Page 9 - Quick Guide to Welding and Weld Inspection by S.E. Hughes, Clifford Matthews

Foreword by Series Editor

We are pleased to introduce this new book by Steve Hughes
in our ongoing Quick Guide series. Intended for inspection
engineers and technicians the Quick Guide to Welding and
Weld Inspection will provide a useful reference for those
involved in the plant inspection discipline.
Steve Hughes provides valuable lecturing input to our
ASME Plant Inspector and API 510/570/653 Certified
inspection training courses run by Matthews Engineering
Training Ltd, bringing his technical knowledge underpinned
by sound engineering practical experience. As a discipline,
Plant Inspection incorporates many subjects, but welding
and weld inspection forms a common thread running
through the majority of them. For pressure systems in
particular, weld joining design, welding techniques, NDE
and defect acceptance are prime considerations in equipment
repair and assessing the risk of existing equipment.
The documentation aspects of weld inspection often
remain a bit of a mystery to plant inspectors (even
experienced ones). In assessing the quality of weld repairs it
becomes all too easy to assume that the necessary WPS/PQR
weld documentation and welder qualifications are in place,
without properly checking. Equally it is easy to be
intimidated by the technical detail and terminology symbols
and acronyms. You should find this book useful in helping
you through such situations.
Despite the predominance given in technical publications
to advanced technology-intensive NDE and inspection
activities, it remains a fact that 90% of all pressure
equipment inspections include only well-proven established
inspection activities. In writing this book, Steve Hughes has
addressed these real issues of most practical weld inspections,
distilling a wide subject into a simplified and digestible
format. You don’t have to be a qualified welding engineer or

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Woodhead Publishing Ltd – A Quick Guide to Welding and Weld Inspection
Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 17/9/200900QG Welding Prelims.3d Page 8 of 14