Latest Developments in Fitness for Service Procedures

Dr Andrew Cosham is an independent consultant. He has over twenty five years experience in the oil and gas industry. Andrew was previously employed by Atkins, Penspen/Andrew Palmer and Associates, and the Research & Technology Division of (the then) British Gas. Andrew is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He is a member of two BSI technical committees: PSE/17/2 - Transmission pipelines and WEE/37 - Acceptance levels for flaws in welds.

Isabel’s technical work at TWI focuses on the development of analytical flaw assessment techniques, and their application to safety-critical structures and pressure equipment. Chairing the committee that develops and maintains BS 7910 (UK flaw assessment procedure), Isabel is also a member of the R6 (UK nuclear assessment procedure) panel and a co-author of the European FITNET fitness-for-service procedure.

In 2016, Isabel took up the additional role of Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor in Integrity Management at the University of Bristol, an initiative aimed at enhancing the employability of new engineering graduates through exposure to industrial problems and practices.

John Sharples is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and has worked in the field of structural integrity for approximately 40 years. He has mainly specialised in developing, validating and applying fracture mechanics based methodologies. Over many years, he has been a member of the R6 Development Panel and the WEE/37 committee associated with developing BS7910.

John has a senior technical role with Jacobs, Birchwood Park, Warrington and over the past few years, he has fulfilled a technical support role with FESI. Over the years, John has presented at numerous international conference and published many technical papers in the open literature.

Cory is a Materials Engineer working in the Assessment Technology Group of EDF. He has over 10 years of experience in the development of numerical models to predict complex materials phenomena, from high-temperature creep deformation to solid-state phase transformations during welding processes. His current research deals with improved methodologies for predicting the creep-fatigue behaviour of structural materials, and in the assessment of high-integrity PWR components. Cory has recently become the EDF lead for its R6 development programme, specialising in areas of residual stress.

Benjamin Hantz is the Technology Advisor for Mechanical Reliability with Valero Energy Corporation in San Antonio, TX. Valero is the best-in-class producer of fuels and products essential to modern life, operating 14 refineries in North America and the UK.  With over 30 years of owner’s engineer experience in the refining industry, he is the corporate subject matter expert for designing, analyzing, and repairing pressure vessels, piping, valves, and tankage. Benjamin has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters of Science Degree in Materials Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.  He is an ASME Fellow and current Chairman of the Joint ASME & API Standards Committee on Fitness for Service, Chairman of the ASME Section VIII Working Group on Design By Analysis, voting member of the Main committees for both ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code Section VIII and ASME Post Construction Code. Ben’s hobbies include finite element analysis and reading books by Stephen Timoshenko.