ABSA – Impact Test Information on the Drawing

By Laurence Brundrett January 19th, 2017 Uncategorized

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File:PVE-4711, Last Updated: Aug. 03/2011, By: LB

ABSA requires impact test information to be put on fabrication drawings whenever impact testing is a
requirement of the design. This is information that is not usually put on a drawing, but if it is left off, the
ABSA review process will be put on hold until it is added.

Info from ABSA:

Identify which pieces of material must be impact tested and the temperature(s) at which the impact tests
are conducted.

Identify whether production impact tests must be conducted for specific welds and the temperature(s) at
which the impact tests are conducted.

For materials not impact tested, identify, by reference to the correct Code paragraph, the reason why this
material is not being impact tested.**

It is highly preferable that the acceptance criteria (absorbed energy values or lateral expansion) for the
impact tests be identified on the drawing since these change with material thickness and strength level.
These are not new code requirement. The difference is that this information which usually ends up on
the Manufacturer’s Data Report also must be put on the drawing so that it is available to the reviewer,
shop floor workers and inspectors and the National Board inspector. The means of communication might
be notes on the drawing, separate instruction sheets that are referenced on the drawing (and submitted
to ABSA with the drawings) or some equally positive means.

** This is also a requirement for all vessels that do not require impact testing, for all jurisdictions in
Canada

Why ABSA Cares

As mentioned above, ABSA has stricter drawing requirements for minimum temperature information
than other provinces, and reviews minimum temperature calculations in more depth. The graph above
shows why. Fort McMurray winter air temperatures drop to negative 40 degrees C (also -40 degrees F).

Should You Care?

Assuming your vessel is not headed for Alberta, should you care about this? An actual example from our
jobs: We designed a pressure vessel with a SA-350 LF2 class 1 forging greater than 3″ thick. The vessel
was designed to -20 deg F. LF2 material comes from the mill already impact tested to -50 deg F. –
therefore it meets the code requirements – or does it?

SA-350 LF2 Class 1 material is impact tested to -50 deg F. The average minimum absorbed energy for
three test specimens is 15 ft-lb, the minimum absorbed energy is 12 ft-lb (15 avg, 12 min). The minimum
yield strength of the material is 36 ksi. Per Fig UG-84.1 The required average impact test requirements
rises from 15 to 18 ft-lb because the material is greater than 2 inches thick. The minimum required is 2/3
the average or 12 ft-lb (18 avg, 12 min).

Fig UG-84.1 for SA-350 LF2 Class 1 material

 

 
The test requirement from the SA-350 standard is no longer adequate! However,note c on the bottom of
figure UG-84.1 exempts this material from the requirements of figure UG-84.1. So the material tested to
the SA-350 standard is acceptable!

How does your company deal with this tortured mess of requirements? Putting the impact absorbed
energy requirements on the drawing is one way to make sure that the code requirements are considered
during the design cycle and met during production. And it is acceptable to ABSA.