Name : HSEH0400-000000001EC Rev : B Release : 2017/10/09 10:32 AM

Hydro Technical Standard

subject Hydro Measurement Instruction

Title
Inspection of weld preparations and final welds according
EN standard

Summary :

This document applies to weld component with regard to inspection of weld preparation and final weld quality inspection.
This document is largely based the specification HSEH0400HTWT600062EC and replaces it.

B 2016-06-01 J.Ragot-Cologne G. BOUGARAN Wrong indice revision at the page bottom GFE
A 2016-04-04 J.Ragot-Cologne G. BOUGARAN First Issue – No content change only status GFE
Y.
- 2016-02-04 G. BOUGARAN B. FRAISSARD First issuance PRE
ABDALLAHOUI
Rev Date Established Checked Approved Modification Status (*)
*) Available Status: PRE: Preliminary, GFR: Good For Review, GFE: Good For Execution

Ind. Document Number Page

B Measurement Instruction
HSEH0400-000000001EC Inspection of Welds
1/10

GE proprietary
Name : HSEH0400-000000001EC Rev : B Release : 2017/10/09 10:32 AM

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................3

1.1. RANGE OF APPLICATION ..................................................................................................................3

1.2. PURPOSE AND VALIDITY ...................................................................................................................3

1.3. GENERAL NOTES...............................................................................................................................3

2. INSPECTION CLASS FOR WELD............................................................................................................4

3. SCOPE OF TEST ....................................................................................................................................4

3.1. WELD JOINT PREPARATION INSPECTION BEFORE WELD ................................................................4

3.2. WELD INSPECTION ...........................................................................................................................4

3.2.1. SCOPE OF TEST ..............................................................................................................................4

3.2.2. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ..........................................................................................................5

3.3. EXPANSION OF SCOPE TESTS ...........................................................................................................6

3.3.1. IRREGULARITIES AT THE START OF THE END OF A TEST INSPECTION...........................................6

3.3.2. UNACCEPTABLE INDICATION WITHIN A TEST SECTION ................................................................6

4. INSPECTION OF WELD .........................................................................................................................7

4.1. GENERAL ..........................................................................................................................................7

4.2. CLASSIFICATION AND EVALUATION OF SURFACE INDICATIONS DETECTED BY MT, PT OR VT ........7

4.2.1. DEFINITIONS ..................................................................................................................................7

4.2.2. EVALUATION ..................................................................................................................................7

5. RULES ON WELD REPAIRS ................................................................................................................. 10

6. REPORT TEMPLATE ............................................................................................................................ 10

7. REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................... 10

Ind. Document Number Page

B Measurement Instruction
HSEH0400-000000001EC Inspection of Welds
2/10

GE proprietary
Name : HSEH0400-000000001EC Rev : B Release : 2017/10/09 10:32 AM

1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1. Range of application

This Standard Specification is built in accordance with the European standards to define criteria for
inspection of weld for the following methods:
— Visual testing
— Liquid penetrant testing
— Magnetic particle testing
— Ultrasonic testing
— Radiographic testing

It applies to welded joints for all hydraulic components (hydro-mechanical, turbine and generator) and
may also be applied on general welded structures.

This instruction does not apply for pressurised equipments, such as pipings or pressure vessels.

1.2. Purpose and validity

This specification defines the welding requirements for the manufacturer’s welding operations as well as
for welding on GE Hydro erection bays. The requirements of this instruction complement and concretise
the European standards mentioned below and take priority over them.

The order of priority for the different documents is:

1. Drawing/Part list
2. QWP (quality working plan)
3. QS (quality sheet) if any
4. This instruction

1.3. General notes

By definition, GE and their supplier are called manufacturers.

All welds shall be executed with the same care to obtain the optimized quality regardless to inspection
class (level).

The selected type of examination for volumetric class 1 and 2 (ultrasonic or radiographic method) is up to
the manufacturer unless it is specified in the Quality Working Plan or eventually on the drawing. Unless
specified, it should be selected according to capability of the method regarding for example to the type of
equipment, thicknesses, and the part geometry or weld groove configuration. For Ultrasonic or
Radiographic examination of weld assembly with difficulties to inspect because of weld configuration, a
specific procedure shall be issued by the manufacturer.

Personnel performing testing shall be qualified and certified to an appropriate level 2 or 3 in

accordance with ISO 9712. Other recognized national certification may be accepted by GE upon
evaluation.

A written procedure for each NDT technique shall be supplied by the manufacturer to GE for
approbation.
Ind. Document Number Page

B Measurement Instruction
HSEH0400-000000001EC Inspection of Welds
3/10

GE proprietary
Name : HSEH0400-000000001EC Rev : B Release : 2017/10/09 10:32 AM

2. INSPECTION CLASS FOR WELD

Weld Inspection classes are identified in the drawing for each weld, in weld symbols or notes.

Inspection class GE Class Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4

equivalence ISO 5817 Class Class B Class B Class C Class D

3. SCOPE OF TEST

3.1. Weld joint preparation inspection before weld

All prepared weld joints have to comply with ISO 9692-1 as well as ISO 9692-2.

Scope of test [%] Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4

Visual test a 100 100 100 100
Dimensional check a 100 100 100 100
Dye penetrant test a or Magnetic particle test a 100 100 100 0
a) For acceptance criteria see chapter 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5.

3.2. Weld inspection

3.2.1. Scope of test

Unless otherwise specified on drawing or QWP, the scope of test of each single weld has to be taken from
the table below according to its individual weld class (1, 2, 3, 4).

The values shown below must be applied before and after heat treatment (except dimensional check;
only either before or after heat treatment).

In exceptional cases GE may formally agree in written form to reduce the “full double check”.

The NDT, simultaneously when required, should be done in the following order: visual, control surface (MT
or PT) and volume control (UT or RT).

Ind. Document Number Page

B Measurement Instruction
HSEH0400-000000001EC Inspection of Welds
4/10

GE proprietary
Name : HSEH0400-000000001EC Rev : B Release : 2017/10/09 10:32 AM

Scope of test [%] g Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4

Visual test 100 100 100 100
Dye penetrant test b, d, f 100 100 100 0
Magnetic particle test b, f 100 100 100 0
Ultrasonic test c 100 10% + splices a 0 0
Radiographic test c 100 10% + splices a 0 0
Dimensional check 4e 3e 2e 1e
a) Spot checks shall cover all splices and 10% of the length of each individual welds. The location of spot checks is defined by :
 The supplier’s inspector for internal inspection
 GE or the client’s representative during witnessed inspections.
b) Either magnetic particle test or dye penetrant test shall be performed according to documents as define in § 1.2
c) Either ultrasonic test or radiographic test shall be performed according to documents as define in § 1.2
d) If oil tightness or water tightness is required, welds shall be controlled with PT test without any defect.
e) Measuring points per meter of weld length (at least one point each if welds < 1m)
f) “Back gouging” areas shall be tested by MT or PT before continuing the welding
g) The weld class of welds on reconstituted plates shall be considered as the strongest class of the regular welds on this plate.

3.2.2. Additional information

Water or Oil tight weld shall be controlled with PT test without any indication appearing on both sides of
weld when accessibility allows it.

All Electroslag welds shall be UT controlled as per GE level 1.

Weld overlay shall be inspected according to GE Level 3 before and after machining.

Temporary attachments shall be removed by grinding, gouging or oxy-cutting, without plastic

deformation. The surface shall be grinded and visual indication been repaired without removing
minimum plate thickness. The final surface shall be NDT by visual and either with MT or PT with the same
initial quality level of the area.

For height-strength steel (HSS), martensitic stainless steel and ferritic steel with Re > 360 MPa), final NDT
tests shall be performed at least 48 hours after weld has cooled to room temperature.

For full penetration weld, the back gouged surface shall be cleaned by grinding and controlled by PT or
MT method. For full penetration weld, by one side without access on opposite side, joint can be welded
with permanent backing when accepted by design.

Ind. Document Number Page

B Measurement Instruction
HSEH0400-000000001EC Inspection of Welds
5/10

GE proprietary
Name : HSEH0400-000000001EC Rev : B Release : 2017/10/09 10:32 AM

The effective throat (E) on partial penetration weld joint is considered as depth of preparation (S) minus
3mm.

In case of doubt, GE may request additional inspections such as UT to measure the effective throat of
partial penetration after complete welding.

S (E)

E
S

3mm

For partial penetration weld with requirement of UT inspection level 1 or 2, the depth of weld joint
preparation must be increased by 6mm instead of 3mm compare to effective throat (E). This increase of
weld thickness is used to minimize difficult UT interpretation at weld root.

3.3. Expansion of scope tests

3.3.1. Irregularities at the start of the end of a test inspection

In case of irregularities or flaws at the start or the end of a test section, the test section has to be
extended so that full information about the irregularities or flaws is available.

3.3.2. Unacceptable indication within a test section

In case of an unacceptable imperfection within a test section the scope of test has to be extended
stepwise until the last extension does not show any further unacceptable imperfections (see following
table).

Expansion of scope of test

Regular partial scope of test 10%
Expansion step 1 50%
Expansion step 2 100%

Ind. Document Number Page

B Measurement Instruction
HSEH0400-000000001EC Inspection of Welds
6/10

GE proprietary
Name : HSEH0400-000000001EC Rev : B Release : 2017/10/09 10:32 AM

4. INSPECTION OF WELD

4.1. General

ISO 17635 defines the correlation between the quality levels of ISO 5817 and the testing techniques,
testing levels and acceptance levels of all norms for NDT on welds. The tables below show those
correlations related to GE weld classes.
Any areas repaired by welding must be inspected under the same conditions as those specified for
inspection before repair.

4.2. Classification and evaluation of surface indications detected by MT, PT or VT

4.2.1. Definitions

- Acceptance levels prescribed for linear indications are those corresponding to the evaluation level.
Indications lower than this shall not be taken into account.
- Surface indications are distinguished in linear and rounded indications
Linear: Length/ width > 3
Non-linear (round or elliptic): Length/ width ≤ 3
- Single indications are individual indications having linear or non-linear character
- Grouped indications are 2 or more adjacent single indications with a distance (d) between two
individual indications of less than the length of the bigger indication.

4.2.2. Evaluation

Single indications have to be evaluated according to the criteria in the tables below.
Grouped indications shall be considered as a single indication. Depending on the ratio of lg/hg the
grouped indication has to be validated either as one single linear indication or as one single non-linear
indication.

hg for a grouped indication is defined as the sum of the heights of the individual indications plus the
distance between them (see Figure).
lg for a grouped indication is defined as the sum of the lengths of the individual indications plus the
distance between them (see Figure).

Ind. Document Number Page

B Measurement Instruction
HSEH0400-000000001EC Inspection of Welds
7/10

GE proprietary
Name : HSEH0400-000000001EC Rev : B Release : 2017/10/09 10:32 AM

4.3. Visual and dimensional inspection

Visual Test (VT)

Quality levels in accordance Testing techniques and levels in Acceptance levels
with accordance with
ISO 17637 ISO 5817*
GE ISO 5817
1,2 B B
3 C Level not specified C
4 D D

* For visual & dimensional on joint preparation (before welding), the visual criteria to be respected are
according ISO 17637 paragraph 4.2 (moreover linear indication are not accepted) and the dimensional
criteria to be respected are according ISO 9692-1 as well as ISO 9692-2.

4.4. Liquid penetrant inspection

Penetrant Test (PT)

Quality levels in accordance Testing techniques and levels Acceptance levels
with in accordance with
ISO 3452-1 ISO 23277
GE ISO 5817
1 B 2X
2 B 2X
Level not specified
3 C 2X
4 D 3X

4.5. Magnetic particle inspection

Magnetic particle Test (MT)

Quality levels in accordance Testing techniques and levels in Acceptance levels
with accordance with
ISO 17638 ISO 23278
GE ISO 5817
1 B 2X
2 B 2X
Level not specified
3 C 2X
4 D 3X

Ind. Document Number Page

B Measurement Instruction
HSEH0400-000000001EC Inspection of Welds
8/10

GE proprietary
Name : HSEH0400-000000001EC Rev : B Release : 2017/10/09 10:32 AM

4.6. Ultrasonic inspection

Ultrasonic test - pulse echo technique (UT-PE)

Quality levels in accordance Testing techniques and levels in Acceptance levels
with accordance with
ISO 17640 a ISO 11666
GE ISO 5817
1,2 B At least B 2
3 C At least A 3
4 D Not required Not required
a) When characterization of indications is required, ISO 23279 shall apply.

Ultrasonic test - Time-of-flight-diffraction technique (UT-TOFD)

Quality levels in accordance Testing techniques and levels in Acceptance levels
with accordance with
ISO 10863 ISO 15626
GE ISO 5817
1,2 B C 1
3 C At least B 2
4 D Not required Not required

Acceptance levels defined for the range of thickness between 15 to 100 mm are also applicable for
thickness > 100 mm with DAC is based on a drilled hole of Ø 6 mm.

4.7. Radiographic inspection

Radiographic testing using films (RT-F)

Quality levels in accordance Testing techniques and levels in Acceptance levels
with accordance with
ISO 17636 ISO 10675-1
GE ISO 5817
1,2 B B 1
3 C Ba 2
4 D Not required Not required
a) However, the minimum number of exposures for circumferential weld testing may correspond to the requirements of ISO 17636, class A.

Ind. Document Number Page

B Measurement Instruction
HSEH0400-000000001EC Inspection of Welds
9/10

GE proprietary
Name : HSEH0400-000000001EC Rev : B Release : 2017/10/09 10:32 AM

5. RULES ON WELD REPAIRS

The repair will be controlled with the same requirements of the initial weld. Repairs shall be done with
qualified welding procedure.

Excavation of defect shall be done up to its removal followed by cleaning and grinding of surfaces. Before
welding an inspection shall be performed on excavation with either PT or MT method and with the criteria
described in this document.

Two weld repairs at the same place are allowed. For more than two repairs, the manufacturer must not
continue the welding work before a report on the causes of these successive repairs has been drawn up.
The same applies in the case of repeated repairs.

6. REPORT TEMPLATE

The GE Hydro report template to be used are the following ones :

HE-MB-1-Q-T-194 : Magnetic testing report

HE-MB-1-Q-T-195 : Visual testing report
HE-MB-1-Q-T-196 : Ultrasonic testing report
HE-MB-1-Q-T-197 : Liquid penetrant testing report

7. REFERENCES

EN standard

EN ISO 5817 : Welding - Fusion-welded joints in steel, nickel, titanium and their alloys (beam welding excluded) -
Quality levels for imperfections
ISO 9712 : Non-destructives testing - Qualification and certification of NDT personnel
EN 473 : Non-destructive testing - Qualification and certification of NDT personnel - General
EN ISO 17635 : Non-destructive testing of welds - General rules for metallic materials
EN ISO 17637 : Non-destructive testing of welds - Visual testing of fusion-welded joints
EN ISO 17640 : Non-destructive testing of welds - Ultrasonic testing - Techniques, testing levels, and assessment
EN ISO 11666 : Non-destructive testing of welds - Ultrasonic - Acceptance levels
EN ISO 23279: Non-destructive testing of welds - Ultrasonic - Characterisation of indications in weld
EN ISO 17638 : Non-destructive testing of welds - Magnetic particle testing
EN ISO 23278 : Non-destructive testing of welds - Magnetic particle testing of welds - Acceptance levels
EN ISO 3452-1 : Non-destructive testing - Penetrant testing - General principles
EN ISO 23277 : Non-destructive testing of welds - Penetrant testing of welds - Acceptance Levels
EN ISO 15626 : Non-destructive testing of welds - Time-of-flight diffraction technique (TOFD) - Acceptance levels
EN ISO 10863 : Non-destructive testing of welds - Ultrasonic testing - Use of time-of-flight diffraction technique
EN ISO 17636-1 : Non-destructive testing of welds - Radiographic testing - Part 1 : X- and gamma-ray techniques
with film
EN ISO 10675-1 : Non-destructive testing of welds - Acceptance levels for radiographic testing - Part 1 : steel, nickel,
titanium and their alloys principles

GE Hydro standard

HSEH0400-00028306QM-EN : Ultrasonic test of welds

Ind. Document Number Page

B Measurement Instruction
HSEH0400-000000001EC Inspection of Welds
10/10

GE proprietary