What skills do I need to obtain as a film-interpreter?
What skills do I need to obtain as a film-interpreter?
Apart from the requirements regarding “viewing conditions” and “viewing equipment” the film-interpreter (film viewer) shall have thorough knowledge of the manufacturing process of the object being examined and of any defects it may contain. The type of defects that may occur in castings, obviously, differs from those in welded constructions. Different welding processes have their own characteristic defects which the film interpreter must know to be able to interpret the radiograph.
To become a qualified NDT operator, various training courses, course materials and leaflets specifying the requirements they need to comply with, exist. The European NDT industry conforms to the qualification standards of the American ASNT organisation.
So far, a training programme for film-interpreter has not been established in similar fashion. Textbooks for example are not uniform. Sometimes, the IIW-weld defect reference collection is used, beside which the instructor usually has his own collection of typical examples, supplemented with process-specific radiographs.
ASTM has a reference set of defects in castings available.
There are incidental initiatives to introduce classification of film-interpreters by level, in a system comparable to the qualification of NDT-personnel. Some countries have already implemented such a system.