African Fusion August 2016

SAIW bulletin board

Advancing NDT as a profession in South Africa

At the launch of South African Institute for Non-destructive Testing’s (SAINT) bi-annual Yearbook, African Fusion talks to current president, KeithCain about advancing the creditability and professionalism of NDT in South Africa.

“ T his is actually our second book and it is bigger and more formal. We wanted a combination of an inter- esting coffee table book and a reference book for NDT professionals that can support their day to day needs – and the 2016/2017 book is full of explanations of the different methods and examples of best practices and procedures,” begins Cain. “Our vision is to be the cornerstone of South African NDT, which is also the title of the 2016/2017 yearbook. As well as supporting NDT technicians and professionals, we strive to raise aware- ness of the NDT field as a specific and important branch of engineering. NDT professionals are responsible for testing the true condition of critical structures, components or vessels used on indus- trial plants. Based on the results of NDT inspections, engineers often have to sign-off on the fitness-for-purpose of plant equipment so that it can continue to be operated safely. “Yet in spite of the vital nature of this role, NDT it is not well known or

respected as a discipline in its own right, which is somewhat frustrating. So we continue to raise awareness of the field, its importance and its credibility,” he tells African Fusion . “NDT is even being performed on Mars. When the Mars Rover takes a rock sample fromthe planet, it uses NDT-type testing techniques to test and analyse the rock sample before sending the results to Earth. Similar NDT principles, methods and techniques are being ap- plied to plant equipment every day,” Cain argues. Welding, according to Cain, is highly dependent on NDT. “Welding is like casting, a molten strip of metal fuses to solid metal on either side of the joint. This results in significant changes to the properties of the materials at the joint and if these changes are not managed correctly, they can seriously impair the integrity of the whole structure. Also, defects such as lack of fusion or poros- ity can be introduced duringwelding, or the weldmay crack after welding due to shrinkage or a combination of cooling

SAINT president, Keith Cain presents at the launch of the NDT Institute’s bi-annual Yearbook: ‘Cornerstones of NDT, 2016/2017’. stresses and hydrogen, for example. These flaws are usually impossible to seewith thenakedeye. NDThas a critical role to play in both finding such flaws so that they can be repaired and validating the integrity of a completedweld so that we know that it can be safely put into service,” he explains. “But the need for NDT is not limited to welding. There are more than 100 different testing techniques that are applied in all sorts of fields, leak and pressure testing, for example,” he adds. The ‘big five’ NDT techniques in common use are penetrant testing (PT); magnetic testing (MT); ultrasonic testing

SAIW executive director, Sean Blake, receives his copy of the SAINT yearbook from Keith Cain. From left: SAIW’s Harold Jansen; Keith Cain; Sean Blake; with the books publisher from CVR Publishers and Design, Bev Lawrence and Jeannie Campbell.