Welding motorsport vehicle components using a manual/semi-automatic welding process
Overview
This standard identifies the competences you need to assemble and weld fabricated items and other components used in motorsport vehicles, in accordance with instructions and/or approved welding procedures. You will achieve this by producing fillet welds and partial butt welds in plate, sheet, pipe or tube, using a manual/semi-automatic welding process such as MIG/ MAG, TIG, or oxy fuel gas welding equipment. You will be required to check that all the workholding equipment and any manipulating devices required are available and in a usable condition. You will be expected to check the welding equipment to ensure that all the leads/cables, hoses and wire-feed mechanisms are securely connected and free from damage.
In preparing to weld, you will need to set and adjust the welding conditions, in line with the instructions or welding procedure specification. You must operate the equipment safely and correctly and make any necessary adjustments to settings, in line with your permitted authority, in order to produce the welded joints to the required specification. You will be required to demonstrate your capability to produce the welds of the required quality, and this could be through tests according to current industry standards, codes of practice and legislation.
Your responsibilities will require you to comply with organisational policy and procedures for the welding activities undertaken, and to report any problems with the welding activities or equipment that you cannot resolve, or that are outside your permitted authority, to the relevant people. You will be expected to work with a minimum of supervision, taking personal responsibility for your own actions and for the quality and accuracy of the work that you carry out.
Your underpinning knowledge will be sufficient to provide a sound basis for your work, and will provide an understanding of how the particular welding process works. You will know about the equipment, materials and consumables, in adequate depth to provide a sound background for the welding operations to be performed, and for ensuring that the work output is produced to the required specification.
You will understand the safety precautions required when working with the welding equipment. You will be required to demonstrate safe working practices throughout, and will understand the responsibility you owe to yourself and others in the workplace.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
- work safely at all times, complying with health and safety and other relevant regulations and guidelines
- follow the relevant joining procedure and job instructions
- check that the joint preparation complies with the specification
- check that joining and related equipment and consumables are as specified and fit for purpose
- make the joints as specified using the appropriate thermal joining technique
- check joints meet the required quality and of specified dimensional accuracy
- deal promptly with excess and waste materials and temporary attachments, in line with approved and agreed procedures
- deal promptly and effectively with problems within your control and report those that cannot be solved
- ensure that work records are completed, stored securely and available to others, as per organisational requirements
- leave the work area in a safe condition on completion of the activities, as per organisational and legal requirements
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
- the specific safety precautions to be taken whilst carrying out the activities (including any specific legislation, regulations or codes of practice relating to the activities, equipment or materials)
- the health and safety requirements of the work area and the activities, and the responsibility these requirements place on you
- the hazards associated with the activities, and how to minimise them and reduce risks
- the personal protective equipment and clothing (PPE) to be worn during the activities
- the manual/semi-automatic welding process selected and an awareness of the different types of welding equipment (basic principles of fusion welding, AC and DC power sources, ancillary equipment, power ranges, care of equipment, terminology used in welding, flame setting)
- how to extract information required from drawings and welding procedure specifications (such as interpretation of welding symbols, scope, content and application of the welding procedure specification)
- the consumables associated with the chosen welding process (types of electrodes and/or filler metal and their application; types of shielding gas and their application, gas supply and control; correct control, storage and drying of electrodes and filler wire)
- the types and features of welded joints in pipe (fillet and butt welds, single and multi-run welds, welding positions, weld quality)
- methods of setting up and restraining the joint to achieve correct location of components and control of distortion (joint preparation, use of jigs and fixtures, manipulators and positioners, tack welding size and spacing in relationship to material thickness and component size, use of temporary attachments, pre-setting)
- how to prepare the welding equipment, and the checks to be made to ensure that it is safe, tested and ready to use (such as electrical connections, power return and earthing arrangements; equipment calibration before use, setting welding parameters, care and maintenance of the equipment)
- the techniques of operating the welding equipment to produce a range of joints in the various joint positions (such as fine tuning parameters, correct manipulation of the welding gun or electrode, safe closing down of the welding equipment)
- the importance of complying with job instructions and the welding procedure specification
- the problems that can occur with the welding activities, and how these can be overcome (causes of distortion and methods of control, effects of welding on materials and sources of weld defects; methods of prevention)
- the organisational quality systems used and weld standards to be achieved; weld inspection and test procedures used (including visual and non-destructive tests)
- personal approval tests and their applicability to your work
- the extent of your own authority and to whom you should report if you have problems that you cannot resolve
- how to access, use and maintain information to comply with organisational requirements and legislation
Scope/range
Scope Performance
Prepare for the welding process, to include carrying out all of the following:
- obtain and use the appropriate documentation (such as job instructions, assembly drawings, welding specifications, quality control documentation)
- adhere to procedures or systems in place for risk assessment, hazardous substances, personal protective equipment and other relevant safety regulations and procedures to realise a safe system of work
- obtain the appropriate equipment for the welding activities to be carried out (such as type, current capacity)
- check the condition of, and correctly connect, welding leads, earthing arrangements and electrode holder (where applicable)
- connect all required hoses, regulators and/or flow meters and safety devices (where applicable)
- set and adjust welding conditions/parameters, in accordance with welding procedure specification
- prepare the work area for the welding activities (such as sighting welding screens, positioning fume extraction equipment)
- ensure that the workpiece/component is correctly set up with regard to specified joint preparation and is secure
- obtain and wear appropriate personal protective equipment
Weld components to be used in one of the following types of motorsport vehicle:
- single seater
- karts
- motorcycles (such as circuit and off road)
- rallying
- historic
- sports cars
- other specific approved competition vehicles
Use welding and related equipment for one of the following manual/semi-automatic welding processes:
- MIG/MAG
- TIG
- oxy fuel gas welding
Produce two of the following types of welded joint:
- butt welds
- fillet welds
- welds made autogenously (without filler wire)
Use consumables appropriate to the material, application and electrodes, to include the following:
- two different sizes of electrode
OR - two types of filler wire from different material groups, using shielding gases (where applicable)
- two different sizes of electrode
Produce fillet welded joints and partial butt welds in two of the following forms of material:
- plate
- sections
- pipe/tube
- sheet
- other specific form
Weld six of the following motorsport vehicle components:
- wishbones
- swirl pots
- header tanks
- uprights
- panels
- heat exchangers
- water or oil coolers
- wings/bodywork
- pedals
- roll cages
- space frames
- brackets
- radiator tanks
- exhaust systems
- chassis components
- jigs and fixtures
- other specific components
Weld joints according to approved welding procedures, in good access situations, in two of the following BS EN ISO 6947 positions:
- flat (PA)
- horizontal (PC)
- horizontal vertical (PB)
- vertical upwards (PF)
- vertical downwards (PG)
- overhead (PE or PD)
Check components comply with all of the following quality and accuracy standards:
achieve a minimum weld quality equivalent to the level given in the current industry standards, codes of practice or procedures required by the application standard or specification
meet the required dimensional accuracy, within specified tolerance