Can Your Foundry Weld This? SF&E Can.

Stainless Foundry & Engineering, Inc. (SF&E) casts over 250 alloys. When pouring that many materials, from time to time, we are required to perform repair welds to remove surface casting defects. Initially, we always attempt to blend and grind surfaces to meet customer contract requirements. However, we cannot remove all indications by blend and grind, so we utilize our ability to perform weld repair.

SF&E has a vast library of weld upgrade procedures for almost all weldable grades of material that we produce. We take pride in this initiative because it helps us control the quality of the finished product, and it is an important part of what makes us a one-stop shop for customers. In addition, our advanced welding services are an offering not many foundries provide.

Stringent Weld Requirements

SF&E imposes 100% compliance to the requirements of our customer purchase orders and material specifications.

SF&E follows the most stringent weld requirements such as:

• ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) A488 – Steel Casting Welding, Qualifications of Procedures and Personnel
• ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section IX – Welding, Brazing & Fusing Standards
• NAVSEA (Naval Sea Systems Command) S9074-AQ-GIB-010/248 Requirements for Welding and Brazing Procedure and Performance Qualification
• NACE (National Association of Corrosion Engineering) MR0175/ISO 15156, Parts 1-3
• Numerous other welding-related requirements from customer specifications

Personnel Certifications

To meet all the codes and standards listed above, we are required to certify our welding personnel to various practices. The qualifications our welders obtain allow us to perform weld repair, upgrade, and/or overlay for most of the weldable alloys poured. We have training and support programs, as well as third party certification activities from European Registrars (TUV-SUD), that support our practices. Additionally, we have a NAVSEA compliant Welder Workmanship Program, required for welding Navy and DOD (U.S. Department of Defense) work.

Our welding personnel are experts at the processing of castings needing repair.

• Nuclear and NAVSEA – SF&E’s Quality Assurance Department performs annual vision screenings with our welders to ensure they meet the requirements of the ASME BPVC, Part 1, Section III for nuclear work and NAVSEA Tech Pub.
• Nondestructive Evaluation – We ensure our welders are certified in accordance with the American Society of Non-Destructive Testing SNT-TC-1A Liquid Penetrant (PT) and Visual Testing (VT) by our on-site NDE (Nondestructive Evaluation) Level III. This allows them to verify their own work prior to our Quality Assurance Department Level II personnel certifying the preparation to weld or final welded locations.
• Pressure Equipment Directive – To meet the stringent requirement for welding castings in accordance to the Pressure Equipment Directive (2014/EU/68 PED), our welders are qualified in accordance with EN287.
• Broad Range of Material Grades – SF&E is qualified to weld many European grades of material as well as over 100 material grades for PED Particular Material Assessment (PMA) orders.

When you place an order at SF&E, we have the programs and personnel to ensure that welding can be performed and will be done so to meet all needs and requirements. To learn more about our welding capabilities, contact SF&E at sales@stainlessfoundry.com.