Understand weld testing with free download

Weld testing is a critical part of every project at Axenics. Testing procedures begin the moment a delivery of raw materials arrives on our shop floor and conclude when your components ship securely.

Weld testing services safeguard your components and systems. A weld flaw could kick off a catastrophic series of events that may cause damage to your production system. We feel so strongly about weld testing that we created a new report that details weld testing best practices and available options. Click here to access: Weld Testing Services: Protect Your Investment.

Axenics performs non-destructive testing (NDT) methods in-house, which consist of the inspection, testing or evaluation of components and assemblies. NDT finds any potential defects and discontinuities while still maintaining the functionality of your custom fabrication, component or assembly.

Weld testing topics covered

• Why is weld testing necessary?
• Visual weld testing
• Helium leak testing 101
• NDT best practices
• Additional weld testing methods for your projects
• Tensile strength testing on welds
• Creep testing of plastics for safe delivery systems
• Ultrasonic weld testing for alternative energy

Cost savings with weld testing

NDT services ensure your welded components are free from leaks or damage points. Weld testing is a vital step to keep costs under control.  Ensuring damage-free components are in place saves man hours. Alleviating the need to re-purchase components once a leak causes damage to the system also keeps cost in check. Below is a sneak preview of some information found in Weld Testing Services: Protect Your Investment. 

Visual weld testing

Visual weld inspection remains an important method of inspecting for potential leaks, as well as an opportunity to audit your products for consistency. Our visual inspections combine with different forms of non-destructive weld testing, such as hydrostatic testing or helium leak testing. Whether it’s for a small run of components or many repeated pieces, we’re testing to ensure consistency and high-quality.

Dependent on the type of metal, our team looks for a range of characteristics during a visual inspection. While the standards can vary for each project, we’re often looking for potential problem areas, such as:

• Material consistency
• Corrosion of materials
• Fissures in welds
• Flaws on the surface of materials
• Banding distortion

Helium leak testing

Helium is the ideal element used to detect flaws in welds, as it is a safe, inert gas. Helium atoms are tiny and also have low viscosity, so the little atoms can travel quickly. Pressure testing and vacuum testing are two forms of helium leak testing used to ensure your components are free of weld defects. We perform helium leak tests on any weld for components transporting liquids or gases.

Vacuum helium leak tests steps include:

• Pulling a vacuum onto a weldment
• Spraying helium in very small amounts around potential leak points
• Using a helium leak detector a.k.a Mass Spectrometer Leak Detector (MSLD) to “pull” the helium into the weld and into the MSLD, which sounds an audible alarm if a leak is detected

Pressure helium leak testing steps include:

• Pressurizing the weldment with helium and using a sniffer probe connected to the MSLD around potential leak areas
• Pulling helium through the leak and into the MSLD, which sounds the audible alarm if a leak is present

To pass a helium leak test at Axenics, the maximum leak rate that we use is 5 x 10-9 mbar l/s. Any rate larger is a leaking part and rejected.

Axenics’ technicians regularly inspect all of the instruments we use for weld testing to make certain the machines are performing at top-level, ensuring 100% accurate test results for your components.

NDT services help safeguard your delivery and process systems for the long haul. For example, a tiny flaw in a weld sets off a series of events that damages or destroys an entire system, creating budget and scheduling catastrophes. That’s why weld testing is not an à la carte service at Axenics; it’s built into every single job. Download Weld Testing Services: Protect Your Investment to learn more.

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