FITNET – help for European industry
FITNET – help for European industry
Flaws (for example, cracks and welding defects) can arise during both the manufacture and service of metallic components. For safety – critical items such as pressure vessels, pipelines and aircraft components – the failure of even a single component can threaten life and the environment. Conversely, some flaws are harmless and will not lead to failure during the lifetime of the component.
Replacement and/or repair of such flaws is economically wasteful and could even lead to the introduction of more severe flaws. A fitness-for-service procedure, based oil fracture mechanics principles, allows flaws to be evaluated consistently and decisions made on remaining life, repair, replacement or downrating.
Although several fitness-for-service procedures already exist (e.g. AP1579,BS7910), there is a need for a European procedure and ultimately a European(CEN) standard.
A European thematic network, FITNET (FITness-for-service NETwork), has recently been launched to address this need. This is part-funded by the EU,co-ordinated by GKSS in Germany. Forty additional participants from European industry, research organisations and universities ‘de input in the form of know-how and links with other research programmes. FITNET encompasses 16 European countries including several of the EU “candidate countries”such as Poland, Slovenia and Hungary. Self-funded contributions from other organisations and individuals are also welcome.
The network will run until the end of February 2006. Activities planned by FITNET include: reviewing existing procedures and research findings on fitness-for-service, generating case studies and educational material, holding public seminars and training workshops, liaising with CEN on standardization.
