AS/NZS 1554.

6:1994

Australian/New Zealand Standard

Structural steel welding

Part 6: Welding stainless steels for

structural purposes
This is a free 7 page sample. Access the full version online.
 AS/NZS 1554.6:1994

This Joint Australian/New Zealand Standard was prepared by Joint Technical

Committee WD/3, Welding of Steel Structures. It was approved on behalf of the
Council of Standards Australia on 12 October 1993 and on behalf of the Council of
Standards New Zealand on 21 January 1994. It was published on 24 January 1994.

The following interests are represented on Committee 00/00:

Association of Consulting Engineers, Australia

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Australian Institute of Steel Construction
Bureau of Steel Manufacturers of Australia
Department of Defence
Electricity Supply Association of Australia
Heavy Engineering Research Association, New Zealand
Institution of Engineers, Australia
Metal Trades Industry Association of Australia
Railways of Australia Committee
Steel Reinforcement Promotion Group
University of Sydney
Welding Technology Institute of Australia

Review of Standards. To keep abreast of progress in industry, Joint Australian/New

Zealand Standards are subject to periodic review and are kept up to date by the issue
of amendments or new editions as necessary. It is important therefore that Standards
users ensure that they are in possession of the latest edition, and any amendments
thereto.
Full details of all Joint Standards and related publications will be found in the
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Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand Catalogue of Publications; this

information is supplemented each month by the magazines ‘The Australian Standard’
and ‘Standards New Zealand’, which subscribing members receive, and which give
details of new publications, new editions and amendments, and of withdrawn
Standards.
Suggestions for improvements to Joint Standards, addressed to the head office of either
Standards Australia or Standards New Zealand, are welcomed. Notification of any
inaccuracy or ambiguity found in a Joint Australian/New Zealand Standard should be
made without delay in order that the matter may be investigated and appropriate action
taken.

This Standard was issued in draft form for comment as DR 92231.

 AS/NZS 1554.6:1994

Australian/New Zealand Standard

Structural steel welding

Part 6: Welding stainless steels for
structural purposes

First publi shed as Joint Standard AS/NZS 1554.6:1994.

This is a free 7 page sample. Access the full version online.

PUBLISHED JOINTLY BY:

STANDARDS AUSTRALIA
1 The Crescent,
Homebush NSW 2140 Australia
STANDARDS NEW ZEALAND
Level 10, Standards House,
155 The Terrace,
Wellington 6001 New Zealand
ISBN 0 7262 8652 4
 AS/NZS 1554.6:1994 2

PREFACE
This Standard was prepared by the Joint Australia/New Zealand Standards Committee
WD/3 on Welding of Structures and is issued as a joint Standard under the terms of the
Active Cooperation Agreement between Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand.
The objective of this Standard is to provide rules for the welding of a wide range of
welded fabrications other than pressure vessels and pressure piping, and it applies to
statically and dynamically loaded welds.
This Standard requires that weld preparations, welding consumables and welding
procedures be qualified before commencement of welding. Prequalified joint preparations,
welding consumables and welding procedures are also given in this Standard.
Strength capacity of welds is not covered in this Standard and designers are referred to
relevant design codes or specifications for this purpose.
Statements expressed in mandatory terms in notes to tables are deemed to be requirements
of this Standard.
The terms ‘normative’ and ‘informative’ have been used in this Standard to define the
application of the appendix to which they apply. A ‘normative’ appendix is an integral
part of a Standard, whereas an ‘informative’ appendix is only for information and
guidance.
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 Copyright STANDARDS AUSTRALIA/ STANDARDS NEW ZEALAND

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 3 AS/NZS 1554.6:1994

CONTENTS
Page

SECTION 1 SCOPE AND GENERAL

1.1 SCOPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. ... ........ 5
1.2 INNOVATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. ... ... 5
1.3 REFERENCED DOCUMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... ..... ... .. 5
1.4 DEFINITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. ... ... 5
1.5 WELD CATEGORIES AND SURFACE FINISHES . . . .. .. .. .. ... .... 6
1.6 BASIC WELDING REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ............. 6
1.7 HEAT TREATMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... ... .. .. .. .. . 6
1.8 SAFETY PRECAUTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... ... .. .. .. 6

SECTION 2 MATERIALS OF CONSTRUCTION

2.1 GENERAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2 PARENT MATERIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.3 WELDING CONSUMABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

SECTION 3 DETAILS OF WELDED CONNECTIONS

3.1 GENERAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 8
3.2 BUTT WELDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 8
3.3 FILLET WELDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 9
3.4 COMPOUND WELDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 9
3.5 SEAL WELDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 13
3.6 PLUG AND SLOT WELDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 13
3.7 WELDS FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMBINING ROLLED STEEL
SECTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

SECTION 4 QUALIFICATION OF PROCEDURES AND PERSONNEL

4.1 QUALIFICATION OF WELDING PROCEDURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. 15
4.2 METHOD OF QUALIFICATION OF WELDING PROCEDURE .. . .. .. .. 15
4.3 PREQUALIFIED WELDING PROCEDURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. 15
4.4 PREQUALIFIED JOINT PREPARATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. .. .. 16
4.5 QUALIFICATION OF WELDING CONSUMABLES . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. 18
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4.6 QUALIFICATION OF WELDING PROCEDURE BY TESTING .. . .. .. .. 19

4.7 EXTENSION OF QUALIFICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. .. .. 46
4.8 COMBINATION OF PROCESSES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . .. 46
4.9 RECORDS OF TESTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. .. . . 49
4.10 REQUALIFICATION OF WELDING PROCEDURES . . . . . . . .. . . . .. .. 49
4.11 PRODUCTION TEST PLATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . 49
4.12 QUALIFICATION OF WELDING PERSONNEL . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. .. .. 49

SECTION 5 WORKMANSHIP
5.1 GENERAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. ... ...... 53
5.2 TRANSPORT, STORAGE AND HANDLING . . . . . .. .. .. ... ........ 53
5.3 MARKING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. ... ...... 53
5.4 CUTTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. ... ...... 53
5.5 FABRICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... .. .. .. .. ... .. 53
 AS/NZS 1554.6:1994 4

Page

5.6 PREPARATION OF EDGES FOR WELDING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

5.7 ASSEMBLY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
5.8 BACKING MATERIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.9 ARC ENERGY INPUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.10 PREHEATING AND INTERRUN CONTROL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.11 WELDING UNDER ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.12 TACK WELDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
5.13 INTERRUN CLEANING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
5.14 WELD DEPTH-TO-WIDTH RATIO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
5.15 CONTROL OF DISTORTION AND RESIDUAL STRESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
5.16 REPAIR OF DEFECTS IN WELDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5.17 TEMPORARY ATTACHMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
5.18 ARC STRIKES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
5.19 CLEANING OF COMPLETED WELDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
5.20 DRESSING OF BUTT WELDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
5.21 LEAK TEST WATER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

SECTION 6 QUALITY OF WELDS

6.1 CATEGORIES OF WELDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
6.2 SURFACE FINISHES OF WELDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
6.3 METHODS OF INSPECTION AND PERMISSIBLE LEVELS
OF IMPERFECTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. 60
6.4 RADIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . 63
6.5 ULTRASONIC EXAMINATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . 64
6.6 LIQUID PENETRANT EXAMINATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 65
6.7 REPORTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 65

SECTION 7 INSPECTION
7.1 GENERAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
7.2 QUALIFICATIONS OF INSPECTORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
7.3 VISUAL INSPECTION OF WORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
7.4 NON-DESTRUCTIVE EXAMINATION OTHER THAN VISUAL
EXAMINATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
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APPENDICES
A LIST OF REFERENCED DOCUMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. ... 67
B SELECTION OF WELD CATEGORY AND SURFACE FINISH . . . .. .. .. . 70
C A SUITABLE WELDING PROCEDURE SHEET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. ... 72
D METHOD FOR JOINT AND PROCESS IDENTIFICATION . . . . . . . . . . . .. 73
E CORROSION TESTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. . 74
F FERRITE CONTENT OF WELDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . .. 75
G CHECK LIST OF MATTERS FOR DISCUSSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. ... 77
H SUGGESTED EXTENT OF NON-DESTRUCTIVE EXAMINATION .. . . . .. 78
 5 AS/NZS 1554.6:1994

STANDARDS AUSTRALIA/STANDARDS NEW ZEALAND

Australian/New Zealand Standard

Structural steel welding

Part 6: Welding stainless steels for structural purposes

S E C T I O N 1 S CO P E A N D G E NE R A L

1.1 SCOPE This Standard prescribes materials of construction, weld preparations and
weld qualities, surface finish, qualification of welding procedures and welding personnel,
and fabrication and inspection requirements for welds related to all stainless steel
fabrication made up of combinations of stainless steel plate, sheet, sections (including
hollow sections and built-up sections), castings and forgings, by the following processes
only:
(a) Manual metal arc welding (MMAW).
(b) Submerged arc welding (SAW).
(c) Gas metal arc welding (GMAW).
(d) Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW).
(e) Flux cored arc welding (FCAW).
(f) Plasma arc welding (PAW).
The Standard does not cover the selection of grades to suit the corrosion requirements,
design of welded connections or permissible stresses in welds, nor the production,
rectification or repair of castings.
The Standard does not apply to the welding of pressure vessels and pressure piping.
NOTE: For further guidance on welding of stainless steel, refer to WTIA Technical Notes 13
and 16.
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1.2 INNOVATION Any novel materials, welding processes or consumables, or

methods of construction which do not comply with a specific requirement of this
Standard, or are not mentioned in it, but which give equivalent results to those specified,
are not necessarily prohibited. The joint Australian/New Zealand Standards Committee on
Welding of Structures can act in an advisory capacity concerning equivalent suitability,
but specific approval remains the prerogative of the inspecting authority.

1.3 REFERENCED DOCUMENTS Documents referred to in this Standard are listed

in Appendix A.

1.4 DEFINITIONS For the purpose of this Standard, the definitions given in
AS 1101.3 and AS 2812 and those below apply.
1.4.1 Fabricator —the person or organization responsible for the welding of the
structure during fabrication or erection.

COPYRIGHT
 AS/NZS 1554.6:1994 Structural steel welding - Welding
stainless steels for structural purposes
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