Table of Contents

Table of Contents....................................................................................................... 1 Block inspection (cont)......................................................................................2 Pre-erection inspection (cont)...........................................................................3 Erection Joint Inspection..........................................................................................4 How to carry out an inspection (procedure).........................................................5 Before the inspection........................................................................................5 During inspection..............................................................................................6 After inspection.................................................................................................8 Safety aspects......................................................................................................9 Problems faced...................................................................................................10 NDT Plan and application...................................................................................13 Tank Tests (cont).............................................................................................15 Characteristics of tanker.......................................................................................16

Block inspection (cont)

Pre-erection inspection (cont)

Erection Joint Inspection

This is the first work I did as a professional experience in the shipbuilding industry. In the beginning everything was new, exciting, attractive, huge and perfect. However, while getting knowledgeable on the subject by building up on site experience, I could realize the very obvious mistakes and absurd work done in a regular pattern. This fact reminds me the proverb; Distance lends enchantment to
things.

I have started to work at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard. The series of 11 ships of Product-Chemical Tankers was under construction and the first vessel of the series was in the erection stage. I have the basic knowledge of shipbuilding process but of course not in detail. That means I did know the process starts with the steel cutting, block construction, pre-erection of the blocks, and the final erection in the dry dock, sliding dock whatever the facility that the shipyards has. Although the erection joint inspection is easy job comparative to the block inspection, still it has unignorable importance throughout the whole construction. How perfect the blocks are constructed in the shop, if they are not joined together in a proper manner during the erection stage, the final product will not satisfy the required quality criteria. Basically in the erection inspection even there is one joint, the inspection should cover both side of the weldments, therefore, one should arrange the inspection pattern accordingly not to miss any portion of the joint. It helped me much to understand the tank boundaries, block division and the degree of importance of each blocks. Mostly the inspections are carried out not the welding joint vise but the area-space vise. It would be better to explain with an example: Erection of two side-shell blocks consists of 3 spaces, namely, side shell and upper deck (from outside), water ballast tanks and cargo hold. For inspection of side shell from outside, in HMD, the inspector together with an operator has to get on either a cherry picker or a hanging cart (called gondola) with motor and cable arrangement which is able to move up and down. It is quite risky and whoever gets on these vehicles must use safety belts as the first action. The use of gondola is limited to mid ship portion only where the side walls are vertical. The main defects and problems figured out during the erection inspections are: Mis-alignment Distortion (angular displacement) Damages

Over heating Poor setting fitting up: actually its the reason of the most problems. For critical locations and joints, it is requested either by owner or classification society to carry out a fit-up inspection before the welding job started. Wrong mould line application: this is also one of the main reasons of the misalignment.

It is also important to have required equipment ready with you during the inspection. It includes instruments necessary for the inspection as well as the safety equipment. At first I thought funny to use just an ordinary string to check linear or angular mis-alignment. However, it is the cheap and effective way to perform alignment check. Also many defects can be revealed just only using the light beam emitted from the torch with the correct angle.

How to carry out an inspection (procedure)

Before the inspection o o o Preparation Application Arrangement

During inspection After inspection o o o Reporting Comment confirm (if any) Recording

Before the inspection

o Preparation: Although preparation is done by the workers, as an inspector or a person responsible for the works quality, it is vital to check the every step of the work on site. Most of the problems can easily be eliminated just by unscheduled patrolling before the inspection and maintaining a proper working environment, especially for welding defects. For example, repairing a blowhole, after final welding is finished and ground smooth, there is no way to figure out whether the gauging is done and the defect is completely removed. Once the welder is finished his job, the foremen check the work and

ask welder to perform repair job, if necessary. In normal circumstances this procedure repeats two or three times. Finally grinding work is done to give the final profile to the weld. Not only the weldment but also the angular displacements, alignment, other defects and damages are to be checked and repaired during the inspection preparation stage. And all the instruments, tools, dust and everything in the vicinity that might block the access and render the visibility of the joint or the item in concern is removed away and a clean, safe environment is provided for the inspection. o Application: After proper preparation is completed, the foremen send an application to the quality management department and the QM in charge of the project goes and checks the work again. If the work is acceptable then the application is sent to both owners and classification societys site offices showing the joint to be inspected and the time of the inspection at least one day before. Arrangement: Each party will be present at the designated location and time. A meeting is held before the inspection starts. One of the important points during the erection inspection is that whole the joint sections are to be inspected and proper marking is to be done up to which part has been completed in order not to make confusion in the future. Each party, namely, QM, owners representative and class surveyor, goes and checks the work according to their standards and aspects. There must be at least one worker to accompany each of them during the inspection. There are two reasons for that; the most important thing is of course for the safety, because it is not safe to walk around and perform an inspection. In case of any injury and emergency one should be stand by to make the first aid action or to call rescue team. The second reason is that even the inspector or the surveyor find out a defect, marked it on the inspection item and write down on the inspection report, the worker might not understand the report or can miss the marking on the actual place. Therefore he must be ready to show safe access to the inspection areas, note down the locations of the defects and the required repair works. If the repair job is not done correctly, then there is no meaning of carrying out an inspection.

During inspection
At first, the most important thing to take care during the inspection, with no doubt, is safety. Inspection environment especially at erection stage has too many dangerous conditions. Some of them will be listed here to give clearance in the minds. Inside tanks, here might be not

enough light to see around properly. Other works might be continue around you or above, smoke or dust might be accumulated in confined spaces due to lack of ventilation, something from the above scaffolding might fall down. Cables, instruments or other work materials might be laid down on the passages. It might be slippery where you supposed to put your step due to water or small particles. One should take care of the risk of electric shock especially in rainy weather. The scaffoldings might become loose or not be supported properly, or the cherry picker that you on has problem with the controls. And the list goes on and on. If the working condition is not safe and not suitable for the inspection, the inspector has right not to attend/postpone the inspection, or just reject it due to safety matter. The safety concept is going to be discussed as a separate section in detail. If the preparation is satisfactory to carry out the inspection, then the inspector with accompanying worker carries out the inspection. The inspector has to carry necessary equipment for the inspection as well as safety equipment, i.e. safety gloves, masks, goggles, etc. He must use proper tool to find out the defects. Some of the basic visual inspection tools frequently used in the field is listed below:

Torch Tape Weld gauge Gap gauge

Marker or chalk String Hammer Etc.

Once the discontinuity is found out by the inspector, if it is not clear, he must measure the size and dimensions of the discontinuity and evaluate according to the related rules and standards whether it is acceptable within the tolerable limits or it is defined as a defect. If it is beyond the acceptable limits and, therefore, need to be repaired, the inspector marked the defect with suitable marking pen or chalk to be recognized by the worker who will perform the repair work. He may write the type of defect and the method of repair on the inspected item. It is also good habit to make a regular check marks meaning that the joint or area is inspected and no defects has been found. It should also be marked that the boundary of the joint that is inspected. Even it seems acceptable by the visual inspection, the inspector might request

further inspection for example by non-destructive testing for a specified part if he fells suspicious about the quality of the work. So far only the erection joint inspection is discussed. After completion of the inspections and repair works for the enclosed spaces like tanks, void spaces, tight boundaries, and etc. tightness tests is performed. The most frequently used method is air test. Hydro test, hose and chalk test methods are also used to evaluate the different degree of tightness. Each method will be discussed in detail in the following sections.

After inspection
It must be clear in inspectors mind that the purpose of the inspection is to improve the quality of the work done, to eliminate and correct the wrong applications, mistakes and defects. The goal of the inspector is not to make everything perfect but satisfactory and in complying with the acceptance criteria and limits determined by the applicable rules and standards. To achieve this goal, the communication in the field with workers and other parties within the quality management system is so important. The problem is to be shown and the methods to be followed for the repair job are to be explained and clarified. o Reporting Reporting is one of the crucial parts of the inspectors duty. Everything might be lost but documentations will be kept safe as the only evidence. Whatever is done on the field, it must be recorded in brief and clear. The problems figured out during the inspection, the methods of repair are to be written with clear language, sketches may also be drawn so that it would help the matter to be easily understood by whom looking at the inspection report. Finally, overall evaluation of the inspection is done and determined whether it is acceptable or rejected. o Comment confirm (if any) Even the inspection is considered as accepted; some important and critical comments may be requested to be confirmed whether the repair job is carried out in a satisfactory manner. In this case not whole joint but the particular problem points are checked and evaluated. If the job is done correctly and accepted, the previous comment is closed on the previous inspection report. o Recording

Inspector should record the inspections and the results with comments, and prepare daily, weekly and monthly activity report. It is so important to figure out the progress flow, help to estimate the future schedules and manage man-hour more effectively. It reduces the risk of any part or section of the construction to be forgotten and goes to the next step without proper inspection works.

Safety aspects
As it is briefly explained in the previous sections, safety is the most important thing that the inspector should pay attention. It is the responsibility of the inspector to practice safe work habits. Working safely requires a thorough knowledge of the safety hazards, an attitude that all accidents can be avoided, and learning the necessary steps to avoid unsafe exposure. The potential hazards that are present in the working environment include electric shock, radiation, eye hazards such as ultraviolet light and particulate matter in the air, smoke and fumes, and falling objects. Everybody knows the danger in the field but many of the people never think that the accident would happen to them. Because other duties and responsibilities comes front during the day, the safety may become a secondary concern, therefore, it should become the habit of each individual by daily practice from the very beginning. The welding inspector should observe all safety precautions and follow safety practices. He must start with the use of safety equipment such as safety glasses, safety shoes, hard hats, protective clothing, gloves, etc. at any time while in the construction site. He must put the biggest attention to safety. As well as the technical seminar or training programs about his own duty, he should attend the safety trainings or follow safety bulletins published by the shipyards or other national/international bodies to build up knowledge and to figure out the importance of the safety concept. Then he must follow the safety practices every day to make them as a daily habit so that the body could perform without the need of thinking. Inspector also should be aware of the other people, vehicle and moving objects around him. Due to the carelessness of other people it is likely to happen to get harm. Therefore, as an inspector, to take care of his own safety includes the safety of the others. He must be aware of the movement of cranes and the weights that are carried by them. To avoid being under the moving objects by cranes should be one of the principle precaution followed by any people at construction site. The operator of trucks, winches, forklifts, cherry pickers, and other construction vehicles especially while lifting freight or going backwards has limited vision, therefore, they also creates potential danger. The most threatening type of danger is the electric hazards because it gives no warning. There are always cables laying on the ground without proper protection

or connecting to the ship which are used to supply electricity for the devices used for welding or cutting machines, ship machineries or other devices. Water or other electric conductive liquids are always present especially during the rainy days. The inspector should aware of the risk of electric shock and if he sees improper settings of electric cables or other connection devices, he contacts with the responsible person, inform the situation. Moreover he must know how to manage with the first aid operation in case somebody is get electric shock. Another threating type of danger is the leaking of explosive or toxic gases. Especially in confined spaces if the explosive gases accumulated and reaches to a certain percentage in the air, explosion which may results in severe damage and casualties could occur. In addition, due to lack of oxygen or the presence of other harmful gases in confined spaces, suffocation may arise and results in severe harm to brain or lungs or even casualties. Therefore, if it is possible the inspector should carry an oxygen meter with him to check whether the oxygen level is within the allowable limits while entering to tanks or other confined spaces.

Problems faced
In general, the scope of erection joint inspection is the joint between the blocks or pre-erected blocks and the blocks that are already erected. However the inspector should check the overall condition of the block once more to confirm that deficiencies had not happened after the block final or pre-erection inspections. The frequently faced problems during the erection joint inspections can be listed as follows: The inspector should pay attention for the unrepaired remarks from previous stages and damages occurred during transportation or setting in the dock. Sometimes due to the tight construction schedule or improper quality management systems, even the defects are detected during the inspection, the block might send to the next stage without attending the required repair job. The other probable problem is the damage that might happen during the transportation, lifting or setting of the blocks. In order to lift the blocks additional lifting lugs are attached. Due to the improper calculation and design of the lug arrangement, plastic deformations or complete failure of the block might happen. Moreover, during transportation, the vibration or misplacements of the supports may give damages to the block. When the block reaches to the erection site, it is lifted by cranes and placed its proper position. However, it is not easy process to place a block having weight about hundred tons in precision of few millimeters. For this purpose portable hydraulic press are used. During setting the block may hit or hook to the other part of the constructions, or the load given by the hydraulic press may result in the deformations, local or complete failure of the block. If the deformation has passed to the plastic stage, the only

repair is the local renewal of the member or the deformed part. Therefore, it is crucial to go for patrolling the erection joint areas during the setting to figure out the problem in advance. Misalignment is one of the most frequent defects one can see during the erection joint inspection. The reason of misalignment is basically the poor setting condition. The mould line might be set not according to the design in case of the different thickness of plates. This results in misalignment through the whole joint. Even the mould line is set correctly and to fix the setting condition until the completion of the welding, fittings and strong backs are attached through the joint at intervals. However due to the heat input coming from welding process and resulted deformation may lead to the breaking of the fitting, therefore, misalignment occurs. The welding process has to be applied according to the approved welding procedure and the intervals of fittings and strong-backs might be reduced to that it provide more rigid constraint preventing the free movement of the plates due to heat release. The repair method of misalignment is either application of additional welding passes or refitting of the joint where the misalignment is not within the allowable limits. The terms distortion and angular misalignment are mostly confused by the inspectors and workers. While distortion is the general term and includes every deviation of the joined plates from their proper positions, the angular deformation is used for the deviation observed in a sectional view perpendicular to the weld seam. In order to avoid or limit the distortion, as in case of misalignment, following the correct welding procedure or more closely attached fittings and strong-backs give remarkable improvement and betterment of the joint condition. The repair methods are hot forming by applying line heating or releasing the joint and refitting after proper setting up, if the distortion has extended beyond the elastic limits then it is necessary to renew the distorted parts. The most frequently encountered problem during the erection inspection is, with no doubt, welding defects. Because it is normally done not in a shelter or workshop but an open atmosphere, the environmental conditions play an important role on the quality of final weld. The present of dust, dirt and other contaminants, moisture, wind, cold weather etc. all have negative effects on the weld quality and result in various defects. After block is set for erection, there would be many cases that the accessibility to the weld is impaired and the welder has to apply welding in very difficult positions. In some extreme situation, direct access will not be possible so the welding should be applied by using mirrors or other methods. The effects of other contaminants and especially moisture are very crucial, that some can deteriorate the soundness of the weld, the others give additional alloying elements by melting and diffusion within the

weld pool which might give rise to the cracks, blow holes, decrease in strength etc. During the final visual inspection, it is also common to realize excessive weld bead width. There might be two reasons for that: the most probable reason is the poor fit-up condition that means there was a wider gap between the welded pieces than the gap recommended in the standards. The other reason is, although the standard gap is satisfied during fit-up stage, due to poor welding, the final weld bead becomes wider than the normal standard width. During welding either the deposition weld metal which is not well controlled or the additional welding passes to repair undercuts developed at side of the weld bead results in the final weld bead with excess width. It is well-known fact that if the metal is heated, it will expand and if it is cooled down then it will shrink the same amount as of the expansion. However, this is valid only if it happens within the elastic stage. If the heat is given locally therefore there would exist a temperature gradient. While the unheated metal wants to keep its position, the heated metal wants to expand and pushes the surrounding metal. If the amount of pressure applied by the heated metal to the surrounding cold metal is over the yield strength, then the plastic deformation will occur and even the metal cools down to the previous temperature the deformation could not be recovered totally. Thus the metal would become shorter. During welding process, the base metal is heated up to the melting point to provide better fusion, and in final state after welding the total length of the joined plated would be shorter than the length before. In order to compensate this shrinkage, the plates are cut a bit longer than they are supposed to be, which is called as margin. Because it is not possible to know the amount of shrinkage exactly, sometimes the plate is needed to be cut. Especially for small shipyards with little experience, the margin is taken about 50mm for all blocks and the excess amount is cut during the erection stage, but in professional shipyards with much experience and knowhow, the margin is determined for each block differently so that there would be no additional cutting work would be needed during the fitting of the blocks. To achieve this, another practice is to check the dimension of each block right after the block final inspection. Because even there is a need for cutting of the excess margin, it is much easier to perform cutting process in the block shop than the erection stage. If the block shorter than its design length, as repair method in this case, built up welding or partial renew of the plate is done along the shorter edge. Comparing to the cutting, the built-up welding or renew work is difficult, expensive, time consuming and may causes defects, care should be taken while determining the margin amount, especially to avoid inadequate margin. Hammering or overheating is other common problems encountered during erection joint inspection. Hammering is not allowed due to local hardening of the

plate. It is generally done by the workers during fitting of the pieces or fairing of the distorted plate right after heating. The weight of the erected block itself or the heat input given to the plate while welding makes the welded plated to deform because of the high degree of constraints, i.e. the plate is not free to expand or shrink due to the temperature change. If the amount of deformation is within the elastic limits, after the releasing of the force effect, the plate would return back to its original shape. However, if the deformation exceeds beyond the elastic limit then it is called as plastic deformation and in order to recover the plate to the original shape, repair procedure is to be applied. In field the most used method is the application of heat by torch. The mixture of oxygen and acetylene is used for both cutting process and heating purposes by adjusting the mixing ratio of two gases by using the valves on the torch. Although it is a simple and cheap, it gives very effective result if done by qualified workers. On the other hand, if the worker is not qualified enough, then he might not adjust the heat input as required and give much heat to the plate over the temperature that changes the mechanical properties of the plate. In addition to that, if hammering is done on the overheated plate makes the worst case. It might have changed the microstructure of the plate totally, i.e., it is no longer the material that is designed for the strengthening of the structure. Depending on the cooling speed, air cooling or water cooling, the crystallization of the material also changes; micro cracks might have been formed. Critical joints and locations There are important locations for each type of ships; such points need more attention during the construction. They are also known as construction monitoring points, CM points, because it is better to check every stage of construction for these particular locations more carefully during the scheduled and unscheduled inspection. Before or during the construction process, such points are determined and special separate inspection schedule is to be arranged other than the final inspection. During such fit-up inspection, the following items - necessary but not limited - are to be checked carefully: the alignment condition, joint preparation - bevel angle, roughness of the groove surfaces, root surface etc. -, the gap between the joined pieces, cleaning condition. If it is not possible to perform accurately with ordinary tools, in order to check the alignment condition, special templates for this particular purpose could be prepared.

NDT Plan and application

Besides visual inspection, some parts of the erection joints are to be checked by Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) in accordance with the IACS recommendations. IACS Recommendation No.20 gives guidance on the minimum requirements on the methods and quality levels that may be adopted for the NDT of ship hull

steel welds. The Shipbuilder submits a plan for approval to the Classification Society, specifying the locations to be examined and the extent of testing with reference to the NDT procedures to be used. Particular attention is paid to highly stressed areas, such as cross-butt joints on the side shell and tight bulkheads, hopper and tank top fillet joints, bulkhead and stool fillet joints, and butt joints on the deck plating. The ship owner may ask for additional locations to be checked by NDT during the plan approval stage. When the joint is prepared for erection joint final inspection, the NDT reports are to be ready for review for the locations that have to be checked by NDT according to the plan. In some cases, there are separate schedule for reviewing RT films and test reports.

Tank Tests (cont)

Before explaining the tank test procedures, it will be given the definition and the types of tightness. Basically, there are three level of tightness and defined as follows: Weathertight means that in any sea conditions water will not penetrate into the ship. Watertight means, having scantlings and arrangements capable of preventing the passage of water in any direction under the head of water likely to occur in intact and damaged conditions. In the damaged condition, the head of water is to be considered in the worst situation at equilibrium, including intermediate stages of flooding. Gastight means, the specific quality of a physical barrier to prevent any significant quantity of flammable gas or vapor from entering into an adjoining space.

. Tanks which are intended to hold liquids, and which form part of the watertight subdivision of the ship, shall be tested for tightness and structural strength with water to a head corresponding to its design pressure. The water head is in no case to be less than the top of the air pipes or to a level of 2.4 m above the top of the tank, whichever is the greater.

Characteristics of tanker
Tankers are designed to carry liquid cargo that may include crude oil and other oil products as well as chemical substances. Depending on the cargo that would be carried, several provisions are to be complied with the related rules and regulations in order to satisfy the required safety level. In terms of structural safety and stability, tankers have quite rigid form having continuous strength deck plating, transverse and longitudinal watertight bulkheads compared to other ship types such as bulk carriers and container ships those having large openings on deck. However, there are still critical areas that have to be checked and paid special attention during construction. Such locations are called as construction monitoring points or CM points. It is crucial to ensure that the correct construction procedures are followed otherwise, the failures at such locations results in devastating consequences. Hopper and tanks top plate fillet joint is the most important location in tanker construction. Prior to welding application, to check the alignment condition, separate fit-up inspection is arranged, because it is difficult to confirm the alignment state after final welding due to the inclination of the hopper plate. The most used method to check the alignment is known as 100 marking. The measurement team marks a line 100 mm away from the correct alignment position and with the help of scales and gauges the condition of alignment is confirmed. Other important items to check during the fit-up inspection are the joint preparations and the gap between two joining plates. The appropriateness of these two items is necessary to achieve a correct weld profile as required by design. Most of the time, the hopper joint is designed as a partial penetrating fillet joint with natural bevel angle that means the bevel angle is the same as the inclination angle of the hopper plate. The roughness of the joining surface is also to be paid attention. During fit-up, the plates are cut by using oxy-acetylene flame or by gouging. The oxidized or carburized joining surface is to be removed to have good quality weld having stipulated chemical and mechanical properties. The gap has also vital effects on the welding parameters, such as deposition of the weld metal, number of passes, heat input generated during the welding. Therefore it is restricted by codes and the welding procedures and if it exceeds the limitations repair methods are to be followed. It is mentioned on the approved welding procedure standards of the builder or if not, as a general practice, the reference is made mostly to the IACS Recommendation No.47.