Non Destructive Testing

American National Standards Institute

The American National Standards Institute Web site web.ansi.org/default_js.htm, has been administrator and coordinator of the US private sector voluntary standardization system for 80 years. ANSI promotes the use of US standards internationally, advocates US policy and technical positions in international and regional standards organizations, and encourages the adoption of international standards as national standards where these meet the needs of the user community.

Its primary goal is the enhancement of global competitiveness of US business by promoting voluntary consensus standards. The Institute represents the interests of its nearly 1400 company, organization, government agency, institutional, and international members.

1.US National Standards

ANSI does not itself develop American National Standards (ANSs); rather it facilitates development by establishing consensus among 175 qualified groups. These groups include standards bodies dedicated to NDT (such as the American Society for Nondestructive Testing) and those who have some interest in NDT (such as the American Welding Society). In 1996 alone, the number of American National Standards increased by nearly four percent to a new total of 13 056 approved ANSs.

2 International Standards

ANSI is the sole US representative and dues paying member of the two major nontreaty international standards organizations, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and, through the US National Committee (USNC), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). ANSI was a founding member of the ISO and plays an active role in its governance. ANSI is one of five permanent members to the governing ISO Council, and one of four permanent members of ISO's Technical Management Board.

Through ANSI, the US has immediate access to the ISO and IEC standards development. ANSI participates in almost the entire technical program of both the ISO (78 percent of all ISO technical committees) and the IEC (91 percent of all IEC technical committees) and administers many key committees and subgroups (16 percent in the ISO; 17 percent in the IEC). As part of its responsibilities as the US member body to the ISO and the IEC, ANSI accredits US Technical Advisory Groups (US TAGs) or USNC Technical Advisors (TAs). The US TAGs' (or TAs') primary purpose is to develop and transmit, through ANSI, US positions on activities and ballots of the international technical committees.

In many instances, US standards are taken forward, through ANSI or its USNC, to the ISO or IEC, where they are adopted in whole or in part as international standards. Since the work of international technical committees is carried out by volunteers from industry and government, not ANSI staff, the success of these efforts often depends upon the willingness of US industry and the US government to commit the resources required to ensure strong US technical participation in international standards.

European Committee for Standardization
The objectives of the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), Web site www.cenorm.be, are to draw up voluntary European Standards and promote corresponding conformity of products and services in areas other than electrotechnical and telecommunications. In particular, it has an agreement for technical cooperation (the Vienna Agreement) with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). (There is controversy over whether the CEN standards are voluntary; however, the web page characterizes them as voluntary.)

The CEN members are: Austria (ON), Belgium (IBN/BIN), Czech Republic (COSMT), Denmark (DS), Finland (SFS), France (AFNOR), Germany (DIN), Greece (ELOT), Iceland (STRê), Ireland (NSAI), Italy (UNI), Luxembourg (SEE), Netherlands (NNI), Norway (NSF), Portugal (IPQ), Spain (AENOR), Sweden (SIS), Switzerland (SNV), and the United Kingdom (BSI). The CEN affiliates are: Albania (DSC); Bulgaria (CSM); Croatia (DZNM); Cyprus (CYS); Estonia (EVS); Hungary (MSZH); Latvia (Department of Quality Management and Structure Development); Lithuania (LST); Malta (Malta Standardization Authority); Poland (PKN); Romania (IRS); Slovakia (UNMS); Slovenia (SMIS); and Turkey (TSE). In addition, CEN has the following corresponding organizations: EOS (Egyptian Organization for Standardization and Quality Control); SABS (South African Bureau of Standards); DSTU (State Committee of Ukraine for Standardization, Metrology and Certification); and SZS (Yugoslavian Federal Institution for Standardization).

International Institute of Welding
The International Institute of Welding (IIW), Web site www.aws.org/iiw.htm, was founded in 1948 by the welding institutes or societies in 13 countries to promote international collaboration in welding. With 43 member countries today, the objectives of the organization are:

to promote the development of welding and to provide for the exchange of scientific and technical information on welding research and education
to assist in the formulation of international standards for welding in collaboration with ISO
to promote the organization of national welding associations.

The IIW has over 20 international groups of specialists that meet at least yearly on the invitation of one of the member countries. Besides hosting an international conference on some aspect of welding, three days are spent in parallel sessions for meeting of the various commissions and other working groups. The commissions and other working groups are organized by topic, with Commission V dedicated to quality control and quality assurance of welded products. The yearly meetings (as well as intermediate meetings) are used to stimulate research and to disseminate information on welding processes, their application (including inspection), and other associated subjects. Each year about 400 papers emanate from the IIW working units, of which some are published in the IIW journal Welding in the World, while others become books dealing with recommended practices.

These technical discussions often form the technical basis for standards, and have supplied the basis for the great majority of the welding standards issued by the ISO over the past 30 years. Members of these working units and their employers therefore have a major influence over the content of such standards. Since 1989, the IIW has been authorized by ISO to prepare the final texts of international welding standards as an international standardizing organization. The first ISO standards produced entirely by the IIW were published in 1990.

Thus, participation in the IIW offers a method to gain early access to the development of an inspection standard, before ISO balloting sends the draft standard to the TAGs in the various countries. An example of how the process works is illustrated the current efforts on the design of the IIW ultrasonic inspection block and black light inspection of weldments at elevated temperature.

Commission V became aware of variations in IIW calibration blocks and issued a resolution in 1997:

Commission V advises the other commissions that recent round robins have shown more than 12 dB variation in the sensitivity setting of IIW ultrasonic calibration blocks. Various institutes are now investigating this problem, with the goal of revising the standard (ISO 2400). Any organization interested in participating should contact Hermann Wustenberg at BAM in Berlin, Germany.

Commission V has been investigating procedures for dye penetrant inspection of hot surfaces, under the leadership of the Italian delegation. At the 1998 Assembly, F. Peri offered a draft standard for ISO and the supporting documentation. The Commission passed two resolutions:

Resolution 5: Commission V forwards Document V-1112-98 "Non-Destructive Testing - Characterization of Penetrants for Hot Surfaces in Weld Inspection" to ISO through Route 1.

Resolution 6: Commission V forwards Document V-1113-98 "Penetrants for Hot Surfaces in Welding Inspection: Experimental Work and First Results" for publication in Welding in the World.

Access to the IIW is through the American Council of the IIW at AWS.

The American Society for Nondestructive Testing

The American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT), Web site www.asnt.org, plays a major role in the certification and qualification of NDT personnel by developing and maintaining Recommended Practice No. SNT-TC-1A, known throughout the world as the principal guideline for NDT personnel qualification, and ANSI/ASNT CP-189-1991, the ASNT Standard for Qualification and Certification of Nondestructive Testing Personnel. The Society serves as the major international source for NDT Level III certification by examination; with nearly 3400 NDT professionals in 40 countries holding valid ASNT NDT Level III certificates. ASNT also offers the Industrial Radiography Radiation Safety Personnel (IRRSP) certification program, instituted in cooperation with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which provides a third party national safety program for industrial radiographers. To date, more than 600 radiographers have been ASNT certified by the program. In November 1996, examinations began for ACCP, the ASNT Central Certification Program, a new, independent, portable NDT certification by examination.

In the area of publications, ASNT maintains the world's largest catalog of NDT education and reference materials, providing information on virtually every aspect of NDT. Publications produced by the Society include Materials Evaluation, the Society's archived monthly technical journal, featuring the latest NDT and ASNT news; Research in Nondestructive Evaluation, a quarterly journal publishing original research in all areas of NDT; and the Nondestructive Testing Handbook, recognized worldwide as the definitive NDT reference source, plus Level III Study Guides, the Q&A series, and many key educational materials. The Society also operates the ASNT Information Center, which provides a central archive and retrieval point for NDT related information. Literature searches and document delivery are among the Information Center's key services.

American Society for Testing and Materials
The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), Web site www.astm. org, is a not-for-profit organization that provides a forum for producers, users, ultimate consumers, and others having a general interest (representatives of government and academia) to meet on common ground and write standards for materials, products, systems, and services. Organized in 1898, the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has grown into one of the largest voluntary standards development systems in the world. From the work of 132 standards writing committees, ASTM publishes standard test methods, specifications, practices, guides, classifications, and terminology. ASTM's standards development activities encompass metals, paints, plastics, textiles, petroleum, construction, energy, the environment, consumer products, medical services and devices, computerized systems, electronics, and many other areas. ASTM Headquarters has no technical research or testing facilities; such work is done voluntarily by 35 000 technically qualified ASTM members located throughout the world.

More than 10 000 ASTM standards are published each year in the 72 volumes of the Annual Book of ASTM Standards. These standards and related information are sold throughout the world.

ASTM technical committees are the specific arenas in which ASTM standards are developed. There are 132 ASTM main technical committees and each is divided into subcommittees. The subcommittee is the primary unit in ASTM's standards development system, as it comprises the highest degree of expertise in a given area. Subcommittees are further subdivided into task groups. Task group members do not have to be ASTM members; many task groups seek non-ASTM members to provide special expertise in a given area.

Most of the inspection topics are handled by Committee E-7, Nondestructive Testing. Its work is divided by topic among the following subcommittees

E07.01 Radiology (X and Gamma) Method
E07.02 Reference Radiological Images
E07.03 Liquid Penetrant and Magnetic Particle Methods
E07.04 Acoustic Emission Method
E07.05 Radiology (Neutron) Method
E07.06 Ultrasonic Method
E07.07 Electromagnetic Method
E07.08 Leak Testing Method
E07.09 Nondestructive Testing Agencies
E07.10 Emerging NDT Methods
E07.91 USA Participation in ISO TC193/
and some administrative subcommittees.

The standards produced and maintained by this committee are included in Volume 3.03, Nondestructive Testing, of the Annual Book of ASTM Standards. This volume presently contains 129 standards.

American Welding Society

One area of interest of the American Welding Society (AWS), Web site www.aws. org, is how nondestructive testing is applied in welding. Two aspects of this are through its interactions with the NDT interests in the IIW (particularly Commission V) and in the area of certification of personnel.

AWS is designated by the IIW as the main member society for the US (which includes duties on the transmission of IIW documents to the IIW Delegates and Experts in the US), and serves as the secretariat for the American Council of the IIW. The American Council of the IIW has served to bring together the various welding interests in the US, including those within both AWS and the Welding Research Council, to select the official representatives for the various IIW working parties, and to promote the transfer of information between US experts and those in other countries. R. French is the secretary of the American Council and can be reached at the e-mail address listed in the IIW Web site.

The other AWS interest is in the certification of weld inspection personnel. While much weld inspection is visual, various other technologies are also applied. AWS offers certification for the following different levels: Certified Associate Welding Inspector, Certified Welding Inspector, Senior Certified Welding Inspector, and NDT Inspector-Radiographic Interpretation.

American Society for Quality

The ISO 9000 standards apply to quality management systems. The ISO 14000 standards apply to environmental management systems. Note that these standards do not apply to products but to management systems. The QS-9000 requirements developed by the Big Three automakers are based on the ISO 9000 standards.

As the secretariat for the American National Standards Institute's (ANSI) ASC Z-1 Committee on Quality Assurance, the American Society for Quality (ASQ), Web site www.asqc.org/standcert.html, provides direction on and builds consensus for national and international standards. ASQ volunteers play key roles in developing the ISO 9000 series standards, originally adopted nationally as the Q90 series standards and recently revised and redesignated as the Q9000 series standards. They do so through their involvement in the US Technical Advisory Group for ISO Technical Committee 176, administered by ASQ on behalf of ANSI.