Making holes in the expansion joint welds
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The horizontal heat exchanger is equipped with expansion joints; these joints have an exhaust hole at the top and a liquid discharge port at the bottom, all of which are required for the manufacturing process； However, as a type of equipment, since expansion joints are formed by stamping and welding two halves together, they are relatively thin; therefore, the requirements for the butt welds created during their assembly are higher than those for Class B welds in the shell structure. Now, holes need to be made in these welds – how can this contradiction be resolved?
It is not prohibited to make holes in the welds; what is required is 100% flaw detection, and meeting the second-level acceptance standards is sufficient. Additionally, the thickness of the expansion joints is calculated to ensure that they meet strength requirements – they don’t have to be very thin. I don’t see any contradiction in your approach
An integrally formed expansion joint can be used