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With thousands of units in use throughout the world since its first releases some 10 years ago, the Olympus OmniScan MX phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT) system has been one of the most successful portable and modular phased array test instruments produced to date.

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A Lincoln Electric Innovation

HyperFill™ is a patent-pending twin-wire gas metal arc welding (GMAW) solution that is set to revolutionised high deposition welding. Developed for semi-automatic or robotic applications, HyperFill increases the usable deposition rate compared to traditional single-wire GMAW while delivering excellent penetration profiles, weld quality and puddle stability.

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Frederic Lanz, KEMPER MD

Following several years as a welding equipment innovator for the Finnish welding equipment manufacturer, Kemppi, Frederic Lanz took up the MD position for KEMPER in Germany at the beginning of 2019.

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South Africa-based coating specialist, Thermaspray, has recently launched a laser cladding facility capable of refurbishing worn or mis-machined components that traditionally could not be refurbished. In addition, the process offers a wide array of protective overlays to new components in industries such as the automotive, petrochemical, offshore oil and gas, pumps and valves, mining and turbomachinery, to name a few.

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Space travel is undoubtedly the biggest adventure in the history of mankind. Satellites, space flights and space stations head ever deeper into the endless expanse of the universe – all the while braving conditions that are unlike anything found on Earth.

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By consultant metallurgist Michael Fletcher

Significant recent developments have been made that have resulted in the introduction of new nickel alloys that offer major improvements in mechanical properties. Not least is Inconel 740H [1], a nickel-based, precipitation hardenable superalloy that offers a unique combination of high strength and creep resistance at elevated temperatures, along with resistance to coal ash corrosion. The alloy was originally used for A-USC boiler tubes in the superheater sections of power plants but has been adapted for use in steam headers. A-USC boiler tubes are typically sized at between 38 and 76 mm in diameter, while main steam header pipes can have outer diameters  of 305 mm and wall thicknesses exceeding 38 mm. Seamless reheat piping with diameters of up to 760 mm is also now a target for the Inconel 740H alloy.

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“At Eskom we have been doing ongoing research on the feasibility of replacing radiographic testing (RT) in our boilers with phased-array UT,” begins Eskom’s Level 3 NDT specialist and chief engineer, Grant Meredith.

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“The past year has certainly been an interesting and difficult one and it has had an impact on SAIW, began Maroga. “It is increasingly difficult for people to make time for involvement in organisations such as the SAIW and we therefore appreciate the valuable assistance and contribution of each Board member,” he added before introducing the 2019/2020 SAIW Board members that had been elected: Johan Pieterse, Robin Williamson, Joseph Zinyana, Gert Joubert, Dawie Olivier, Ben Beetge, Paulo Trinchero, John Tarboton, Louis Breckenridge, Tony Paterson and Tom Rice.

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“In today’s manufacturing environment, customers are expecting their supply partners to become more integrated into their eco-systems, be more agile as well as being able to provide unique and globally competitive solutions for their operations. Within this context, “Air Liquide has further evolved a number of its offers which aim to provide its customers with world class solutions” begins Schluep. “The first of these solutions is the Air Liquide hardgoods offering which encompasses a 3-metre radius around the welder and aims to support our customers with a fully inclusive solution”.

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At Eskom, we are busy with a programme to replace traditional radiographic testing (RT) with phased-array ultrasonic testing (PAUT) to validate the quality of the boiler tube welds at our power plants. During shutdowns, we do about 100 000 boiler tube repairs per year and every repair has to be inspected using NDT to ensure that the welding is of an acceptable quality.

Air Liquide presents a success story from Tru-Trac^®, a user of its Arcal shielding gas range, which uses gas cylinders fitted with the integrated EXELTOP pressure and flow regulation solution.

Following the signing of a technology transfer and licence agreement with wear coatings solutions specialist, Castolin Eutectic, Hlakani Engineering is bringing wear plate manufacturing and vertical rolling mill refurbishment capabilities to South Africa. Johan van Niekerk outlines the company’s new offering.

November 2018 marked 25 years for Babcock’s fabricating facility as it celebrated providing fabrication and a full range of specialised support services to Africa’s power generation and metallurgical industries. David Brook, technical director, explains.

African Fusion talks to Afrox’s Johann Pieterse and Arnold Meyer about shielding gas choices: the ultimate differentiator when optimising gas metal arc (GMAW) and flux-cored arc welding (FCAW) processes using Afrox’s 360° welding solutions service.

African Fusion visits the fabrication facilities of Tsipe Engineering near Rosslyn in Pretoria North and talks to the company’s MD, Martin Krebs, about his investment in a Torchmate 4800 air plasma cutting system from Lincoln Electric distributor Cosmo Automation Solutions, a purchase that has transformed the sustainability and service potential of his SME.

by R French, W Yeadon, G Kapellmann-Zafra and H Marin-Reyes

This paper – from the IIW 2018 International Conference hosted by the Indonesian Welding Society on 19 and 20 July 2018 in Bali – follows observations of novel weld-pool activity during TIG welding in the 300 to 1 000 A range at the University of Sheffield.

African Fusion profiles ISO 3834-certified Hlakani Engineering, and talks to sales director Gerhard Holtshauzen about the company’s successes and future outlook.

Following a visit from The German Society for Non-Destructive Testing (DGZfP), the body that coordinates NDT activities in Germany, SAIW is now gearing up to offer training in phased array and other advanced NDT methods to South African plant and fabrication inspectors. African Fusion talks to SAIW’s Mark Digby about the technology.

Professor Adolf Hobbacher from the University of Applied Sciences in Wilhelmshaven, Germany presented a series of SAIW-hosted fracture and fatigue seminars during February 2019. African Fusion presents some of his comments from the opening session.

In light of the global acquisition by ESAB of India-based EWAC Alloys, Chris Eibl talks about the expanded range of preventive maintenance, repair and wear-related solutions now available from ESAB South Africa.