WELDING VARIABLES:

- ASME SECTION IX QW 250 ( Page No 34 -2019 Edition)

These variables are subdivided into Essential variables, Supplementary essential variables,
and Nonessential variables

• Essential Variables :
The variables which affects the mechanical properties of the weld.

• Non - Essential Variables:

The variables does not affect the mechanical properties properties of the weld.

• Supplementary Essential Variables :

Only for toughness requirement .

Base Metal Grouping :

The main purpose of assigning the P number system is to reduce the number of procedure
qualification records (PQR)

Preparation of PQR requires lots of time and money due to following requirements

- Preparation of Test Coupon.

- Welding of Test Coupon.

- Performing Destructive Testing in Lab.

To reduce those things ASME has done grouping of base metals and assigned certain P
Numbers to each group of metals.

These Groupings are done on the basis of the following parameters.

- Materials Chemical Composition.

- Weldability of Material.

- Mechanical Property of the Materials.

Suppose if we change the base metal from an existing qualified WPS and if new base metal
is in the same P number then the re-qualification of the existing WPS is not required. It means no
need for new PQR.

 Whenever there is a change in the base metal from existing WPS the compatibility shall be
considered with regards to the following factors.

- Metallurgical Property

- Mechanical Property.

- Design Consideration.

- Service Requirements.

- Heat Treatment.

Table - QW/QB 422 (Page No. 97 ASME SEC IX 2019)

S.No BASE MATERIAL P Number Range

1 Steel and Steel alloys P Number 1 to P Number 15F

2 Aluminium and Aluminium base alloys P Number 21 to P Number 26

3 Copper and Copper base alloys P Number 31 to P Number 35

4 Nickel and Nickel base alloys P Number 41 to P Number 49

5 Titanium and Titanium base alloys P Number 51 to P Number 55

6 Zirconium and Zirconium base alloys P Number 61 & P Number 62

GROUP NUMBER:

Group numbers are the subsets of the P Numbers and its assigned to Ferrous based materials
and only for materials requires “Toughness Testing” for qualification of its WPS.

Example:

Base Material - SA 240 Gr 304

- Tensile Strength - 75 ksi (515 Mpa )

- P.Number - 8
- Group Number - 1
- Nominal Composition - 18Cr–8Ni
- Typical Product Form - Plate, sheet & strip
- UNS Number - S30400

 S Numbers

S Numbers are deleted from ASME Section IX (2009) but used in ASME B.31 Code for
pressure piping or by Selected BPVC.

FILLER METALS - Electrode and Welding rod Grouping

F- Number - To reduce the number of WPS and Welder Performance Qualification.

F- Numbers are assigned by its Usability characteristics

The usability characteristics fundamentally determine the ability of welder to produce

sounds weld with a given Filler Metal.

Hence it is assumed if a welder can make a satisfactory weld with a particular filler metal
then he will be able to weld with all filler metals belonging to that particular F number

Table - QW/QB 432 (Page No. 171 ASME SEC IX 2019)

S.No FILLER METAL F Number Range

1 Steel and Steel alloys F Number 1 to F Number 6

2 Aluminium and Aluminium base alloys F Number 21 to F Number 26

3 Copper and Copper base alloys F Number 31 to F Number 37

4 Nickel and Nickel base alloys F Number 41 to F Number 46

5 Titanium and Titanium base alloys F Number 51 to F Number 56

6 Zirconium and Zirconium base alloys F Number 61

7 Hard-facing overlay weld metal F Number 71 & F Number 72

A Number

A-Number denote the chemical composition of the weld metal

Table - QW/QB 442 (Page No. 171 ASME SEC IX 2019)

WELDER PERFORMANCE QUALIFICATION:

 FORM QW-484A SUGGESTED FORMAT A FOR WELDER PERFORMANCE QUALIFICATIONS (WPQ)

(See QW-301, Section IX, ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code)

Welder’s name Mr.Alex Identification no. NJS-WR-01

Test Description
Identification of WPS followed NJS-WPS-01 ✔ Test coupon Production weld
SA 516 Gr 70 14mm
Specification and type/grade or UNS Number of base metal(s) Thickness

Testing Variables and Qualification Limits

Welding Variables (QW-350) Actual Values Range Qualified
SMAW SMAW
Welding process(es)
Type (i.e.; manual, semi-automatic) used Manual Manual
Backing (with/without) With Backing With Backing only
Plate Pipe (enter diameter if pipe or tube) Plate Plate, Pipe
P-1 through P-15F, P-34 & P-41 through 46
Base metal P-Number to P-Number P1 to P1
Filler metal or electrode specification(s) (SFA) (info. only) A.5.1 A 5.1
Filler metal or electrode classification(s) (info. only) E7018
FIller metal F-Number(s) 4 4,3,2.1 (with backing only)
Consumable insert (GTAW or PAW) - -
Filler Metal Product Form (solid/metal or flux cored/powder) (GTAW or PAW) - -
Deposit thickness for each process
Process 1
SMAW
3 layers minimum ✔ Yes No 14mm Unlimited
Process 2 3 layers minimum Yes No - -
4G plate & pipe over 610mm OD F,O only
Position qualified (2G, 6G, 3F, etc.)
Vertical progression (uphill or downhill) - -
Type of fuel gas (OFW) - -
Inert gas backing (GTAW, PAW, GMAW) - -
Transfer mode (spray/globular or pulse to short circuit-GMAW) - -
GTAW current type/polarity (AC, DCEP, DCEN) DCEP DCEP

RESULTS
Found Satisfactory
Visual examination of completed weld (QW-302.4)
Transverse face and root bends [QW-462.3(a)] Longitudinal bends [QW-462.3(b)] Side bends (QW-462.2)
Pipe bend specimen, corrosion-resistant weld metal overlay [QW-462.5(c)]
Plate bend specimen, corrosion-resistant weld metal overlay [QW-462.5(d)]
Pipe specimen, macro test for fusion [QW-462.5(b)] Plate specimen, macro test for fusion [QW-462.5(e)]

Type Result Type Result Type Result

- - - - - -
- - - - - -

Alternative Volumetric Examination Results (QW-191): Acceptable RT ✔ or UT (check one)

- NJS-WPQ-RT-01
Fillet weld — fracture test (QW-181.2) Length and percent of defects
Fillet welds in plate [QW-462.4(b)] Fillet welds in pipe [QW-462.4(c)]

Macro examination (QW-184) - Fillet size (in.) - ! - Concavity/convexity (in.) -

Other tests
Film or specimens evaluated by SURESH Company NDT SERVICE Pvt Ltd
Mechanical tests conducted by - Laboratory test no. -
Mr.Sairam Quality Control Engineer
Welding supervised by
We certify that the statements in this record are correct and that the test coupons were prepared, welded, and tested in accordance with the
requirements of Section IX of the ASME BOILER AND PRESSURE VESSEL CODE.

Organization NJS-Quality Consultant

Date 08/01/2022 Certified by J.Vivekanandan. CSWIP 3.1 Welding Inspector

(07/13)

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