By 803056 
Date 08-07-2010 19:19
Edited 08-08-2010 16:56
Hello everyone;
Well the big event when off without a hitch!
We had three entries constructed from 3-inch schedule 10 pipe that withstood 3000 psi without leaking. The metal bowed and bent without failing. The 1/8 inch thick end plates bowed about 3/8 inch! I was hoping 3000 psi would be enough to burst the pipe, but steel is a wonderful material, strong, resilient, with reserve strength. This test demonstrated why it is such a popular construction material.
One entry looked like a waterfall spraying mist into the air from multiple locations during the hydrotest. That entry got up to 1200 psi without bursting, but leaked so badly the pump could not keep up. It was a beautiful thing! He was first to step up to the hydro test stand to be tested. He recently completed a welding course at a local school and was competing against welders twice his age. He may not have won the competition, but he showed courage, pride, and grace under fire. That is something we all can appreciate.
The lad that walked away with the prize money is a CWI that teaches welding in Rhode Island.
The top three contestants were within 2 point of each other. The contenders were all highly skilled which did not make it easy for the three judges to select a winner. The judges did a great job of scoring each entry for appearance and accuracy. I had the pleasure of doing the hydrotesting. The tiebreaker was the written 15-question test. Were it not for the written test, we would have had to split the prize three ways!
The actual time for welding was about 2 hours, give or take 15 minutes. We got a 15-minute late start. Yours truly had to turn around and go back to the house to get the scale used to weigh all the components before and after welding. That's right; the total weight of the weld was factored in to eliminate "Gorilla" welds. We had the winner selected and all our gear picked up just in time for the arrival of the food and all the people that attended the outing and game (but were not competitors in the welding competition). Of course everyone wanted to see the winning piece! Did I get a photo of it, hell no, I was too busy eating! Wait a minute, that is the winning piece in the photo below! Entry No. 2 was the winner, welded by Tim Kinnaman. Congratulations Tim! That's Tim wearing the black shirt in the photo sitting with his wife at the ball game.
When all was said and done, everyone had a good time and we had a respectable showing for the outing and the ball game that followed the competition. We had more people than I expected because a good number of folks showed up to watch the welding competition, but didn't stay for the baseball game.
The photos show the test piece the contestants had to weld and the end result after the hydrotest. I should have taken more photographs, but I was too busy manning the pumps and controls for the hydrotests!
Best regards - Al
Glad to hear everything went well. From the pics, it looks like everyone was having a good time. You said there were a few people show up to see the welders event, so maybe next year they might enter instead of watching. Thanks for sharing the pics.
We got a lot of positive feed back from the people that showed up for the competition. They asked if we planned on making this an annual event. A couple of the attendees that represented a local college and a major contractor said they would like to participate in the event next year.
The folks from the ball park were very happy with the event and asked if we would like to do it again next year. By the way, the people at the stadium were great. The State Fire Marshall was on-site because the stadium has fireworks after the game. He was checking out the set-up for the fireworks and he walked through our "encampment." He must have been satisfied because he didn't have anything bad to say to me. That's a good thing in my book.
The only change I would like is to have some participation by the local welding suppliers. Not one responded to my inquiries or phone calls. Our District Director, Tom Ferri, even put the word out and nadda, zip, putttz, from any of them. The people that showed up at the event made numerous comments asking where were the vendors? Magnetech, Thermadyn, and Ironworkers Local 15 were the only vendors that participated. My thanks to them for supporting their local section of AWS.
They say it takes a village to raise a child. It is no different with a local section of AWS, it takes the support of everyone, executive board, members, and vendors to make it work and make it viable.
You are right, everyone that attended (and there were more than I expected) were very happy with the event. The most heard comment was, "We need to do more of these things!" I couldn't agree more.
I'm already think about what I can have the welders weld next year! I really like to see the looks of amazement and the reaction of the on-lookers when the welds fail and water sprays everywhere! After all, who doesn't like a water feature?
Best regards - Al
A piece of 3 inch A53 sch 10 and the only full pin weld is on the miter.
Flat ends as the cap.
Then pressure it up to 3000 psi?????
If it had failed, there would be poopie in somebodies drawers.
Congratulations on a good event.
The type of weld required wasn't specified. Type of weld, size of the weld, and filler metal selections was left to the welder. They even had a choice of what welding process they could use; SMAW, GTAW, or GMAW.
One of the reasons why I insisted on using water as the working fluid is to mitigate the chance of something going "boom." Water is incompressible, so it doesn't cause an explosive release of energy when something fails.
Best regards - Al
Al,
I was thinking the same thing for the hydro test. I must confess when I first viewed the detail drawing for the test piece, as an inspector my first thought was "There is missing information here" but then I quickly realized this was part of the test. The joint configuration and weld size are left up to the welder to determine what will be best, after all they do know it will be hydro tested.
Very nicely done, you tested them from all angles of the game and you and all who participated should be proud.
Best regards,
jrw159
Thanks JW
Best regards - Al
