Joetank & rhg,
I am afraid I am sticking to my position. (Please humor me one more time.) Section V, Article 1 paragraph T-110 lists the NDE methods recognized by the Code ... Hydrotest is not listed. Also, Referring to Section III, NDE requirements are detailed in Article NB-5000 (Examination), hydrotest requirements are detaile in Article NB-6000 (Testing).
I believe classifying hydrotest as an NDE method confuses the issue. Would you extend the Section NB-5500 (Qualification and Certification of Nondestructive Examination Personnel) to hydrotest personnel?
I concede I misused the term 'proof test' in my earlier post. The Code classifies hydrotesting as a 'pressure test' (ref. NB-6111).
Pressurizing the inside of a vessel can be a form of leak test, which is an NDE method - "pressure change test" per Section V, Article 10, Appendix VI. However, the test time cannot be a blanket 10 minutes as required by the Pressure test of NB-6000. To be effective as a leak test the test pressure, volume, and minimum detectable pressure drop (after consideration of temperature variations) must be correlated to the required leak rate to determine the test time.
Thanks for humoring my nitpick and I am sorry for allowing this thread to drift off topic.
JR97