vehicles. Moving water two to three feet deep will carry away most vehicles.  During nighttime hours road conditions and water depth can be hard to assess. When approaching barricades and signs warning “Do not enter flooded wash” signage, the motto “turn around don’t drown” is an axiom prevalent in the Arizona media. This will also protect a potential rescuer. It can be sunny one minute and suddenly the washes are filling up; so, it doesn’t have to be raining where you are. Beware of downed power lines to avoid electrocution. Planning alternative routes in advance is a good idea.  

Dust Storms

A dust storm is a wall of dust and debris that is blown into an area by strong winds from thunderstorms. The wall of dust created by a dust storm can be miles long and several thousand feet high. The southwest region’s flat land without barriers and exceptional drought creates ideal conditions for dust storms. Dust storms and their lingering effect can be hazardous for several reasons- a dust storm’s initial wall of dust and debris can arrive suddenly and can catch people by surprise. Dust storms can make it difficult to see when you’re driving a car and can lead to car accidents.

If you are driving during a dust storm you should: pull your vehicle off on the shoulder, put the vehicle in park, and turn off all lights to avoid being rear ended, so "pull aside and stay alive."

Cranes

Thousands of cranes are used in the United States every day There are manufacturer guidelines for crane operations during high winds. OSHA prohibits operating cranes in winds stronger than 20 mph.

Construction operation which includes scaffolds, working at heights, working in open spaces, working with electrical equipment, working with heavy equipment and machinery, working in excavations and trenches, and working in confined spaces are all hazards associated with unfavorable weather which OSHA guidelines address.  Examples of OSHA recommendations include Welding:  Most codes and standards prohibit welding in inclement weather. Also, coating applications: prohibit applications during wet or windy conditions.

By preparing in advance for the coming monsoon by knowing where the floodplains are located, driving cautiously, checking weather forecasts, obeying signage, following vehicle safety initiatives and maintaining awareness you can stay safe throughout the season.

PNL has recently upgraded its Ultrasonics Phased Array Technology to include three additional Omniscan X3 Scanners. Olympus now dba as Evident Scientific, Inc. has improved its advanced technology nondestructive testing equipment significantly enhancing the interpretation of weld and steel structures which PNL provides in its (ITR) Inspection Testing Reports.

Conventional UT (Ultrasonics Testing) utilizes one single element, it pulses and just receives. Phased Array (PAUT) contains many elements, it pulses at different sequences to build an array of angles and then receives.

Phased array ultrasonics (UTPA) is an innovative method of ultrasonic testing that has applications in medical and industrial nondestructive testing. Common applications are to noninvasively examine the heart or to find flaws in manufactured materials such as welds. Single-element (non-phased array) probes, known technically as monolithic probes, emit a beam in a fixed direction. To test or interrogate a large volume of material, a conventional probe must be physically scanned (moved or turned) to sweep the beam through the area of interest. In contrast, the beam from a phased array probe can be focused and swept electronically without moving the probe. The beam is controllable because a phased array probe is made up of multiple small elements, each of which can be pulsed individually at a computer-calculated timing. The term phased refers to the timing, and the term array refers to the multiple elements. Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing is based on principles of wave physics, which evolved into an application of nondestructive quality testing.

Phased Array Uses in Industry

Phased array is widely used for nondestructive testing (NDT) in several industrial sectors, for welds, such as construction, pipelines, and power generation. This method is used to detect discontinuities i.e., cracks or flaws and thereby determine component quality. Due to the possibility to control parameters such as beam angle and focal distance; this technique is very efficient regarding the defect detection and speed of testing. Apart from detecting flaws in components, phased array can also be used for wall thickness measurements in conjunction with corrosion testing. Phased array can be used for the following industrial purposes: inspection of welds, thickness measurements, corrosion inspection.

The Evident Scientific Omniscan MX3 offers advantages over the MX2 model: 

• The MX3 provides crisp TFM (Total Focusing Method) imaging, the revolutionary technology that removes the acoustic wave oscillations, simplifying interpretation, enabling a coarser grid resolution, hence increasing productivity.
• It improves your “AIM” with the Acoustic Influence Map. It onboards propagation modeling tools, enables visualization coverage of wave sets, sees where sensitivity stops and adjusts the scan accordingly.
• It multiplies your speed via maximum pulse repetition frequency (PRF) more than three times faster, improves TOFD (Time of Flight Diffraction) ultrasonics, and the simplified user interface reduces the number of steps.
• Additionally, there are larger files available and flexible storage, optimized file size for big jobs, file transfer options as well as free downloadable software.

If you are interested in our Advanced NDT Technology, please email Matt Sorce, Advanced NDT Project Manager matt@pnltest.com. 

PNL Tech Talk provides insights into the testing and inspection industry from a technician's viewpoint and gives a close-up look at the day-to-day life working at PNL. It may include interviews with one of our technicians, or vendors who support our services, or an editorial written by one of our technicians.

This Quality Examiner edition of Tech Talk presents a roundtable conversation with Evident Scientific, Inc. (previously Olympus) regarding their new MX3 Phased Array Flaw Detector instruments.  On board are Kyle Stelzer, Technical Sales Representative, Brandon Reitz, Senior Applications Engineer, and PNL’s Matt Sorce, Advanced NDT Project Manager.