Product Engineering: Automated the Welding Process as per ASME IX Standards for Paperless Workflow [Case Study]

Welding codes are designed for improving the quality and welding efficiency. The most commonly used code around the world is ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Section IX and AWS (American Welding Society) D1.1. Our end customer is a digital enterprise who wanted to leverage digital technologies and automation for automating the development of WPS from a PQR by abiding by ASME standards. It is along with joint reference diagrams following the base metal & filler metal database and simplifies the welding process.

Rishabh Software envisioned the concept and automated it with a paperless workflow, using ASP.Net, MVC, Bootstrap, and Microsoft SQL Server.

Our end customer is a digital enterprise who wanted to streamline the welding process by leveraging digital technologies and automation. The objective was to develop WPS (Welding Procedure Specification) from a PQR (Procedure Qualification Record) automatically to abide by ASME standards. Welding codes are designed for improving the quality and welding efficiency. ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Section IX and AWS (American Welding Society) D1.1 are the most commonly used welding codes. Further, the joint reference diagrams should be following the base metal & filler metal database and must simplify the welding process.

• Variation in the process affecting the quality
• High cycle time
• Manual paperwork
• Adhering to industry compliance and benchmarking diagrams

Rishabh Software’s team first analyzed the nuances and terminologies used in the welding process. Our team studied the fundamentals of a welding process to understand;

1. WPS (Welding Procedure Specification) is a document that provides clarity to the welder. It depicts the joint design and welding materials, parameters, technique and code requirements.
2. PQR (Procedure Qualification Record) is a record of test results for the welds made by the WPS. Destructive testing (tensile pulls, bends) is required for PQRs in all codes. AWS D1.1 also requires nondestructive testing for procedure qualification. ASME Section IX does not.
3. WPQ (Welder Performance Qualification) is a test certificate that is required to qualify a welder having the necessary knowledge to perform welding as per the specifications shared by a weld procedure.

The team followed the waterfall software development model and analyzed the ASME standards for the welding process. As the solution is a ‘first-of-its-kind,’ the customer wanted a proof-of-concept (POC) solution to test its effectiveness. After the success of POC, we developed the cloud-ready solution to automate the welding process.

The welding progression, (vertically upwards or downwards), must always be stated and it is an essential variable for both procedures and performance qualifications. It covers three primary inclinations:

• Flat (0 to 15 degrees inclination)
• 15 – 80 degrees inclination
• Vertical, 80 – 90 degrees

The solution suggests proper angle to be used for welding based on ASME standard Welding process.

• Comprehensive Quality Assurance & Visibility
• Eliminates the Communication Gap with automatic updates & backups
• Automates five specifications for any welding process
• Increased turnaround time for preparing PQR, WPS, Draft WPS, WPQ and WOPQ specification documents

Digital Enterprise

Asia based digital enterprise offering subscription-based services to the manufacturing industry

• ASP.NET MVC
• Bootstrap
• Microsoft SQL Server