Well the minimum requirements for AWS would be a bending jig, a tensile pull machine, a lathe to shape the tensile specimens, a band saw or better yet a cold saw, and a radiographic or ultrasonic set up (most labs contract this out around here unless they are part of an NDE company) to qualify a basic WPS. That's still a long, long way from state of the art, if by that a lab that can perform all the tests that can be performed on weldments is meant. Somehow I doubt this is what the school envisions because it would cost a mint, and couldn't possibly be cost effective unless you were training people to work in metallurgical labs as well as training welders. I would ask for further clarification first, and if they simply mean to do welder qualifications, all you need is the jig and band saw. Equipment to do metallography would be a nice adjunct to welder training, and MT/PT capability would be desirable. A hardness tester would also be nice, as would a binocular microscope if you decide to do metallography.
Becomming an AWS accredited test facility (ATF) is a very big undertaking.
As mentioned above.. If your school wants a feather in it's cap,,, go for it... If you school expects this project to be cost effective you better have thousands of welders lined up that have to be certified at an ATF.. The annual and renewal fees are stunning... http://files.aws.org/certification/ATF/na_pricelist.pdf This is without capital equipment purchase.
But you don't have to listen to me.. Just do the research... Your gonna have to sooner or later anyhow :)
Actually not off hand. Most of the stuff you can google for new equipment, and some of it in used condition. I missed the ATF part of your post the first time around, it was late and you didn't use the term in an exact way, but I should have read more closely, my comments were more for a facility that just wanted to qualify welders/WPS's to AWS, which is different from being an ATF. Lawrence has certainly pointed you in the right direction, being an ATF is not cheap or easy, its basically analogous to having an ISO 9000 welding certification program, meaning not just the calibrated equipment, but personnel with documented qualifications to do the testing. AWS does offer an out, NDE and mechanical testing can be contracted out, but in that case having your own lab is moot. You will still need a CWI. Whether it is truly cost effective for your organization is something your people will have to examine for themselves.
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