"Thirty-one years ago, Xu Haifeng became the world champion at shooting at the Los Angeles Olympics, which has ever since triggered a national fitness craze among the Chinese people who started to embark on the journey of making China a sports power. Today, Zeng Zhengchao became the world champion with a welding torch at the Sao Paulo WorldSkills Competition, marking that Chinese skills have come out top in the world and making the dream of turning China into a power of skills come true." That was the comment from a person in charge of the Vocational Skills Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security after a Chinese won the gold medal at Welding at the 43rd WorldSkills Competition in 2015. His comment resonated with many people in the business.

WorldSkills Competition (WSC), also known as "World Skills Olympics", is the highest-ranking, largest and most influential vocational skills competition in the world whose competitive level represents the world advanced level of vocational skills development. Meanwhile, it is also an important platform for WorldSkills International (WSI) members to display and exchange their vocational skills. China officially joined WorldSkills in 2010, and began to send delegations to participate in the competition from the 41st WorldSkills Competition. At the 43rd WorldSkills Competition held in Sao Paulo, Brazil in August 2015, Chinese contestant Zeng Zhengchao won the championship at Welding, becoming the first gold medal winner of the Chinese team at the event. After that, Chinese contestants continued to win gold medals in the 44th and 45th competitions, thus winning three consecutive championships.

Gold-medal Work in the 43th Competition

Creator: Zeng Zhengchao

Overall Length: 47.5 cm

Overall Width: 28.7 cm

Overall Height: 39.2 cm

Weight: 40 kg

Gold-medal Work in the 44th Competition

Creator: Ning Xianhai

Overall Length: 49.1 cm

Overall Width: 26.2 cm

Overall Height: 38.2 cm

Weight: 55 kg

Gold-medal Work in the 45th Competition

Creator: Zhao Fubo

Overall Length: 45 cm

Overall Width: 25.5 cm

Overall Height: 41 cm

Weight: 45 kg

Thanks to the donation of China Engineering Construction Welding Association, the Steel Structure Museum has the honor to keep three pieces of gold-medal works of the aforesaid champions.

History of WorldSkills Competition

WorldSkills Competition can be traced back to Spain in the 1940s. As a consequence of World War II, there was a serious shortage of skilled workers in the countries around the world. Faced with this situation, Spain decided to introduce a skills competition to stimulate young people's enthusiasm for learning skills and in 1947 held the first national competition which turned out to be a great success. After several years' efforts, Spain and Portugal jointly held the 1st WorldSkills Competition in Madrid in 1950. At the same time, the two countries established the International Vocation Training Organization (IVTO), which was later renamed WorldSkills International at its 50th-anniversary members conference. Specially responsible for holding the WorldSkills Competition, WorldSkills International was established as a non-governmental international organization. Registered in the Netherlands, it currently has 83 members.

Mr. Francisco Albert-Vidal, the Spanish founder of WorldSkills International

In 1953, at the invitation of Spain, European countries such as Germany, Britain and France successively joined the IVTO. The following year, the members sent administrative and technical representatives to form the organizing committee which was responsible for formulating and perfecting competition rules, which has become a tradition still in use now. In 1958, for the first time in its history, the Competition made its way from Spain to Brussels, Belgium, marking the beginning of the global expansion of the event. By the end of the 1960s, the Competition had been held in Germany, Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Switzerland, expanding along with the participation of Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea.

Logo of World Skill International

During 1955-1971, WorldSkills Competition was held once a year. Since 1971, basically held every two years, the event has been held 45 times so far. The 45th WorldSkills Competition held in Kazan, Russia during August 22-27, 2019 has been the largest and most comprehensive one so far, with the participation of 1,355 contestants from 69 countries and regions. There were 56 competition items that were divided into six major areas, covering structural and architectural technology, creative art and fashion, information and communication technology, manufacturing and engineering technology, social and personal services, transportation and logistics, etc.

Currently the competition has 6 disciplines and 56 events

Today, WorldSkills Competition is serving as a stage for young contestants from different countries and regions, different fields and with different skin colors to show their communication skills and learn from each other. In most competitions, the age of contestants is limited to 22. Only in four comprehensive items requiring work experience, such as manufacturing team challenge, mechatronics, information network wiring and aircraft repair & maintenance, the age of contestants is limited to 25.

Pursue precision - Competition rules for welding

Welding is a competition item belonging to the field of manufacturing and engineering technology, which requires contestants to correctly meet the drawing requirements, and prepare, assemble and weld different types and specifications of metal materials according to the specified welding process and technical standards and safety regulations. Its questions are divided into four modules which should be completed in four days. The duration of the competition is 18 hours, and the full mark 100 points, including 42.2 points for module 1, 37.8 points for module 2, and 10 points for module 3 and module 4 respectively.

Zeng Zhengchao, champion at the 43rd WorldSkill Competition who wins the first gold medal for China

[Module 1] Low alloy steel assembly

The module specimens include two steel plate butt weld specimens, one pipe butt weld specimen and two T-shaped angle weld specimens. The welding methods include manual arc welding with electrode, carbon dioxide gas shielded welding with solid wire, carbon dioxide gas shielded welding with flux-cored wire, and argon tungsten arc welding. The welding positions include horizontal welding, horizontal welding, vertical welding, overhead welding, and inclined 45°C position of pipe specimens. The welding duration is 3 ~ 4 hours, and the specimen needs to go through visual inspection, X-ray flaw detection and fracture inspection.

The challenges of this module include: (1) The welding position, the root pass and the combination of the welding methods of filling and covering pass are selected by external third-party experts, and the experts and contestants are informed during the competition, which is of high uncertainty; (2) The internal quality of the weld joint of the specimen is unbelievably high, and it is required that the A-class defect-free piece and the T-shaped fillet weld be completely fused and free from defects in radiographic inspection of the butt joint specimen of the plate and the tube.

Ning Xianhai, champion at the 44th WorldSkills Competition, in the competition

[Module 2] Pressure vessel

This module involves a totally enclosed pressure vessel assembled and welded by low alloy steel plates and pipe assemblies, including four welding methods, such as manual arc welding with electrode, carbon dioxide gas shielded welding with solid wire, carbon dioxide gas shielded welding with flux-cored wire and argon tungsten arc welding, as well as all weld forms, joint types and welding positions. The welding duration is 7 ~ 8 hours, the overall size is about 350mm×350mm×400mm, the thickness of steel plate is 6mm, 8mm or 10mm, and the wall thickness of steel pipe is 3 ~ 10 mm. Conduct visual and hydrostatic test after welding. In addition, the hydrostatic test pressure is 6.9MPa.

The main challenges of this module include: (1) The pressure vessel should not leak under the minimum pressure of 6.9MPa, and weld formations shall meet the competition requirements; (2) It involves a large number of welding positions and a wide range of welding methods.

[Module 3] Aluminum alloy structural parts

This module involves a partially sealed structural part assembled and welded by aluminum alloy plates and tubes, and adopts TIG welding method. The welding duration is 2 ~ 3 hours, the overall size is about 200 mm×200mm×250mm, and the thickness of plates and pipes is 1.5 ~ 3 mm. Conduct visual inspection after welding.

The challenges of this module lie in: As aluminum alloy features low melting point and high thermal conductivity, it is necessary to ensure that on the basis of complete penetration, the weld width, excess height, back collapse and other appearance dimensions shall meet the competition requirements.

Zhao Fubo, champion of the 45th WorldSkills Competition, in training

[Module 4] Stainless steel structural parts

This module involves a partially sealed structural part assembled and welded by stainless steel plates and pipes, and adopts TIG welding method. The welding duration is 2 ~ 3 hours, the overall size is about 150 mm×150mm×200mm, and the thickness of stainless steel plate and pipe is 1.5 ~ 3 mm. Conduct visual inspection after welding.

The main challenges of this module include: (1) High content of stainless steel alloy and poor thermal conductivity; (2) Most stainless steel structural members are complex, coupled with complex weld forms and different welding positions; (3) The competition requires 100% complete penetration of stainless steel structural parts.

It is particularly important to note that as the most important evaluation criterion for welding is precision, the contestant may even win the gold medal for their high quality even if he has not finished all his works. "For welding, that is a competition for micron, and precision is the most important standard," Said Zhou Shuchun, the gold medal coach for two WorldSkills Competitions, who is also a master at welding.

WorldSkills Competition and China

China is a new participant of the event. On October 7, 2010, the General Meeting of WorldSkills International held in Kingston, Jamaica, accepted China after voting as the 53rd member of the organization.

On October 4 of the following year, the 41st WorldSkills Competition opened in London, England. For the first time, China sent a delegation to participate in six competition items, including CNC lathe, welding, etc. Pei Xianfeng, an employee of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), won the silver medal of Welding, helping China achieve the breakthrough of zero medal the first time it made its appearance at the event.

The Chinese delegation at the opening ceremony of the 45th WorldSkills Competition

At the 42nd WorldSkills Competition held in Leipzig, Germany during July 2-7, 2013, the 26 contestants that China sent to compete in 22 items, won 1 silver medal, 3 bronze medals and 13 winning prizes. During August 11-16, 2015, the 43rd WorldSkills Competition was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Chinese delegation won 5 gold medals, 6 silver medals and 4 bronze medals, achieving the breakthrough of zero gold medal. At the 44th WorldSkills Competition held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates during October 14-19, 2017, the Chinese delegation won 15 gold medals, 7 silver medals, 8 bronze medals and 12 winning prizes, ranking first on the gold medal list and achieving the best results since it participated in the event. At the 45th WorldSkills Competition held in Kazan, Russia, the Chinese delegation won 16 gold medals, 14 silver medals, 5 bronze medals and 17 winning prizes, ranking first on the gold medal list and the medal list and also in the total score of the group.

The 46th WorldSkills Competition will take place in China

China was granted the right to host the 46th WorldSkills Competition 2021 at WorldSkills International’s annual meeting held at the National Convention and Exhibition Center in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on October 13, 2017. The event will be held in Shanghai during September 22-27, 2021. We look forward to more fine works!

Source:

1. Official website of WorldSkills International worldskills.org.

2. Official website of WorldSkills China www.worldskillschina.cn.

3. Official website of WorldSkills Shanghai 2021 worldskills2010.com.

(Some pictures are from the Internet. Please contact the Steel Structure Museum if there are questions.)