 ·Table of Contents ·Activities of NDT Organizations | Present situation of NDT in Turkey and Non-destructive testing committeeC. Hakan GÜRVice-Chairman of the Committee (Middle East Tech. Univ.), E-mail : chgur@metu.edu.tr Murat GÜMRÜKÇÜOGLU Chairman of the Committee (MKE), E-mail: tekkon@turnet.net.tr Contact |
This article presents the NDT in Turkey and introduces the Nondestructive Testing Committee of the Chamber of Metallurgical Engineers of Turkey and its activities.
Keywords: Non-Destructive Testing, Training, NDT in Turkey
In Turkey the NDT training activities were started in 60's. However, these activities were localized, and realized by short seminars especially on the testing of weld seams. The first systematic and long-term program on NDT training in Turkey was initiated by the establishment of NDT Committee (NDTC) of the Chamber of Metallurgical Engineers in Ankara in 1987. In July 1988, based on the project agreement between Turkish and German governments, NDTC and Middle East Technical University (METU-Ankara) started to implement a training, qualification and certification program with the active participation of German NDT Society (DGZfP-Berlin) and German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM-Berlin). In the frame of the same project, the Welding Technology and NDT Centre was established in the premises of METU.
A group of engineers from the METU and various industrial firms were trained and certified in several NDT methods to level-3 in Germany between the years 1989 and 1992. With participation of these group, the NDTC has prepared an activity plan consisting of the regular programs for training, qualification and certification for NDT personal in Turkish firms, and then establishing the Turkish NDT Society. The working groups of training, qualification and certification, technical rules, and industrial relations were established in 1992. After July 1993, the system of the training and the qualification exams was adopted to EN 473. Parallel to the improvements in the related international standards, an independent certification body, named as "NDT-Personnel Certification Centre" was established in 1996. Starting from this date, the NDT training and qualification-certification activities have being carried out independently.
By considering the needs of national industry and the scientific and technological level of Turkey in the field of NDT, the committee aims
NDTC membership consists of two classes. Individual members are individuals engaged in or interested in NDT. Corporate members are the individuals representing their companies that desire to promote the welfare of the NDTC.
The NDTC is governed by a Board of Directors comprised of seven members. There are working groups and regional chapters acting under the Board of Directors. The standing working groups of NDTC are training, technical rules, and industrial relations. The regional chapters are Marmara (Istanbul) and Agean (Izmir) chapters. Regional chapters were established in January 1998 and are the representatives of the NDTC in their region.
Board of Directors consists of seven members (one chairman, two deputy chairmen and four members) elected for two years. The Board is authorised to negotiate, correspond and make agreements, and for preparing the budget and making the expenditures. Board of Directors makes the planning of the activities specified in the purpose of NDTC Establishment in line of aim and in compliance with the quality policy, provides coordination and inspects the execution of those activities within the frame of quality assurance system.
Training activities are planned annually and after approval of Board of Directors realised by the Training Activities Group. Courses are held in two levels on the basic NDT methods (UT, RT, ET, MT, PT) according to rules specified in "NDTC-Training Rules" and EN 473.
The training courses have being carried out in the laboratories of METU-Welding Technology and NDT Centre, which was nominated by the NDT-Personnel Certification Centre and DGZfP. The NDT laboratories of this centre were also accredited by DAR-Germany in 1996 as testing laboratory in accordance with EN 45001. The Committee is aiming to include other training centers into its training/certification system.
Course leaders are designated among the specialists having level-3 certificates. Lecturers must have sufficient knowledge and experience on the subject of the course (at least level-II for the theoretical part, and level-I for the practical part). Course notes are prepared or updated, following the changes in the respective international standards, within the scope of "NDTC-Training Rules" for each method and level.
A file is opened for each course, and also for each participant. After courses, there are qualification examinations that are prepared and conducted by the NDT-Personnel Certification Centre (NDT-PCC, Ankara) in the premises of METU. The examiners are nominated annually by the NDT-PCC; they should have level-III. The participants who are succesful in qualification examination may apply for the certificate after fulfilling the requirements suggested by NDT-PCC, or may also apply to the Personnel Certification Centre (DPZ) of DGZfP-Berlin.
The training activities of the NDT Committee can be summarized by numbers as follows:
There are other centers offering NDT courses. However, these institutions are not within the training and certification system of the NDT Committee, yet. They are giving their own certificates to the participants in contrary to the European application which states that the training and certification activities cannot be done by the same organization. The activities of these centers can be summarized as follows:
On the other hand, there are some people and companies offering training and certification according to SNT-TC-1A. However, at this moment, they are out of control and it is impossible to evaluate the course content, training program, and quality of these training and certification activities.
1st International NDT Symposium and Exhibition was held by the NDT Committee between the dates 29 September-01 October 1999 in the Middle East Technical University-Ankara. 44 papers (26 from Turkey, 18 from other countries) were presented in 10 sessions. During the sessions there was simultaneous translation (english-turkish-russian). 16 countries were represented in this event including Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Iran, Israel, Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, South Africa, Turkey and USA. Prof.Dr. Schnitger, had a presentation about EFNDT in the opening session. Mr. A. Gurwich had a speech in the technical session about NDT in Russia. In the panel, present situation of NDT in Turkey were discussed. Total number of participants was exceeded 400. There were 15 exhibition stands representing 52 companies from different countries.
Although the applications of NDT are relatively new in Turkey, there is a continuously increasing demand of Turkish industry to use these methods in quality control of products, and therefore a need for the qualified and certified testing personnel. Considering the importance of NDT in industrial applications, the NDTC has been trying to inform the industry and to widespread the correct utilization of the testing methods by training, qualification and certification activities in Turkey according to EN 473. Following the developments in the techniques and international standards, the NDT Committee will continue to realize its mission in parallel to the requests of Turkish industry.
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