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Standardization of Welding Electrodes
Standardization of Welding Electrodes
AWS Classification
AWS stands for American Welding Society and this classification is widely
used in the merchant marine. In this, standard electrodes for different
applications are numbered such as E6010, E6011, E6013, and E7018 etc.
For example let us consider the welding electrode E6013 which is a
commonly used electrode on board.
E XXXX: The first character “E” in E6013 stands for flux covered electrode
as used in Metal Manual Arc Welding.
E60XX: The next two characters indicate the minimum tensile strength.
The “60” in E6013 indicates that the weld metal will have a minimum tensile
strength of 62000 psi. Please refer to the chart below for the other key
numbers and the associated tensile strength.
EXXX3: This fifth character indicates the type of flux coating used,
penetration of the electrode and the type of current suitable for the
electrode. In this case the “3” in E6013 tells that it has a rutile potassium
based flux coating. The penetration of the electrode is light and it can be
used with AC and DC currents. Please refer the table below for other key
numbers and their properties.
ISO Standard
ISO 2560: 2009 is the standard under ISO for the classification of welding
electrodes for Manual Metal Arc Welding. It is an international standard and
all other regional and domestic standards are based on it. It is more
comprehensive and gives a lot more information than the AWS
classification however it is not so easy to remember and recall as the
American Welding Society classification.
E55 3 MnMo B T 42 H10: The key character “2” here refers to the welding
positions the electrode can be used in. Here it means all positions except
vertically down. Please refer the table below for details.
E55 3 MnMo B T 42 H10: The symbol “H10” here refers to the hydrogen
content in the deposited weld metal. In this case it is 10ml/100g. Please
refer the table below for other symbols.
Thus the meaning of the marking E55 3 MnMo B T 42 H10 on a welding
electrode is that it is a basic flux coated welding electrode having a
minimum tensile strength of 550N/mm2 which will become brittle at -30 deg
C. It has an alloying Manganese concentration between 1.4 to 2.0 % and
Molybdenum concentration between 0.3 to 0.6 %. It can be used with DC
current and has a deposit rate between 105 to 125 %. It can be used in all
positions except vertically down. The deposited weld metal will have a
hydrogen concentration of 10 ml/100g. Thus the ISO 2560 standard is
more detailed and comprehensive than AWS but very difficult to remember
unless proper specification tables are provided.