AWS CM

Preface

In 1976, the American Welding Society (AWS) introduced amuch-needed certification program, specifically for thoseindividuals who perform visual welding inspection. Shortlythereafter, the AWS Qualification and Certification Committeeinitiated the development of a publication that could serve as avalid reference for those individuals interested in becoming aCertified Welding Inspector. Prior to the initialpublication of the Certification Manual for Welding Inspectors in1977, relevant information on the subject could be found scatteredamong various documents.

Numerous changes have occurred both in the AWS Certified WeldingInspector program and examination and in the technology related towelding inspection. Consequently, AWS sought to update theinformation contained in the Certification Manual. Much of theinformation contained herein is drawn from other AWS publications,including Welding Inspection, Second Edition, WeldingInspection Technology, AWS B1.11, Guide for the VisualExamination of Welds, and AWS B 1.10, Guide for theNondestructive Examination of Welds. The reader is encouraged toreview these and other documents for even more detaileddescriptions of much of the information contained in this newedition.

Welding inspectors are employed in a variety of industries. As aresult, their duties will differ somewhat from one situation to thenext. This book has been developed under the assumption that awelding inspector will be performing quality control duties of ageneral nature. Some inspectors, for example, may be working at afield construction site where they are in charge of overall weldingquality. At the other extreme, in a large organization, a qualityassurance department may make many of the decisions that the manualassigns solely to the inspector. The welding inspector will alwaysperform a key role. The individual inspector’s specific role in thequality control activity must, therefore, mesh with many otheractivities and personnel, as outlined in the pages whichfollow.

In this fourth edition, there has been an attempt to update thetechnical information, where appropriate. One of the areas wherereaders of previous editions will note changes is in theterminology used for describing various weld characteristics. Thereis an ongoing effort to use standard terminology when talking aboutwelding operations and related weld characteristics. Questionsappear at the end of each chapter. The questions have been includedto provide those individuals who are preparing for the CWIexamination with numerous examples of the types of questions thatappear on the test. The questions appear in the same format(multiple choice with five options) as the questions on the CWIexamination. While this is intended to specifically aid thosestudying for the test, it should also be beneficial to others fromthe standpoint of improving their comprehension of the informationpresented in the text. An Answer Key for all chapters appears inAnnex C.

I hope this presentation will prove helpful to those interestedin becoming welding inspectors and eventually becoming an AWSCertified Welding Inspector. The job of welding inspector is atremendously challenging and important one, and those seeking theCWI qualification should be commended and encouraged. My desire isthat this book will assist in reaching that goal.

Edition:

4

Published:

01/01/2000

Number of Pages:

314

File Size:

1 file , 8.5 MB