(CHAPTER 5--WELDING PROCEDURE AND WELDER QUALIFICATION
Chapter 9—Welding Procedure and Welder Qualification
Introduction
‘A welding procedure details the steps by which the
‘welding of a specific joint or weldment is to be accom-
plished. It gives the prescribed values or ranges of values
{or all the controllable variables inthe process and speci
fies all materials to be used. A welding procedure deter-
riines the mechanical properties of a weided joint
Almost every welding job needs a welding procedure.
‘Commonly, the contract or the specifications require that
writen procedure be prepared. The requirements often
are those of a general specification or standard, which the
fabricator may he following as a quality control standard.
When the governing specifications or standards com-
prise a code that has been adopted by a goveming agency
such as a city, state, or province, then the welding proce-
are becomes a legal entity under that eode.
‘The purpose of this section is as follows:
+ Todefine the welding procedure specification, includ~
ing its types, content, documentation, and app ication.
‘+ Tocexplain the qualification of the welding procedure
specification,
+ To define circumstances when certain parts of the
specification may require requalification,
+ Todefine the welding inspector's responsibilities dur-
ing the qualification process and later during the fabsi-
cation inspection process,
Welding Procedure Specification
‘The purpose of a welding procedure specification is to
define and document the details that are to be carried out
in welding specific materials or parts.
‘Many companies prepare a quality assurance manual
that establishes the responsibilities for preparation, re-
view, and approval ofthe welding procedures to be used,
although the procedures themselves will not ordinarily
be included in the quality assurance manual.
‘Contents
‘The written welding procedure specification should
be arranged in accordance with the contract or purchase
requirements, The information should be sufficiently de~
tailed to ensure that the welding will meet all require-
ments of the applicable code, standard or specification,
‘The topics that follow in this section are the most
common and generally the most essential in welding pro-
cedure specifications. Every item will not apply to every
process or application, and some items that are familiar
{0 you may not be listed at all, The lst is given to guide
the welding inspector in reviewing welding procedure
specifications or in determining whether or not produc~
tion welding is being performed in accordance with
‘welding provedure specifications, It must be emphasized
that the welding inspector is not responsible for produc
ing the welding procedure specification, The following,
can serve as.a checklist for the welding inspector when
reviewing a welding procedure specification produced by
‘welding engineer or other responsible individual
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(1) Scope, Have the types of welding, the materials,
andthe governing specifications been clearly stated?
@) Base Metals and Applicable Specifications. Are
suitable base metals specified? They should be identified
by their chemical composition and applicable specifica-
tions. The procedure should indicate what condition the
‘base mete! shouldbe in before welding (hat is, normal-
Jzed, annealed, quenched and tempered, solution weated,
ete) There may also be a requirement thatthe fabricator
know the identity of all materi. Full plates or sections(HAPTER 9-WWELDING PROCEDURE AND WELDER QUALIFICATION
can be identified by the mill numbers; small portions cut
from full plates or sections should be marked with the
same numbers. The rolling direction of the plate should
also be identified.
G) Welding Process. What welding process is 10 be
sed?
(4) Type, Classification, and Composition of Filer
Metals. The welding process should be clearly named,
and the composition, identifying type, or classification
‘designation of the filler metal should alway’ be spelied
‘out {0 ensure proper use. In addition, the sizes of filer
metals or electrodes that can be used when welding dif=
ferent thicknesses of material in different positions must
be designated. Some types of filler metals are even iden-
tified on each individuat pass or ayer. Identification of
filler metals may be lost when original containers are dis
carded, Electrode marking, moreover, does not guarantee
‘that the electrode is in satisfactory condition. For exam-
ple, low-hydrogen electrodes thet ftave been exposed to
the atmosphere must be baked in an oven to restore their
Jow moisture content, Such baking requirements should
be included in the welding procedure, following the man-
tufacturer's specification,
(5) Type of Current and Current Ranges. What
type of current isto be used? Some electrtes work well
on either ac or de. If de is needed, the proper polarity
should be specified (DCEP or DEN). In addition, cur-
rent ranges for different electrode sizes, different pro-
cedure positions, and various thicknesses of materials
should be listed.
(6) Welder Qualification Requirements. The prove-
dure specification may designate the requirements for
‘welder or welding operator qualification. Applicable
‘welder qualification specifications or paragraphs of the
governing specifications may be referenced in the weld-
ing procedure specification, The latter portion of this
Chapter is devoted to the topic of welder qualification,
) Joint Designs and Tolerances. Permissible joint
design details and the designated welding sequence
should be identified. Use of cross-sections sketches that
show the thickness of material, details ofthe joint, or ref=
ferences to standard drawings or specifications are suit-
able ways of expressing this information, Tolerances for
all dimensions must be listed (see Figure 9.1).
(8) Joint Preparation and Cleaning of Surfaces to
he Welded. What methods may be used to prepare the
Joints? How are the surfaces to be cleaned? Joint prepa-
tation methods such as oxyfuel cutting, air carbon are
cutting, and plasma are cutting (with or without after-
cleaning) should be specified. Any required machining
‘or grinding, and any special cleaning such as vapor,
trasonie, dip, or lint-free cloth cleaning must be speci-
fied. There may also be mention of whether weld anti-
spatter compounds may be used. Be sure that methods or
163
GROOVE
ANGLE
CET nox,
| ROOT DIMENSION
Figure 9.1—Joint Design and Toleranc
practices specified for production work are also specified
for qualifying the welding procedure (se Figure 9.2),
(9) Tack Welding, What tack welding practices are to
be followed? The applicable code should be referenced
to determine whether tack welders must be qualified.
(10) Joint Welding Detalls. Deusils of electrode sizes
{or the different portions of each welding positon, the ar-
rangement of weld passes for filling the joims, the thick-
ness of each pass, pass width or electrode weave
limitations, ampemge ranges and whatever other details
ae important for each particular joint must be specified.
(1) Positions of Welding. In which postions may
welding be done? (see Figures 9.3 and 9.4),
(12) Preheat and Interpass Temperatures. What are
the temperature limits for any preheat or interpass
temperature?
(13) Peening: Peening is « mechanical reatment uti-
lized to reduce the effects of welding heat cycles that
could prosiuce excessive residual stresses, distortion and
even cracking. Indiseriminate use of peening should not
be permite; however, its sometimes applied 10 highly
restrained or thick welds to avoid warpage or eracking of
Yo JOINT TO BE CLEANED
Figure 9.2—Joint Preparation and Cleaning
of Surfaces for Welding(CHAPTER WELDING PROCEDURE AND WELDER QUALIFICATION
Jaion of Pestions of Groove Wels
Position ___—_—_—‘Dingramfoterence _—_—_—ineination of Axis __—=—=Rctaton of Face
Herat 3 oro ae oie
Overhead ° ‘oar nn 8,
we g See Fees
AXIS LIMITS FOR
/ so0s its FORD
nes always taken toi below the weld under consideration.
Sued from the Rerizortal reference plane toward ths vertical reference plane.
2. The ndraton of ai
“The angle of flan ofthe face Is determined bys line porpensiculr tothe theoretical face of the weld which passes through t
ho weld. Tho roforence poston (0°) of otaton of tho tee invariably points inthe dracon opposte to that in hin tho as
sng oman, Wn lkig a pat Fe argh of clon of Be ae of he weld meme aoc dhcton fromthe
reference postion (")
ns of Groove Welds
Figure 9.3—Pos
166