We recently interviewed The Welding Institute’s Southern Counties Branch to find out more about them and their Branch activities.

About The Welding Institute’s Southern Counties Branch

The Branch restarted, after a few years of inaction, on 28 April 2016 and currently has seven Committee Members and approximately 100 Branch Members, while its membership continues to grow (find out more about joining the Southern Counties Branch).

How does the Southern Counties Branch operate?

The Branch Committee organises and facilitates regular online meetings to keep in contact, network and deliver presentations. You can keep up-to-date with their upcoming events here.

How do you encourage Younger Members to take part in activities?

The Branch interacts with colleges and training organisations to inform them about careers in welding and engineering. Additionally, Adrian Simister EngTech TechWeldI is the Southern Counties Younger Members’ Committee Representative, working with our Younger Members’ Committee (YMC) to promote and aid the engagement of younger engineers in a supportive professional network, encouraging and assisting their professional and career development (find out more about our YMC).

What type of meetings, webinars and social events do you run?

All throughout the lockdowns, the Southern Counties Branch continued to deliver meetings and presentations online, something that they are continuing moving forward for committee meetings to enable more people to attend.

Within the past couple of years, the Southern Counties Branch has been delivering a range of technical talks online and, more recently, has been offering some in-person site visits and events with expert speakers from across industry, amassing over 950 registrations from both Members and Non-Members. Some of these include:

- The Welding Quality Standard for Industry - EUR ING Mike Baverstock MSc CEng FWeldI

- Southern Counties Branch AGM and talk - The Cutting Edge: The development of swords – Stephen Cater (Principal Project Leader TWI)

- Practical aspects of welding aluminium – Jan Lukaszewski BSc. MBA. C.Eng. FIET. CQP. FCQI (Technical Manager, ALFED)

- Rapid Welding site visit - Rapid Welding

- A presentation on the TWI Welding Qualifier Software - Andy Brightmore (TWI)

- Southern Counties Branch AGM and talks from Lincoln Electric and the AWFTE - Paul Bryant (Chair of the AWFTE) and Steve Parnell (Lincoln Electric)

- Site Visit to Ultramag Inspection (NDT) and Training facilities - Ultramag Inspection (NDT)

What are the benefits of joining the Southern Counties Branch and why do its volunteers support the running of the Branch?

The Southern Counties Branch Committee offered the following, “Welding/engineering is a fascinating subject and it’s talking to like-minded people who share the same interests that drives people to volunteer and join the Branch. We all have been helping the Branch for quite a few years with the aim of trying to get more people interested in the subject and career.”

From the Branch Chair Chris Simmonds BSc CEng MWeldI, “Having been involved with testing and inspection for over thirty years, I feel it very important that our committee Members can offer support and encouragement to all our Members and those engaged in the welding and inspection industry. We aim to encourage younger Members to join our Branch and offer those already involved, options for career progression and opportunities to gain much more knowledge and experience."

Branch Secretary EUR ING Mike Baverstock MSc CEng FWeldI, also noted, “I run my own company welding consultancy business, so I visit a lot of different companies and I see how short some of the companies are of skilled welders and, so, getting to new people in the industry is very important, this is one of my motivations.”

Where do you see your Branch in 5 years’ time?

The Branch Committee outlined that they see the Branch as, “hopefully a bit bigger, but this will depend upon getting younger people involved. We are also working towards introducing a welding competition for local schools to act as an introduction to welding and engineering as a career.”

We are excited to invite you to attend our upcoming Structural Integrity Technical Group webinar titled, ‘Weld Flaw Acceptance Criteria for New Pipelines,’ on the 21 June 2022, 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM (UK Time).

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Attendees will learn about the implementation of fracture mechanics methods, (Engineering Critical Assessment = ECA), to derive flaw acceptance criteria for pipeline girth welds. In particular, overviews of the main standards applied for this purpose will be discussed, e.g. CSA Z662, API 1104 and DNV-OS-F101/RP-F108. Challenges introduced with the use of ECA will be discussed and the event will be rounded off with presentations on fatigue assessment for offshore risers and future challenges for the use of ECA on pipelines.

This webinar is aimed at materials, welding and NDT engineers, fracture mechanics specialists, pipeline engineers and all others who are interested in pipeline integrity, especially those involved in pipeline construction whether it is onshore or offshore.

SPEAKERS AND PRESENTATIONS

Practical Implementation of ECA Based Weld Flaw Acceptance Criteria in Canada - David Horsley, Consultant (Horsley Consulting Ltd)

API 1104 Appendix A – Past, Present and Future - Dr Robin Gordon, Senior VP (Microalloying International)

DNV’s Recommended Approach for Assessing Flaws in Pipeline and Riser Girth Welds – DNV-RP-F108 - Steinar Bjerke, Principal Specialist (DNV)

Challenges Implementing ECA Based Flaw Acceptance Criteria - David Reeves, Senior Engineer Materials and Welding (Nova People AG)

Quantifying Probability of Fatigue Failure in Offshore Risers; an Alternative to the Use of Design Fatigue Factors (DFF) - Dr Isabel Hadley, Technology Fellow (TWI Ltd) 

Presentation co-authored by: Alexandre Galiani Garmbis (Petrobras), Justin Crapps (ExxonMobil)

ECAs. The Future? - Dr Andrew Cosham, Consultant (Ninth Planet Engineering Limited)

FULL EVENT AND REGISTRATION DETAILS

MATERIALS TECHNICAL GROUP EVENT

10 MAY 2022

Weld cracking is a serious issue that has the capability to lead to the catastrophic failure of welded structures, vessels, pipelines and other assets and continues to pose a very real and significant threat.

The knowledge of crack types and understanding of the mechanisms that enable cracking to arise are both essential to ensure the avoidance of cracking.

Another requirement is a knowledge of the factors that cause cracking. Materials susceptibility, joint design, welding process and procedure details, including consumable selection, pre-heat, heat input and post weld heat treatment etc., all play an important role. Capability and selection of non-destructive testing techniques is also of paramount importance, as are in-service conditions and inspection strategies.

This Materials online Technical Group event will delve into this crucial subject drawing on the knowledge and experience of TWI experts and speakers from industry.

Cracking types and mechanisms will be explored, including multiple exemplifying case studies. Mitigation methods and management strategies will also be explored.

It will be of particular interest to metallurgists, materials scientists and engineers, welding engineers, project engineers and managers in the power generation and process plant, oil and gas, structural and construction industries.

EVENT AND REGISTRATION DETAILS 

The Welding Institute’s Structures and Infrastructure Technical Group will be hosting an online event titled, ‘The Use of High Strength Steels for Structures,’ on the 27 April 2022.

With standards covering the design, execution and materials for use in structural steelwork all now including high strength steels up to S960, it is expected that these higher steel grades will be specified in the future as the drive for carbon reduction intensifies. However, the execution of these standards and general experience in the structural steelwork industry may not yet meet the challenges that these higher strength steels will present.

This event will examine some of the challenges that should be considered and how they might be addressed.

The event will be of particular interest to designers, fabricators, engineers, inspectors, managers.

Our panel of speakers include:

Simeon Tulip, Engineering Manager - Metallurgy, BAE Systems Submarines - ‘Manufacture of High Strength Steels’

Tom Cosgrove, Fabrication and Welding Consultant, Sandberg LLP – ‘High Strength Steel Design Considerations’

Jeff Garner, Welding Consultant, Manor Welding Technology Ltd. – ‘Welding of High Strength Steels’

Find out more about the event and register.

The new journal ‘Welding and Joining Matters’:

The Welding Institute is about to publish a new journal ‘Welding and Joining Matters,’ which will be a lively and easily read journal covering all aspects of welding, joining, and fabrication as well as inspection and structural performance of all classes of materials and welded products.

It will have articles of interest for all personnel working in these industries. The focus is to provide content that will provide the reader with practical and industry-based knowledge. It will represent the technical interests of all our members and will be available as an electronic and hard copy publication.

The role of correspondent:

The intent is to provide information and insight into the news, activities and interests of our members across the globe. We will have regular sections of the journal devoted to our Younger Members and to activities in the Branches and our overseas members.

We are looking for a Branch correspondent to bring together information from the branches and from overseas members and a Younger members correspondent. Their roles are to source, collect and collate information arising from these groups, their jobs and the industries represented and channel it to the journal’s editorial team for presentation in the journal.

When and where:

In its first year Welding and Cutting Matters will be published four times.

Correspondents will feed material directly to the editor of Welding and Cutting Matters. The closing date for editorial content for each issue will be approximately two months before publication date.

Requirements:

There are two roles:

The Branch Correspondent

The Branch correspondent will liaise with each branch to solicit material for the journal reflecting the branch, its membership and activities. They will also be in contact with specific overseas members to reflect activities in their parts of the world. The branch correspondent will then pass the material to the editor (who will review for publication).

The Younger Members’ Correspondent

The Younger Members’ correspondent will be a contact point for the YM committee with the role of sourcing or generating material on the activities of the younger members and feeding this to the editor (who will review for publication).

Nominations

Volunteers or nominations are requested for these two roles. If you are interested or if you wish to nominate someone who you know to be interested please send the offer or nomination to: theweldinginstitute@twi.co.uk

We are excited to announce the launch of our new webinar series which will provide insight and an appreciation for core engineering principles, delivered by industry recognised experts.

Our Welding and Joining Processes Technical Group will be the first to introduce a ‘Back-to-Basics’ webinar series covering a range of topics relevant to welding and its associated activities with their first upcoming webinar titled, ‘An Introduction to Steel Metallurgy,’ launching on the 7 April, 2022.

The online event will be held from 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM (UK Time).

About Back-to-Basics

‘Back-to-Basics’ is a webinar series covering a range of topics relevant to engineering. Each of our Technical Groups will be launching their own Back-to-Basics webinars exploring the core and basic engineering principles relevant to their specific industry.

As the ‘Back-to-Basics’ title suggests, these webinars are aimed at those who want to further their understanding of welding technology and the welding industry, whether that be early on in your career or as an appreciation to further your current knowledge.

These CPD qualifying webinars are informal, with the opportunity to ask questions in an allocated Q&A section. They will be given by highly qualified professionals with extensive experience in the relevant subject.

Welding and Joining Processes Back-to-Basic Webinars

For the Welding and Joining Processes’ Back-to-Basics webinar series, individual webinars will discuss a variety of subjects such as how the metallurgy of metals affects their weldability and service performance, the applications and limitations of welding processes, design of welded joints, welding quality assurance and mechanical testing.

‘Back-to-Basics: An Introduction to Steel Metallurgy’

The first of these webinars is titled, ‘Back-to-Basics: An Introduction to Steel Metallurgy,’ and will be delivered by the Chair of the Welding and Joining Processes Technical Group, Eur Ing Gene Mathers CEng, FWeldI, on the 7 April 2022, 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM (UK Time).

The webinar will be covering some of the fundamental aspects of the metallurgy of carbon steel, providing a basic understanding of how a carbon steel achieves its required mechanical properties and the effects of varying cooling rates – all significant when we consider the parameters that need to be controlled during welding.

This webinar will set the scene for the follow-on webinar in the Autumn that will be dealing with the weldability of carbon steel and the various types of cracking that may be encountered when things go wrong due to either a lack of knowledge or care.

Meet Our Speaker

Eur Ing Eugene Mathers CEng, MSc, Dip IIM, FWeldI, EWE, IWE

Gene has over 40 years’ industrial experience working in pipeline, power generation, heavy engineering, nuclear and the pressure vessel fabrication industries.

He worked for NEI-International Combustion Ltd. as the company’s welding and metallurgy manager and, latterly, quality manager for some 10 years before joining TWI Ltd in 1991 as manager, school of welding technology. He then moved into the role of principal consultant in the manufacturing services group before taking retirement. Since then, he has provided a welding engineering consultancy service as a private consultant.

FULL EVENT AND REGISTRATION DETAILS

Welding and Joining Matters is a lively and easily reading journal covering all aspects of welding, joining, and fabrication as well as inspection and structural performance of all classes of materials and welded products.

It has articles of interest for all personnel working in these industries, from practitioners and technicians on the shop floor, to inspectors, welding coordinators, welding engineers, incorporated and chartered engineers as well as managers, researchers, and designers of fabricated equipment and structures.

It focuses on providing content that provides the reader with practical and industry-based knowledge. It represents the technical interests of all our members including the related technical fields of surface treatments and adhesive-bonding and other associated technologies.

The journal is available as an electronic and hard copy publication and is published four times a year. The Welding Institute is partnered with Square One of Sheffield, who currently produce a similar lively journal for another professional body. This ensures the ongoing quality of the journal.

The journal aims to inform and encourage personal and professional development. Issues are mixed of both themed and general content and include feature articles on current projects of interest, current issues, applications and developments in welding and joining technology.

There is a series of regular features on industry news, training and personal development and job knowledge, as well as ‘ask the expert,’ and features on other technologies including inspection and non-destructive testing (NDT). The journal also covers news from the branches and developments in industry standards.

We are actively soliciting content for the journal from members and from industry. Please send news on new projects and developments within your company and new products and services by email to:  WJMeditorial@theweldinginstitute.com

Please contact the editorial team and send your ideas and offers of technical articles by email to:  WJMeditorial@theweldinginstitute.com

Advertising in the Journal

The journal includes feature advertisements and classified advertisements. We are keen to hear from welding equipment and welding consumable companies, suppliers, fabricators, testing and inspection organisations and consultants.

To advertise, please contact: debbie@squareone.co.uk

Discover more here

ENGINEERING ETHICS REPORT LAUNCHED

Due to the important role that engineering plays within society and shaping our world, it is crucial to ensure that the public is confident that the profession acts ethically.

The good news is that the latest Ipsos MORI Veracity Index shows that 84% of respondents trusted engineers to tell the truth, but we should not become complacent as a profession.

As such, the Engineering Council and the Royal Academy of Engineering are holding a launch event to mark the publication of the new Engineering Ethics report on the 21 February 2022 at 6PM (UK time).

Proposing a series of actions for the engineering profession to take forward, the newly published Engineering Ethics report aims to promote a more ethical culture within engineering.

The report has been produced by the joint Engineering Ethics Reference Group (EERG), which was established by the Engineering Council and the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) in 2019, and is chaired by Professor David Bogle CEng FIChemE FREng, Deputy President of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE).

The free-to-attend online event will include a panel discussion with industry experts including Professor Bogle, Chi Onwurah MP, Engineering Council Chairman Professor Chris Atkin CEng FRAeS FREng, Dr Ollie Folayan CEng FIChemE, co-founder of AFBE-UK, and others.

Register to attend at 6pm on 21 February 

Read the Statement of Ethical Principles

Rounding off last year, The Welding Institute’s North Western Branch hosted its Annual Dinner in Burnley whilst also raising thousands for the GEM Appeal, a charity dedicated to finding a cure for genetic disorders in children.

Hosted by the North Western Branch and Branch Secretary Ian Fraser AWeldI, the Annual Dinner also celebrated apprentices by awarding certificates and trophies to worthy winners who demonstrated their excellence throughout the past year.

Welding Institute President and BAE Systems Manufacturing Director, Dave Holmes FWeldI was also in attendance, delivering a speech and presenting the awards to the apprentice winners.

Graham Engineering Ltd Sales Manager, Ian Fraser AWeldI offered the following statement to our Branch management team; speaking on the success of the event:

“The event raised £8,000 on the evening and, with gift aid, it has increased the donation to a massive £10,000 on the night, which exceeded anything we`ve ever done before. We would like to firstly thank yourself for your continued support and help, which is invaluable, but also to TWI, which continues to support and help us reach the goals in which we strive to achieve. The Burnley Express article reported at the time that we have raised about £30,000 for the Gem Appeal, but the figure is now more in the region of £60,000 which, without your help, would be nearly impossible.”

We are delighted to hear that the event was a success and, additionally, about the funds raised, and would like to thank Ian Fraser along with all those involved in organising and attending the Branch Annual Dinner Awards evening and making it a success!

The first online Technical Group Event of this year will be hosted on the 24 February, 1:30pm – 4:30pm (UK Time), as part of our Welding and Joining Processes Technical Groups’ programme of online events for 2022.

The event, which is titled, ‘Welding and Repair of High Temperature Steels – Part 2,’ is a continued exploration, from the initial part one online event hosted last year, of the welding and repair of high temperature steels, with further technical insights being explored by a new panel of industry speakers and presentations. As it is a standalone event, you don’t have to have attended part one in order to attend this event.

Who Should Attend?

This event will be of interest to anyone working in the power generation or process plant industries, either in manufacturing or those responsible for the maintenance and repair of pressure equipment. It will also be of particular interest to welding engineers and designers, covering developments in joining technologies and welding consumables, production of bespoke items in high temperature materials and the justification for the lowering of PWHT temperature for P/T91 steel.

Speakers and Presentations

Our speakers from industry include:

Mark Golding, Director of Mark Golding Consultants – ‘Electro slag cladding – past, present and future’

Stephan Marre, Oil & Gas Processing / CPE Industry Segment Manager at Lincoln Electric – ‘The orbital welding of high pressure pipework’

Ronny Krein, Global Application Engineer at Voestalpine Bohler – ‘The challenges in developing welding consumables for creep resistant steels, particularly P/T91 and P/T9’

Emily Davison, Laser Additive Manufacturing Project Leader at TWI – ‘Advances in the additive manufacture of high temperature materials’

John Siefert, Materials and Repair (P229) Programme Manager at EPRI – ‘The perspective on minimum post weld heat treatment temperature for grade 91 steel’

Benefits of Attending

FULL EVENT AND REGISTRATION DETAILS