ASME P Material Numbers

This is a general guide ASME P numbers and their equivalent EN288 groupings.
Groups referred to in the Base Metal column are ASME sub groups. EN288
material groups are included for comparison only.

P No. EN288 Base Metal

Carbon Manganese Steels, 4 Sub Groups

 Group 1 up to approx 65 ksi

1 1  Group 2 Approx 70ksi
 Group 3 Approx 80ksi
 Group 4 ?

2 - Not Used
3 4 3 Sub Groups:- Typically half moly and half chrome half moly
4 5 2 Sub Groups:- Typically one and a quarter chrome half moly
5A 5 Typically two and a quarter chrome one moly
2 Sub Groups:- Typically five chrome half moly and nine chrome
5B 5
one moly
5C 6 5 Sub Groups:- Chrome moly vanadium
6 8 6 Sub Groups:- Martensitic Stainless Steels Typically Grade 410
7 8 Ferritic Stainless Steels Typically Grade 409
Austenitic Stainless Steels, 4 Sub groups

 Group1 Typically Grades 304, 316, 347

8 9  Group 2 Typically Grades 309, 310
 Group 3 High manganese grades
 Group 4 Typically 254 SMO type steels

9A, B, C 7 Typically two to four percent Nickel Steels

10A,B,C,F,G ? Mixed bag of low alloy steels, 10G 36 Nickel Steel
10 H 10 Duplex and Super Duplex Grades 31803, 32750
10J ? Typically 26 Chrome one moly
11A Group 1 7 9 Nickel Steels
11 A Groups
? Mixed bag of high strength low alloy steels.
2 to 5
11B ? 10 Sub Groups:- Mixed bag of high strength low alloy steels.
12 to 20 - Not Used
 21 21 Pure Aluminium
22 22a Aluminium Magnesium Grade 5000
23 23 Aluminium Magnesium Silicone Grade 6000
24 - Not Used
25 22b Aluminium Magnesium Manganese Typically 5083, 5086
26 to 30 Not used
31 Pure Copper
32 Brass
33 Copper Silicone
34 Copper Nickel
35 Copper Aluminium
36 to 40 Not Used
41 Pure Nickel
42 Nickel Copper:- Monel 500
43 Nickel Chrome Ferrite:- Inconel
44 Nickel Moly:- Hastelloy C22, C276
45 Nickel Chrome :- Incoloy 800, 825
46 Nickel Chrome Silicone
47 Nickel Chrome Tungstone
47 to 50 Not Used
51, 52, 53 Titanium Alloys
61, 62 Zirconium Alloys
Welding Certification, A Basic Guide

The requirement for weld procedures and the coding of welders is specified in
application standards such as:

 BS 2971 Class 2 Arc Welding of Carbon Steel Pipework {Gas Pressures less
than 17 barg}
 BS 2633 Class 1 Arc Welding of Carbon Steel Pipework
 BS 4677 Arc Welding Of Austenitic Steel Pipework.
 BS 806 Boiler Pipe Work (Refers to BS 2971 and BS 2633)
 PD 5500 Unfired Pressure Vessels (Formally BS5500)
 BS 2790 Shell Boilers
 BS 1113 Water Tube Boilers
 BS 5169 Air Receivers

Application Standards
All the above application standards require welding procedures to EN ISO
15614 Part 1 (Formerly BSEN 288-3) and welders coded to BSEN 287 Part
1. Some applications of BS 2971 and BS 5169 permit welders to be qualified
without procedures to BS 4872, a less stringent standard.

The application standard may require tests in addition to those required by

welding standards, for example most UK boiler and pressure vessel codes
require all weld tensile tests for plate qualification above 10mm.

UK pressure systems regulations

Items that come under the UK pressure systems regulations must be 'properly
designed and constructed so as to prevent danger', and items that are repaired
or modified should not give rise to danger. The Health and Safety Executive
Guidance Booklet to the regulations interprets this statement as meaning the
manufacture or repair of any item should be carried out to suitable codes and
recommends the use of British Standards or other equivalent National
Standards.

European Pressure Equipment Directive

For inspection category 2 and above all welding procedures and welder
qualifications have to be approved by a Notified Body (an Inspection Authority
Notified by a European member country under the Directive), or a Third Party
Organisation similarly approved under the Directive. All qualifications
approved by these organisations have to be accepted by all parties for work
carried out under the directive providing they are suitable for the application
and technically correct.

Welding Procedure Specifications

This is a simple instruction sheet giving details of how the weld is to be
performed, its purpose is to aid the planning and quality control of the welding
operation. EN ISO 15609 (formerly EN288 Part 2) specifies the contents of
such a specification in the form of a list of items that should be recorded,
however only relevant information need be specified, for example only in the
case of a procedure requiring heat input control would there be a necessity to
quote travel speed or run out length for manual processes.

A weld procedure specification may cover a range of thicknesses, diameters

and materials, but the range must be specified and be compatible with the rest
of the parameters on the document. I suggest that you produce a new WPS for
each type of joint and keep to the ranges of thickness and diameters specified
in the welding procedure standard.
 Welding Procedures
Welding procedures are required when it is necessary to demonstrate that your
company has the ability to produce welds possessing the correct mechanical
and metallurgical properties.

A welding procedure must qualified in accordance with the requirements of an

appropriate welding procedure standard such as EN ISO 15614 Part 1 as
follows:-

1. Produce a welding procedure specification as stated above.

2. Weld a test piece in accordance with the requirements of your

specification. The joint set up, welding and visual examination of the
completed weld should be witnessed by an Inspection Body. The details
of the test such as the welding current, pre-heat etc., must be recorded
during the test.

3. Once the welding is complete the test piece must be subject to

destructive and non destructive examination such as radiography and
mechanical tests as defined by the welding procedure standard. This
work can be carried out in any laboratory but the Inspection Body may
require to witness the tests and view any radiographs.

4. If the test is successful you or the test body complete the appropriate
documents which the test bodies surveyor signs and endorses. The
necessary documents are as follows:-

E1 Welding Procedure Approval Test Certificate

This is the front sheet and only gives details of what the procedure can be
used for. i.e. its range of approval.
E2 Details Of Weld Test
 This gives details of what actually took place during the test weld it is
similar to a WPS but should not include ranges of welding parameters.
E3 Test Results
Details of NDT and Mechanical testing Results
E4 Welder Approval Test Certificate.
This is the welder approval part of the qualification.

Note The E1, E2, E3, E4 designations are used by some Inspection Authorities
to refer to the individual forms. Examples of these forms are given in annexes
of EN ISO 15614 and EN287.

Forms E1, E2, E3 may be referred to as the WPAR (Welding Procedure

Approval Record) or WPQR (Weld Procedure Qualification Record).

In general a new welding procedure must be qualified for each of the following
changes subject to the individual requirements of the appropriate standard
used:-

 Change in parent material type.

 Change of welding process
 The diameter range for pipe given by the welding standard is exceeded.
Typically 0.5xD to 2xD.
 The thickness range is exceeded. Typically 0.5xt to 2xt.
 Any other change required by the welding standard.

Welder Approval
Once the procedure is approved it is necessary to demonstrate that all your
welders working to it have the required knowledge and skill to put down a
clean sound weld. If the welder has satisfactorily completed the procedure test
then he is automatically approved but each additional welder must be approved
by completing an approval test to an appropriate standard such as EN 287 part
1 as follows:-

Complete a weld test as stated in 2) above. The test should simulate

production conditions and the welding position should be the position
that the production welds are to be made in or one more severe
For maximum positional approval a pipe inclined at 45 degrees (referred
to as the 6G position) approves all positions except vertical down.
 Test the completed weld in accordance with the relevant standard to
ensure that the weld is clean and fully fused.
For a butt weld this is normally a visual examination followed by
radiography.

Once the test is completed the E4 form has to be completed by you or

the test body and signed by the test bodies surveyor.

Note The above changes that require a new welding procedure may also
apply to the welders approval, refer to the standard for precise details.

ASME 9
ASME 9 as far as the pressurised systems regulations are concerned can be
considered as equivalent to EN ISO 15614-1 /EN 287. However it may not be
contractually acceptable. The advantage in using ASME is that generally fewer
procedure tests are required particularly when welding pipework.

Welder Approval Without A procedure

BS 4872 is for the qualification of welders where a weld procedure is not
required either by the application standard that governs the quality of
production welds or by contractual agreement. Typically applied per BS2971
for welding of boiler pipework less than 17 bar g and 200°C. Basically the
same rules mentioned above for the welder approval apply.

Acceptance Standards
In general welds must show a neat workman like appearance. The root must be
fully fused along the entire length of the weld, the profile of the cap should
blend in smoothly with the parent material and the weld should be significantly
free from imperfections. Reference should be made to the acceptance standard
for precise details.

Its a good idear to ensure that you can achieve the appropriate standard before
you call in an Inspection Body. Penetration defects and lack of fusion can often
be easily detected by sectioning welds and bending them.