IWE VS CWI & CSWIP

IWC - International Welding Expert IWE certification

The certification programs developed for several years by the various global organizations has not focused the total welding expertise and are limited to auxiliary functions that disappoint the actual needs of the owners. IWC International Welding Center has developed a training and certification program that combines most of the skills needed to improve the relevance of welding activities and the efficient resolution of problems arising from the activity. The IWE International Welding Experts certification program was developed to give certified candidates high performance regarding their added-values in the three major phases of construction; study, realization and exploitation.

What is the difference between IWE and CWI or CSWIP?

The CWI & CSWIP course includes only 5 training days and one day for examination while IWE training includes 16 training days and 2 days for exam. All AWS-CWI and TWI-CSWIP course chapters are included into the IWE course but in a very thorough way, also a practical approach has added to instill all acquired information. Additional modules have been expanded, such as the hazard study, the HAZOP and the IEC 31000 & ANSI Z series standards for the safety module; also a complete module for welding equipment (their design, operation, efficiency and their selection criteria).

The module, which includes welding processes has excluded the processes rarely used in the petroleum, energy and gas industry such as brazing and soldering and has devoted all allocated time to this module for the five most used processes in the field (SMAW-GTAW -GMAW-FCAW-SAW). This module includes a detailed approach of these welding processes and especially the methods of choice of the welding equipment according to the needs of the project (CC-DC-AC-OCV-DC), the arc stability, the total understanding of the Volts-Ampere curves, the choice of electrodes and welding consumables and their packaging and protective gases (difference, role, use, choice, ...).

This part has developed under the requirements of ASME II PART C, ASM, ASTM and NEMA. A new module that is not included in the CWI & CSWIP training has been developed in the IWE program, which focuses on the physics of arc welding which is central for understanding welding metallurgy. This module includes all the mathematical formulas for calculations of electrical parameters, gases and welding energy in a thorough and real way that encompasses heat transfer, energy cycle, arc efficiency and fusion, the plasma, the temperature, the thermal expansion, the ionization potential, the thermal work...

For the metallurgy module, the CWI and CSWIP modules have developed this module in a residual way, of which it does not exceed one chapter in the preparation course. For the IWE program, this module is essential for all the welding activity, of which a large module has been dedicated for this discipline, which obsesses more than 20% of the fundamental examination questions.

This module consists of three chapters, which illustrate in a very elaborate way the understanding of crystal lattices, transformation phases, microstructures, transformation diagrams and their formulas. For the welding metallurgy part, this module is highly developed to understand the metallurgical effects during single and multi-pass welding and their effects on welding quality in a pragmatic way.

The IWE program has also developed a module dedicated to metal properties, which includes mechanical, physical and chemical properties that are widely used in calculations (stress calculations, tensile, bending, toughness, chemical, welding shrinkage, etc.). This part was developed under the requirements of ASTM A370 - ASME - ASM and AWS.

For the heat treatment module, five chapters have been developed to thoroughly and thoroughly study all the heat treatment methods used in the industry as well as the standards which stipulates the parameters of all the steels used to be a proof when the development of procedures or their reviews.

The visual inspection module is highly developed in relation to the CWI and the CSWIP because it includes all phases of the inspection including the preparation phase (procedures, plan, standard, calculation note, ITP, QP , ...) the welding phase (all welding defects according to AWS B1.11 their causes and their remedy)

The NDE (NDT) module is also very thorough compared to the CWI and CSWIP as it has been developed in accordance with the ASNT Level II courses and ASME V requirements, it includes practical illustrations and simple and easy approaches to understand for the four most widely used methods (PT, MT, RT and UT) also it includes a very interesting part for the interpretation of the radiographic films and ultrasound echoes.

Destructive testing was also of great importance for the methods, manners and procedures of execution, interpretation and judgment of mechanical tests such as bend test, tensile test, impact test ... etc. This module was developed in accordance with ASTM A370 and ASME II requirements.

For the standard part and code, the CSWIP program incorporates European standards that are limited in the petroleum industry of which this part will be a dilemma for those certified on the practical field. For the CWI this part supports a single American standard such as the API 1104 whose candidate will be endured when using other standards. To resolve this problem the IWC devote six days of the total duration of the training to best control of ASME IX, ASME VIII - ASME B31.3 - API 650 ... Among others the IWC develop a large practical part for the development and the review of welding procedures qualification and welders performance.