ARTICLE T-2

IMPACT TESTING OF WELDS

AND VESSEL TEST PLATES OF
FERROUS MATERIALS

AT-200 IMPACT TESTS the surface of one side of the material and one set
taken as near as practical midway between the surface
(a) For steel vessels of welded construction, the
and the center of thickness of the opposite side as
impact toughness of welds and heat affected zones of
described above. See QW-200.4(a) of Section IX.
procedure qualification test plates and vessel test plates
(b) Each set of heat affected zone impact specimens
(production impact test plates) shall be determined as
shall be taken across the weld and of sufficient length
required in this Article.
to locate, after etching, the notch in the affected zone.
(b) All test plates shall be subjected to heat treatment,
The notch shall be cut approximately normal to the
including cooling rates and aggregate time at tempera-
material surface in such a manner as to include as
ture or temperatures as established by the Manufacturer
much heat affected zone material as possible in the
for use in actual manufacture. Heat treatment require-
resulting fracture.
ments of Article F-4, Article T-1, and AM-201 shall
(c) For welds made by a solid-state welding process,
apply to test plates, except that the provisions of AT-
such as for electric resistance welded (ERW) pipe, the
115.3 are not applicable to test plates for welds joining
weld impact tests shall consist only of one set of three
P-No. 3, Groups 1 and 2 materials. For P-No. 1, Groups
specimens taken across the weld with the notch at the
1, 2, and 3 materials, impact testing of the welds and
weld centerline. Each specimen shall be oriented so
heat affected zones of the weld procedure qualification
that the notch is normal to the surface of the material
and production test plates need not be repeated if the
and one face of the specimen shall be within 1⁄16 in.
impact properties were determined after PWHT of the
(1.6 mm) of the surface of the material.
test plates at the temperatures and times specified in
Table AF-402.1 and the production welds are PWHT (d) The test temperature for welds and heat affected
at the temperatures and times permitted in Table AF- zones shall not be higher than for the base materials.
402.2. (e) Impact values shall be at least as high as those
required for the base materials (see AM-211).

AT-201 Location, Orientation, Temperature,

and Values of Weld Impact Tests
All weld impact tests shall comply with the following
requirements.
(a) Each set of weld metal impact specimens shall
be taken across the weld with the notch in the weld
metal. Each specimen shall be oriented so that the
notch is normal to the surface of the material, and one
face of the specimen shall be within 1⁄16 in. (1.6 mm)
of the surface of the material. When procedure tests
are made on material over 11⁄2 in. (38 mm) in thickness,
two sets of impact specimens shall be taken from the
weld with one set located near [within 1⁄16 in. (1.6 mm)]
AT-202 Impact Tests for Welding Procedures
(a) Welding procedure impact tests shall be made
on welds and heat affected zones when base materials
are required to be impact tested, except as exempted
by AM-213(c) and AM-218.2.
(b) If impact tests are required for the deposited
weld, but the base material is exempted from impact
tests (as in AM-213), welding procedure test plates
shall be made. The test plate material shall be material
of the same P-Number and Group Number used in the
vessel. One set of impact specimens shall be taken
with the notch approximately centered in the weld

258

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 AT-202 PART AT — TESTING
metal and perpendicular to the surface; the heat affected
zone need not be impact tested.
(c) When the welding procedure employed for pro-
duction welding is used for fillet welds only, it shall
be qualified by a groove weld qualification test. The
qualification test plate or pipe material shall meet the
requirements of AM-204 and AM-211 when impact
testing is a requirement. This welding procedure test
qualification is in addition to the requirements of Section
IX, QW-202.2 for P-No. 11 materials.
AT-202.1 Variables for Impact Tested Procedures.
The supplementary essential variables specified in Sec-
tion IX, QW-250, for impact testing are required.
AT-202.2 Thickness Qualified When Lower Criti-
cal Temperature Is Exceeded. For test plates or pipe
receiving a postweld heat treatment in which the lower
critical temperature is exceeded, the maximum thickness
qualified is the thickness of the test plate or pipe.
AT-202.3 Test Plate Material for Carbon and Low
Alloy Steels. For Table ACS-1 materials, the test plate
material shall satisfy all of the following requirements
relative to the material to be used in production:
(a) be of the same P-Number and Group Number;
(b) be in the same heat treated condition; and
(c) meet the minimum notch toughness requirements
of AM-211 for the thickest material of the range of
base material qualified by the procedure (see Fig.
AM-211).
AT-203 Impact Tests of Vessel Test Plates
(a) When the base material is required to be impact
tested, impact tests of welds and heat affected zones
shall be made for Category A and B joints in accordance
with AT-201 for each qualified welding procedure used
on each vessel. The test plate shall be from one of
the heats of steel used for the vessel or group of
vessels and shall be welded as an extension to the end
of a production Category A joint where practicable, or
welded as close to the start of production welding as
practicable, utilizing equipment, welding materials, and
procedures which are to be used on the production joint.
259
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AT-203.2
(b) For Category B joints that are welded using a
different welding procedure than used on Category A
joints, a test plate shall be welded under the production
welding conditions used for the vessel, using the same
type of equipment and at the same location and using
the same procedures as used for the joint, and it shall
be welded concurrently with the production welds or
as close to the start of production welding as practicable.
AT-203.1 Number of Vessel Impact Test Plates
Required
(a) For each vessel, one test plate shall be made for
each welding procedure used for joints of Categories
A and B, unless the vessel is one of several as defined
in (b) below.
In addition, for Category A and B joints, the following
requirements shall apply.
(1) If automatic or semiautomatic welding is per-
formed, a test plate shall be made in each position
employed in the vessel welding.
(2) If manual welding is also employed, a test
plate shall be made in the flat position only, except
if welding is to be performed in other positions a test
plate need be made in the vertical position only (where
the major portions of the layers of welds are deposited
in the vertical upward direction). The vertically welded
test plate will qualify the manual welding in all posi-
tions.
(3) The vessel test plate shall qualify the impact
requirements for vessel materials thickness in accor-
dance with QW-451.1 and QW-451.2 (including Notes)
of Section IX, except that, if the thickness is less than
5
⁄8 in. (16 mm), the thickness of the test material is
the minimum thickness qualified.
(b) For several vessels or parts of vessels, welded
within any 3 month period at one location, the plate
thickness of which does not vary by more than 1⁄4 in.
(6 mm) or 25%, whichever is greater, and of the same
specification and grade of material, a test plate shall
be made for each 400 ft (122 m) of joints welded by
the same procedure.
AT-203.2 Rejection. If the vessel test plate fails to
meet the impact requirements, the welds represented
by the test plate shall be unacceptable. Reheat treatment
and retesting, or retesting only, are permitted.