November 2011

Welcome to the final edition of African Fusion for the 2011 year, a year that was perhaps less eventful than 2010, which seems to have made the difficulties of the times a little more obvious. And, unfortunately, it doesn't t look like the good times are around the corner, either.

For the welding industry, the power new build projects are helping to ease the burden and for the future, there is some some hope that renewable projects, particularly wind, will kick in soon.

Training remains a priority in the industry, so it is fitting that, with funding support from the SAIW, the University of Pretoria has announced the formation of a welding centre and a new post-graduate course for welding engineers and welding technologists. Higher level skills are in seriously short supply and any growth in the fabrication industry will continue to be shackled for as long as we fail to address the problem,

Our company profile this month features ISO 3834 certified Demag Cranes and Components as we take a tour with company's engineering manager, Dion Liebenberg. This is another company that is proving that South African Fabricators can be successful when they apply and adhere to international standards.

We feature a technical paper form India about welding and hardfacing technology for the Indian fast breeder reactor programme. This paper highlights the work and the approaches adopted for the Indian Fast Breeder Reactor Programme (FBR). Hopefully, we will benefit from our own nuclear programme before the end of the decade and the experience of developing nations like India is likely to be invaluable.

Also sharing his welding experience of the power industry in this issue is Morris Maroga. His paper, presented at an SAIW evening meeting earlier tis year, deals with the quality issues associated with the materials for new supercritical boiler designs of coal-fired power stations.

From local industry, we include articles from Afrox about some of the initiatives the company has put in place to ensure the sustainability of the welding industry in South Africa; from the CSIR's Laser Materials Processing unit of the National Laser Centre; and from Air Products, with Sean Young talking to us about the advantages of selecting optimised shielding gas mixtures and the need to consider post-weld processing activities when evaluating the costs of welding. We also feature the advantages of Rio-Carb's CRC cladding technology

Our cover features Goscor Arc, which has been awarded the distributorships in South Africa for French welding company GYS and leading German abrasives company Klingspor. It has also renewed business with China's leading welding consumables manufacturer.

Thanks to all of your who have supported and enjoyed African Fusion this year and especially to our loyal advertisers. African Fusion could no exist without you.

We hope you have a wonderful holiday and that you manage to grow stronger in the 2012 year.

Peter Middleton

Regular Features