For structural steel products to be free from serious problems in production and in service, it is necessary to provide a suitable level of quality management from the design phase, through material selection, into fabrication, and subsequently inspection. Requirements for welding/fabrication activities are given in the Code of Practice of the NZ Steel Fabricator Certification…
In May 2015, Standards Australia senior management was alerted to the fact that the 2014 editions within the AS/NZS 1554 suite contained material that was included without adherence to Standards Australia’s standards development processes. The relevant material relates to specifications contained in the following standards: AS/NZS 1554.1:2014 Structural Steel Welding, Part 1: Welding of steel…
Flame, plasma and laser cutting are widely used in industry. The selection of the cutting process is based on the type of material, economic considerations and quality requirements. Despite some specifics, high quality results are obtainable using all of the cutting processes. The level of quality required for cut surface is determined by the application…
The third edition of the Code of Practice for the Fabrication of Stainless Steel Plant & Equipment referred to as the “Blue Book”, is now available. The “Blue Book”, as it is generally known as in industry, has established itself as a key document for the specification of stainless steel plant in New Zealand. It…
The flux cored arc welding (FCAW) process is widely used in NZ for the welding of steel; the gas-shielded process variation for in the workshop, and the self-shielded option for site work. While FCAW has a proven track record as a productive and reliable process, welds made with cored wires may occasionally have distinctive surface…
A series of seminars on Engineering the Repair and Retrofitting of Steel Structures took place in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in April 2015. More than 60 engineers have attended the events. The seminars were presented by Robert E. Shaw, one of the leading experts on seismic welded and bolted connections, the Chairman of the International Institute of…
More than 80 professionals attended the seminars jointly-organised by the NZ Welding Centre and SCNZ in March. The seminars were held in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown. The seminars provided a comprehensive insight into normative requirements of the existing NZS 3404.1 and AS/NZS 1554 standard framework and included an overview of the Steel Fabricator…
The International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) has launched a new publication on Stainless Steel in Agricultural Applications. From a simple feeding pail to the most advanced fully robotised milking equipment, stainless steel is found on farms in numerous applications, where it is an alternative to plastics, light metal and galvanised steel. This new brochure from…
Quality management of structural welding fabrication The introduction of the Steel Fabricator Certification (SFC) scheme in 2014 was an important milestone for NZ’s structural steel fabrication industry. This half-day seminar will provide comprehensive insights on how to specify welding quality requirements, how a QA system such as the SFC is to be established, and how…
Surface roughness is a measure of the texture of a surface. It is quantified by the vertical deviations of a real surface from its ideal form. If these deviations are great, the surface is rough, if they are small, the surface is smooth. The roughness of a surface has most commonly been measured by an…
This month the 2011 edition of our most widely-used welding standard AS/NZS 1554.1 was superseded by the published 2014 edition. The expectation is that the new edition of the standard will now be implemented by all users. Standards are periodically reviewed to ensure they are up-to-date with developments in technology, to take account of changes…
Last week we held afternoon seminars which took place in Auckland and in Christchurch on 18 and 20 November. It was presented by Richard Fowles, Senior Product Manager, BOC Limited, Australia, and Patrick Fenemor, Welding Specialist, BOC Limited, NZ. For all structural steel welding in New Zealand, welding fabrication shall comply with AS/NZS 1554. One…