by Marty Baker

A welded part makes a unique package to inspect.  But what can you see with the eye?  Can you look at a weld and tell whether it is “good” or “bad”?  What defects lie beneath the surface?  What does it take to be a good welding inspector?

Hobart Institute of Welding Technology offers a series of inspection courses designed to increase your knowledge about inspection of weldments.  By beginning with the Fundamentals of Visual Inspection (3-day course) and Arc Welding Inspection and Quality Control (5-day course) then moving into Liquid Penetrant and Magnetic Particle Inspection (5-day course) you will be better informed for the Preparation for the AWS (CWI/CWE) Welding Inspector/Educator Examination (2-week course).  While not a requirement for the AWS-CWI examination, the three preliminary courses do increase your knowledge and your value to the workplace.  Each one of the four courses is offered separately for your convenience.

Are you in a position at your company that does not require a certified welding inspector, but you do want the welds that are produced to look good?  Then the Fundamentals of Visual Inspection may be a perfect fit to meet all your requirements.  It concentrates on the single most used method of welding inspection – what we can see with the eye.  Anyone involved with arc welding inspection, quality control, engineering or supervision should know the fundamentals of what to observe prior to, during, and after welding.  This course combines classroom lecture with lab sessions for actual practice.

Delving somewhat deeper into the inspection process, quality control personnel must have a solid background in welding defect analysis and weldment testing.  Arc Welding Inspection and Quality Control is a one-week course that provides the necessary basics and assists in establishing a weld quality control program or supplements an existing program.  It covers welding codes and procedures as well as actual nondestructive testing processes and destructive testing techniques. 

Moving to yet another level of inspection, the five-day Liquid Penetrant and Magnetic Particle Inspection course focuses on the processes that are most widely used for nondestructive testing.  Providing the student with training in theory as well as laboratory projects, this course prepares participants for the ASNT Level II SNT-TC-1A and MIL-STD-410 in Liquid Penetrant and Magnetic Particle Testing.  The course is also split with two days being devoted to dye penetrant inspection and three days concentrating on magnetic particle inspection.  This allows flexibility for the students or companies who require only one or the other and may register for the respective portion to meet their needs. 

You may register for the three inspection courses above for a Special Package Price of $1550.00 that is $255 below the regular price of $1805.

Structural or pipe welding applications most times require a certified welding inspector (CWI) on-site to inspect the welds at various stages of construction.  Many educational institutions are now requiring that their welding instructors also be certified welding educators (CWE).  To obtain this certification, you must have 5 years of welding related experience and receive authorization from the American Welding Society and then submit to a stringent examination process outlined by the AWS.  The Hobart Institute is an AWS approved testing facility.  To assist you in passing this exam, HIWT offers a two-week Preparation for the AWS CWI/CWE Welding Inspector/Educator Examination. 

The first three days of the course cover welding processes, inspector duties, metallurgy, math and metrics, welding procedure and qualification.  Two days focus on the welding code that you select for the open codebook test, AWS D1.1 or API 1104.  The second week we cover inspection tools, discontinuities and defects, and destructive and nondestructive testing.  The examination is given on Friday of the second week to those approved by the American Welding Society. 

At HIWT, the confidence level is high… so high, in fact, that if you fail (score below 50 percent) the CWI/CWE examination completely after taking our course, you may return within six months and take the course again, “free of charge”.  If you only receive a CAWI after taking our course, you may take the 2-week course again within six months for half the standard tuition.  Exam fees are paid directly to the AWS.  This course is approved for VA Benefits to those who qualify. 

There is additional financial aid available for those who qualify to assist in offsetting the cost of all these inspection courses.

For additional information on these courses, visit the HIWT web site at http://www.welding.org or call 1-800-332-9448, ext. 5215.