During a recent trip to Abington, England, Valve World enjoyed a meeting with TWIY Research Director Paul Woollin. He touched on some of the core industries that TWI serves, explaining how experts from various disciplines work together to develop practical solutions to real-life industry challenges. "Let's be frank - the challenges industry faces are often complex and therefore unlikely to be properly resolved if considered from just a single, viewpoint," comments Paul. "That's why TWI doesn't just employ welding engineers but also specialists from related fields, such as mechanical engineering, metallurgy and materials, chemistry, signal processing etc. So we can bring several specialisms to bear on a specific problem." Asked about typical projects for TWI, Paul replies: "suppose a company is building a nuclear reactor, or planning to fabricate a high integrity pressure vessel for a petrochemical facility, or even designing an aircraft using welded components, then it may well be looking for welds with probability failures as low as 10-7. In such cases it will invariably seek specialist information of the type we can provide well before construction starts." TWI is also regularly called upon to assess the integrity of existing equipment. A recent commission for example required TWI to advise on specific welded components in a nuclear power plant after routine inspections gave anomalous readings. TWI designed a bespoke system that allowed continuous readings to be taken, giving a real time indication of the actual condition of the equipment in service at elevated temperature.
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