TUV

AN INTRODUCTION
TO THE
KNOWLEDGE
REQUIREMENTS
AND DUTIES OF
RWCs
Lecture notes for RWC course
Contents
1 Introduction...................................................................................................................................................5
2 Health and Safety..........................................................................................................................................6
2.1 Radiation................................................................................................................................................6
2.2 Electrical................................................................................................................................................6
2.3 Fumes.....................................................................................................................................................7
2.4 Confined Spaces.....................................................................................................................................7
2.5 Burns......................................................................................................................................................7
2.6 Fire protection........................................................................................................................................7
2.7 Gas cylinders..........................................................................................................................................7
2.8 P.P.E......................................................................................................................................................7
3 Metallurgy of Materials................................................................................................................................8
3.1 Carbon Steels.........................................................................................................................................8
3.1.1 Physical Metallurgy........................................................................................................................8
3.1.2 Alloying elements.........................................................................................................................11
3.1.3 Heat treatment...............................................................................................................................12
3.1.4 Weldability....................................................................................................................................13
3.2 Stainless steels.....................................................................................................................................15
3.2.1 Ferritic stainless steel....................................................................................................................15
3.2.2 Martensitic Stainless steels............................................................................................................15
3.2.3 Austenitic Stainless steels.............................................................................................................16
3.2.4 Duplex stainless steels...................................................................................................................16
3.2.5 Weld decay....................................................................................................................................17
3.2.6 Phase diagram for Chromium/ Nickel steels.................................................................................17
3.3 Aluminium...........................................................................................................................................18
3.4 Others...................................................................................................................................................19
4 Weld Metal Deposition...............................................................................................................................20
4.1 The welding arc....................................................................................................................................20
4.2 The weld pool......................................................................................................................................21
4.3 Arc shielding........................................................................................................................................22
4.4 Effect of welding parameters...............................................................................................................22
4.5 Weld position.......................................................................................................................................25
5 Welding processes......................................................................................................................................26
5.1 Manual Metal Arc................................................................................................................................26
5.2 Metal Active Gas Welding...................................................................................................................29
5.3 Tungsten Inert Gas Welding.................................................................................................................32

2
 5.4 Submerged Arc Welding Arc...............................................................................................................33
6 Materials.....................................................................................................................................................34
6.1 Carbon Steels.......................................................................................................................................34
6.2 High tensile steels................................................................................................................................35
6.3 Stainless steels.....................................................................................................................................36
6.4 Aluminium...........................................................................................................................................37
6.5 Other materials.....................................................................................................................................38
7 Design for welding......................................................................................................................................38
7.1 Joint design..........................................................................................................................................38
7.2 Properties of a welded joint..................................................................................................................41
7.2.1 Tensile...........................................................................................................................................41
7.2.2 Toughness.....................................................................................................................................42
7.2.3 Bending.........................................................................................................................................42
7.2.4 Fatigue..........................................................................................................................................42
7.2.5 Creep.............................................................................................................................................43
7.2.6 Torsion..........................................................................................................................................43
7.2.7 Shear.............................................................................................................................................43
7.2.8 Lamellar tearing............................................................................................................................43
8 pWPS, WPS, WPQR...................................................................................................................................44
8.1 BSEN15607 to 15614 standards...........................................................................................................44
8.1.1 BSEN15607..................................................................................................................................44
8.1.2 CEN ISO/TR 15608......................................................................................................................45
8.1.3 BSEN 15609.................................................................................................................................45
8.1.4 BSEN15610-BSEN15613.............................................................................................................45
8.1.5 BSEN15614..................................................................................................................................46
8.2 pWPS (to BSEN 15614-1)...................................................................................................................46
8.3 Weld Procedure Qualification Record..................................................................................................49
8.4 Testing the Procedure Welds................................................................................................................52
8.4.1 Hardness Testing...........................................................................................................................52
8.4.2 Impact Testing...............................................................................................................................53
8.4.3 Tensile Testing..............................................................................................................................54
8.4.4 Bend Testing.................................................................................................................................55
8.4.5 Macro............................................................................................................................................56
8.4.6 Cruciform Tensile Test..................................................................................................................56
8.4.7 Fillet break....................................................................................................................................57
8.5 Welding Procedure Specification.........................................................................................................57
9 Welder Qualifications.................................................................................................................................60
9.1 BSEN 9606-1 manual welding.............................................................................................................60
9.1.1 Certification..................................................................................................................................62
9.2 BSEN 14732 Automated welding........................................................................................................62
9.3 BSEN 287-1.........................................................................................................................................63

3
10 Inspection..................................................................................................................................................64
10.1 Visual.................................................................................................................................................64
10.2 Magnetic Particle Inspection..............................................................................................................64
10.3 Dye Penetrant Inspection...................................................................................................................65
10.4 Ultrasonic Inspection.........................................................................................................................65
10.5 Radiography.......................................................................................................................................66
10.6 Acceptance standards.........................................................................................................................66
11 Defects......................................................................................................................................................67
11.1 Rolled plate........................................................................................................................................67
11.2 Extruded sections...............................................................................................................................67
11.3 Weld cap............................................................................................................................................68
11.4 Weld root...........................................................................................................................................70
11.5 Weld internal......................................................................................................................................72
11.6 Surface Defects..................................................................................................................................74
11.7 Cracks................................................................................................................................................76
11.8 Geometric...........................................................................................................................................78
12 Working Standards / Legislation...............................................................................................................83
12.1 CPD....................................................................................................................................................83
12.1.1 Harmonised standards.................................................................................................................83
12.1.2 Legal implications.......................................................................................................................83
12.2 BSEN 1090-1.....................................................................................................................................84
12.2.1 BSEN 1090-2..............................................................................................................................84
12.3 BSEN 3834........................................................................................................................................87
12.3.1 BSEN 3834 Pt1...........................................................................................................................87
12.3.2 BSEN 3834 Pt3...........................................................................................................................87
12.3.3 BSEN 3834 Pt5...........................................................................................................................91
12.3.4 BSEN 3834 Pt6...........................................................................................................................91
12.4 BSEN 14731......................................................................................................................................92
12.5 BSEN 1011........................................................................................................................................93
13 RWC Involvement....................................................................................................................................93
13.1 Authority within Company.................................................................................................................93
13.1.1 Organigram.................................................................................................................................93
13.1.2 Job descriptions...........................................................................................................................93
13.2 Factory Production Control................................................................................................................94
13.2.1 Material supply............................................................................................................................94
13.2.2 Personnel.....................................................................................................................................94
13.2.3 Equipment...................................................................................................................................94
13.2.4 Product evaluation.......................................................................................................................94
13.3 Responsibilities of the RWC..............................................................................................................94
14 After the course.......................................................................................................................................100

4
 INTRODUCTION TO:

KNOWLEDGE REQUIREMENTS AND DUTIES OF RWCs

1 Introduction
This course is an introduction to the knowledge required to perform the duties of a Responsible Welding
Coordinator (RWC) under the requirements of BSEN 3834. It will give you a basic understanding of
these matters but cannot give you full technical knowledge of everything you may come across in that
role. For that you may have to get advice from a suitably qualified Engineer preferably with a EWF 1 or
IIW2 qualification such as an IWE (International Welding Engineer).

It includes basic introduction to welding materials, welding processes, inspection and the necessary
Quality Assurance and Control to enable the participants to set up and operate a WQMS (welding quality
management system)

Why is this necessary? Recent legislation from the EU is the answer.

The legislation is in the form of the “Construction Products Regulations” which in essence says – Any
Company working to any of a set of ‘harmonised’ standards must be certified to continue trading
beyond certain dates. There are well over a hundred such standards, most of which are not relevant to
us. The main ones are BSEN 1090 (Structural steel) and the materials supply specifications such as
BSEN 10025 (Hot rolled products of structural steels). The qualification to this Directive is the award
of the right to use a CE mark on all assessed products.

BSEN 1090 comes in three parts: 1-General 2-Steel 3 Aluminium. The majority of the course is based
on the first 2 parts.

The main requirements of the standard are in controlling the Design, Tolerances, Materials,
Fabrication, Erection, Inspection and the creation of a Factory Production Control Procedure (FPC).

BSEN1090 specifies that “Welding shall be undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the
relevant part of BSEN 3834 ...”. BSEN 3834 is “Quality requirements for Fusion Welding...”. BSEN
3834 is written as a companion to ISO 9001 “Quality Management Systems”. 9001 states that welding
is a special case within quality control. 3834 is written to cover this special case.

Much of the second day of this course is centred round BSEN 3834 and its requirements.

The particular requirement which concerns us is that RWC is to be appointed. This person should act
as the focal point of all welding matters within the Company. To achieve this there is a further

1 European Welding Federation

2 International Institute of Welding

5
standard BSEN 14731 (Welding coordination – Tasks and responsibilities”. This also will be
discussed in detail in Day 2.

Note – any references to “paragraphs” (para) refers to a paragraph in the Standard under
discussion. A reference to “section” refers to a part of this document.
2 Health and Safety
2.1 Radiation
Welding and cutting processes produce three forms of radiation: ultraviolet, visible and infra-red. All three
of these are produced by arc welding.

Most apparent is, of course, the visible light, extremely bright, with the capability of damaging the eyes
by its intensity. One shouldn’t look directly at an arc without suitable eye protection. Depending on the
process and or material, the density of the eye screening should be chosen accordingly. For instance,
MIG welding aluminium needs a darker glass than for MMA welding mild steel. Also, to protect non-
welding personnel in the workshop the work area should be shielded to contain the radiation. These
screens can be of canvas or similar, or may be translucent but heavily tinted.

The ultraviolet radiation is equally important; it is a factor in the damage to the eye but also can have a
serious effect on the skin also. It is equivalent to very strong sunlight. It can cause severe burning to
the skin and repeated exposure could lead to skin cancer. Always protect skin from the radiation by
covering up the skin to cut out the rays. Use a substantial material to totally block the rays – a thin
cotton t-shirt is not adequate.

The infra-red radiation is heat. Protect the skin and unsuitable clothing (eg Nylon) from the heat of
radiation. If in close proximity to the work, use good quality, flame-proof overalls and if necessary,
gloves and head covering.

2.2 Electrical
Electricity kills!! It is the most serious risk facing welding personnel. Touching ‘live’ electrical components,
including the electrode and the workpiece, can result in a burn injury or, more seriously electric shock,
which can prove fatal.

The hazard can be divided into 2 categories, Primary and Secondary voltage shock.

The Primary Shock is that of mains voltage whether it is 240 volts or 440 volts. Both of these can kill
instantly. Ensure that all parts at these voltages are suitably shielded and don’t use any plant where
this is not so. Use a qualified electrician if there is a need to deal with these parts of the equipment.

Secondary Shock is that of welding voltage normally 60 to 100 volts. This can arise from touching the
electrode or possibly a damaged cable. Such shocks are avoidable and only occur as a result of carelessness,
lack of training, poor workmanship or faulty equipment.

Check the welding plant / workshop equipment on a regular basis, items to be checked include: Welding
cables, leads & connectors, condition of ammeters, voltmeters, regulators etc. general condition of
equipment. If in doubt report it to your supervisor / maintenance department immediately

2.3 Fumes
Gaseous fume is invisible fume created by the welding and cutting process. Often present in the
workshop, but undetected normally. Gases of most concern in the welding environment are ozone,

6
oxides of nitrogen (NO and NO2) & carbon monoxide – all of which are caused by the action of the arc
on atmospheric gases and also from the breakdown of the coating on MMA welding. All these gases
are potentially harmful.

Protection from Fume includes fan extraction, either local to the welding process (known as LEV –
local exhaust ventilation) or by ventilating the whole work area. For the welders, air fed respirators
are most valuable in keeping them substantially fume-free. There is published data on weld fumes. In
particular, welding fume content can be obtained MSDS sheets for the applicable welding
consumables. These are available from the manufacturers of the consumables.

2.4 Confined Spaces

In any confined space (storage tank for example) restricted ventilation will cause the build up of a
potentially hazardous atmosphere. If working in a confined space welders must be properly trained,
equipped and supervised at all times. Additional PPE (over and above that normally necessary) may
be required when welding in a confined space. Breathing apparatus should be considered

2.5 Burns
The source of the hazard may be: Hot metal (a welded component or part of the welding equipment such
as a MIG gun nozzle), Arc rays, Flames or Chemicals (Pickling paste for example).

Preventative Measures include: Correct PPE – Gloves (gauntlets), flame retardant overalls, welders caps,
welding sleeves etc., Correct handling equipment for workpieces, Shielding of the welding arc form
other persons.

2.6 Fire protection

Bad housekeeping is most common cause of fires. Welding should not take place in areas which contain
flammable liquids or materials. Keep the workplace tidy and check regularly.

2.7 Gas cylinders

Gas cylinders are a potential hazard if not secured properly. They should always be held in a purpose built
carrier, not tied to the workbench with a bit of rope. Also ensure the gauges are protected and working
properly.

2.8 P.P.E.
Appropriate PPE should be supplied. And it must be worn as required. It should be kept in good condition
and replaced when necessary.

If you need additional safety information in an easily read form, SAIF in USA publish a useful document
numbered ss-832 [Google –‘ saif welding safety’]

And also the HSE information found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/welding/

7
 3 Metallurgy of Materials
3.1 Carbon Steels

3.1.1 Physical Metallurgy

3.1.1.1 General
Carbon steel is a mixture of iron with carbon and other elements known as alloying elements. An
understanding of the relationship between the iron and carbon is fundamental to understanding how
steel properties can be varied to produce a wide variety of products. In the structural field, the
relationship is not as complex as it is in more exotic steels. To understand the basics we need to
examine how the iron/carbon mixture varies depending on the amount of carbon and the temperature.
First of all, a little explanation at the atomic level of metals.

3.1.1.2 Crystal structures

All metals when in solid form into a regular pattern of atoms which is repeated throughout the material,
known as a crystal lattice. Iron has a pattern, or crystal structure, based around a cube. But it’s not a
simple cube; it’s a cube with extra atoms. At room temperature, there is an extra atom at the centre of
the cube (ferrite or α) while at higher temperatures it has its extra atoms at the centre of the faces
(austenite or γ). There is yet a further crystal type which can be found in steel which has been rapidly
cooled this is called martensite. The crystal structures are also referred to as phases.

All of the atoms interlock together to form a continuous structure

3.1.1.3 Phases
The austenite and ferrite exist at different temperatures but the temperature where it changes is also
influenced by the amount of carbon in the steel. To demonstrate this and to explain the relationship
between phases we need to look at what is known as a phase diagram for the Iron/Carbon system.

8
 This might look rather daunting,
but we only have to look at a
very small part of it.

In Structural steels, the carbon

tend to be around 0.15% so
we’re looking at the middle of
the right hand column [about
where is says A3]. As the steel
is heated the structure is
ferritic until 720°C when the
ferrite becomes unstable – ie it
is happier if it changed into
austenite. As the temperature
rises further, all the steel turns
to austenite.

Eventually if the temperature is increased, it will melt at roundabout 1500°C. Ignore the bit at the top
where it says ‘δ-Fe’ that phase has no relevance to welding. The principal points to note here are that
the steel is fully austenitic above 900 °C and fully ferritic below 720°C.

3.1.1.4 Crystal growth

As steel cools from molten, it passes through the austenitic phase before finishing as ferrite with some
cementite it. Not all the steel cools at the same rate, first of all a nucleus of atoms form the start of a
crystal structure then the remaining atoms build onto the nucleus until all of the metal is solid. In the
case of a weld the nucleation starts at the coolest part of the molten weld pool which will be the
interface between the molten pool and un-melted parent metal. (Known as the fusion line), A typical
cooling cycle is show here.

The first diagram shows the formation of what is known as a dendritic structure which is a growing
crystal anchored to the coolest part of the weld pool. As it attracts more atoms to it then the crystals
meet up and form solid grains. ( 2nd diagram). Finally the rest of the pool solidifies. (3rd diagram). It
solidified as smaller grains because the pool has cooled down further and the atoms must solidify as
soon as possible and there are more dendrites forming to speed up the solidification.

The dendrites form at

different angles to
each other so when
they meet, the grains
do not join together
smoothly, causing
gaps in the structure

9
In steel, the grains (or crystals) are formed as austenite (see above) and they remain at that until the
temperature drops to 900°C at which points they begin to change into ferrite. The nuclei of ferrite
grains start at the junction of the austenite grains and spread out from there. And once 700°C is reached
all the atoms should be now in a ferrite arrangement. If the weld pool is cooling slowly, there will be
bigger grains of austenite formed and will have fewer site for nucleation of ferrite. So slow cooling
will give larger grains. This is not usually desirable as larger grains often give a weaker steel.

If the pool is cooled quickly there will be more austenite grains as the speed of nucleation of the grains
must increase to make sure that all the steel in solid at the correct temperature. So more rapid cooling
normally has a beneficial effect. However, if the pool is cooled down too quickly, there is not enough
time for the ferrite to nucleate fully from the austenite and another structure is formed, this is called
martensite. This phase in structural steel is not normally desirable as it is very hard and is brittle, so
cracking is a distinct possibility. (In other, non-structural, steels, martensite is encouraged to form as it
can make the steel hard enough to give, for instance, wear resistance.)

3.1.1.5 Heat affected zone

During welding, the welding arc melts the filler metal and also some of the parent material to fuse the
two together. It follows that the temperature at this interface will be at 1500°C or so, the melting point
of iron. Some distance away from the weld the parent metal the temperature will be at room
temperature (or at preheat temperature). So there must be a gradient of temperature from the fusion
line to the unaffected parent. There will be a band of the metal close to the fusion line which has been
heated up to a temperature above 700°C and thus will have transformed into austenite. Once the arc
has passed, this area will cool down. If the cooling rate is slow, ferrite will reform, but with rapid
cooling some martensite may form as well. This area which has been heated up to transformation is
known as the heat affected zone (HAZ), both its microstructure and its properties will have changed.
The width of the HAZ will vary depending on how much heat was put into the arc and the thickness
of the material.

There will be a gradation of properties across the HAZ depending on what was the maximum
temperature. Usually, because the heat cycle is a rapid rise then fall, it tends to harden the steel to
above that of the parent plate and the weld itself. See typical hardness survey in the above graph.

10
Because of the change in properties which may be unpredictable, weld testing always includes testing of
the HAZ. A typical macrostructure of a HAZ shows the area alongside the weld, note the different
appearance of the HAZ as it goes from the fusion line to the parent plate.

HAZ 10mm

3.1.2 Alloying elements

Alloying elements either deliberately added or present in the steel from the manufacturing process
have an effect on the strength, toughness and hardness. Their effect is either by the formation of brittle
compounds which are usually undesirable or by entering the crystal lattice and by distorting it
increase its strength. Some of the most common are given below.

3.1.2.1 Carbon
As stated above, the principal alloying element of steel is carbon (C). It has been shown that increasing
carbon content in plain carbon steels will lead to increases in hardness and consequently increases in
the tensile and yield strengths. Corresponding to these changes will be decreases in ductility, and
impact strength

3.1.2.2 Manganese
Some manganese (Mn) is present in nearly all steels. It is usually below 1% and it is only when this amount
is exceeded that it is regarded as a deliberately added alloying element. It has a considerable strengthening
effect on ferrite and increases hardenability

3.1.2.3 Nickel
Nickel (Ni) was one of the first elements added to plain carbon steels, its main advantage being to
increase tensile strengths without adversely affecting ductility. It has an effect of reducing the transition
temperature (see section 8.4.2). Because of this, it is of great use in making cryogenic steels which can
operate at temperatures down to -190C

Nickel in moderate amounts also increases hardenability allowing slower quench rates than in plain carbon
steels.

3.1.2.4 Sulphur, Phosphorus and Silicon

Sulphur (S) is the most deleterious impurity commonly present in steel. If precautions are not taken to
render it harmless it will form the brittle sulphide, FeS. The most common way to reduce its effect is
to make sure there is enough manganese in the steel to allow the formation of manganese sulphide
which is relatively harmless. Normally the S content is kept below 0.01%.

11
Phosphorus is also considered an undesirable element. It can form the brittle phosphide which can lead
to poor performance of the steel. The control measure for this is to remove as much as possible at the
steel making stage.

Silicon is usually used as a deoxidant during steel making to reduce the formation of brittle oxides of iron.
In the levels encountered in structural steel it has little effect on the steel performance or the weldability.

3.1.2.5 Tramp elements

These are elements that are encountered in steel which are not (usually) added as alloying elements.
Many of these result from the increasing use of scrap as a source of steel. Among these elements are
copper (Cu) and tin (Sn). Copper is from re-melted crushed cars still with some electric wiring and tin
from tin cans. They are usually in small enough quantities not to cause serious problems. However,
some of them must be taken into account when assessing the weldability of the steel (see
section.3.1.4)

3.1.2.6 Low alloy steels

These steel are somewhat stronger than plain carbon or carbon manganese, but still retain good
weldability. They derive their strength from the addition of small amounts of Niobium (Nb), Titanium
(Ti) and/ or Vanadium (V). These elements may be seen in structural steels that are higher than the
more usual higher grade of S355. They also are included in the assessment of weldability (section 3.1.4)

3.1.3 Heat treatment

There a variety of heat treatments that steel can be subjected to. Each has their own purpose. The steel
plates and sections may be supplied in a number of heat treated conditions. And the finished
fabrication may have heat treatment prior to being delivered. Heat treatment involves raising the
temperature to a desired level and then ‘soaking’ it to stabilise the temperature throughout the
thickness of the metal. It may then be cooled in a number of ways depending on the desired steel
properties needed.

The heat treatments normally encountered are summarised in this diagram.

The lines A, N and Q all start the treatment by heating up to approx.900°C and holding it there until all
of the ferrite has changed to austenite. At the end of the soaking time the metal is then cooled. The rate
of cooling is critical; depending on the desired properties.

12
The A line is that for annealing. Here the metal is furnace cooled at a slow rate. The ensuing structure
has very large grains (they have time to grow on the austenitic grain boundaries) and the metal is very
soft. The annealed material is often used for folding or forming various shapes. It is unlikely to be used
for structural steel.

The N line is normalising. The metal is cooled in still air so it has medium rate of cooling. This encourages
more grains to form than from annealing and a fine grain structure is achieved. This is the usual heat
condition that is supplied for plates, sections and extrusions for structural work.

The Q line is quenching. Instead of allowing the metal to cool naturally in air or a furnace, the metal is
rapidly cooled by putting it into water or oil. This has the effect of making the grains very small and
thus enhances the strength, but it also forms some martensite which makes it brittle. You will not be
supplied with quenched structural steel. In order to make it useable, it needs tempering. See below.

The S line is the treatment known as stress relieving. In some complicated shapes or on thick material
the stresses caused by the weld metal cooling and contracting could be so high that, when the inservice
load is superimposed, the sum of the stresses may be too great for the material to withstand. To reduce
the internal stresses, the metal is heated up to 600°C ± 30°C. It is then soaked for a period and then air
cooled. This temperature is not so high that it approaches the ferrite transformation temperature but is
high enough to soften the metal and allow the stresses to relax. This process often reduces the strength
of the metal and this must be taken into account when the thickness is calculated by the designer.

The last line marked T is the temper line. This has a similar effect to the stress relieving process but as
it is carried out a lower temperature (in the region of 350 to 500°C) there is less loss of strength. While
stress relieving is to reduce the locked in stresses from fabrication, tempering has the effect of
modifying the material. It will reduce hardness, increase ductility and reduce the effect of martensite.
It is used to improve the properties of quenched material; the hardness and martensite from the
quenching are moderated to give a strong weldable material. This is referred to as a ‘Q&T’ steel.

There are other techniques used for heat treatment but they tend to be used on more exotic alloys and so
are not discussed here.

3.1.3.1 PWHT
PWHT is short for post weld heat treatment. This is a specific action that needs to be addressed as part
of the RWC’s review of the welding and, where necessary, it will need to be included in the weld
procedure qualification.. Almost invariably, the PWHT is stress relieving (see above). With structural
materials and design it is very rare to apply PWHT, but it must be taken into consideration when looking
at a new design or new materials.

3.1.4 Weldability
This is literally - how easy is this material to weld? There are 2 failure modes in structural steel that are
a result of poor weldability. Hydrogen induced cracking and lamellar tearing. Lamellar tearing is
discussed in section 7.2.8.

Hydrogen is an undesirable element in steel. It comes from the welding arc’s effect on moisture, the
MMA weld coating, dirt on the weld preparation etc. These break down in the intense heat of the arc, and
form part of the gas shroud at the arc. Hydrogen is present in the arc in its atomic form due to the high
temperature; it is also very soluble in molten iron so when the metal cools there will be hydrogen in the
weld. Hydrogen is a small atom so it can move between the iron atoms; some reach the surface and

13
escape, but some can accumulate in small imperfections in the crystal structure; typically at the grain
boundaries. When the hydrogen reaches such an area, it combines with another atom to form a stable
molecule. The molecule takes up a larger volume than two atoms and so a pressure of hydrogen gas can
build up in the imperfection. If this pressure gets too great for the surrounding metal it will apply stress
to the material. If the material is brittle, it cannot absorb the stress and it will crack. If it’s ductile
material it can distort and not crack. It takes time for the hydrogen to diffuse and can take up to 48 hours
to stop diffusing. Thus cracking can take place well after the joint has cooled down. For this reason it is
often referred to as ‘cold cracking’ or ‘delayed cracking’. There are thus two things that hydrogen
cracking needs – migration of the hydrogen atoms and hard areas where it can accumulate.

Solutions to the problem include;

Minimising of the amount of hydrogen in the arc,

Controlling the hardness of the material

Encouraging the hydrogen to migrate to the surface and not into imperfections.

The first can be solved by using a low hydrogen process such as MAG or TIG, using basic low hydrogen
electrodes for MMA welding and making sure there are no contaminants in the weld area which may
break down in the arc.

To control the hardness, there are a number of factors involved - but the principal ones are chemical
composition, component thickness and welding heat input. With a susceptible steel, the welding can
cause unacceptable hardness. And a thick material will conduct the heat away from the weld very
rapidly, again leading to high hardness. One solution would be to weld a component and stress relieve
it. However, if very susceptible, it may crack even before the component is put into the furnace.

A far better, and cheaper, solution would be to preheat the weld area before welding. The preheat will
have 2 effects. It will reduce the rate of cooling so that the hydrogen has more time to diffuse out.
And secondly the reduced rate of cooling will help to limit the hard zones within the material, this is
particularly important when the material is thick.

3.1.4.1 CE
The susceptibility of the steel itself to hydrogen cracking is solved by control of the chemical
composition. All of the common alloying elements add to the hardness of the steel. They do this to
varying extents. The commonest way of doing this is to assess the hardenability by using a formula to
add up the effects of the elements to a single value called the Carbon Equivalent (CE). From this
value one can assess if the material is difficult to weld. As a rough rule of thumb, and it should not be
taken too accurately, if a CE is less than 0.38 there should be no complications in welding; a material
of CE above 0.46 should be treated with caution and care may be needed to weld it successfully.

To calculate the CE use the following formula:

14
 3.1.4.2 Calculation of preheat
With the information of the CE, the thickness of the materials, the welding process and the heat input, it
is possible to work out the required preheat for structural steels and many other materials. This is dealt
with some detail in section 13.3 (B6) when the duties of a RWC are discussed.

3.2 Stainless steels

There are two main families of stainless steels in common use in a structural context. One, the most
common are the austenitic series and the other the ferritic/martensitic types. Both contain a minimum
of 12% Chromium (Cr) as it is at this level of Cr that gives steel its non-corrosive properties.

3.2.1 Ferritic stainless steel

Chromium is an alloying element that promotes the formation of ferrite in steel; in the case of the
ferritic stainless steels, this ferrite is the high temperature form known as delta-ferrite. Unlike the
carbon/ manganese steels, this steel stays as body centred cubic at all temperatures and so has no
phase changes as it cools from melting point down to room temperature; they cannot therefore be
hardened by heat treatment and this has implications with respect to the properties of welded joints.

Ferritic stainless steels generally have better engineering properties than austenitic grades, but have
reduced corrosion resistance, because of the lower chromium and nickel content. They are also usually
less expensive. They contain between 10.5% and 27% chromium and very little nickel.

Many of the applications that use ferritic steels are those where a moderate amount of corrosion resistance
is required relatively cheaply. The cost is intermediate between carbon steel and austenitic steel. The
ferritic stainless steels are used in applications where good corrosion/oxidation resistance is required but
in service loads are not excessive, e.g. flue gas ducting, vehicle exhausts, road and rail vehicles.

There are a number of welding problems with the ferritic steels. Although they are not regarded as
hardenable, small amounts of martensite can form, resulting in a loss of ductility. In addition, if the
steel is heated to a sufficiently high temperature, very rapid grain growth can occur, also resulting in a
loss of ductility and toughness.

Typical analyses are %:

C – 0.08 to 0.20

Mn 1.0 to 1.

Plus 3 ranges of Cr content: 10.5 to 11.75 & 16.0 to 18.0 & 23.0 to 27.0

Can also contain 1.0% Mo.

Welding consumables for the ferritic steels are generally of the austenitic type; type 309L (low carbon
grade) is the most commonly used. This is to ensure that any dilution that occurs does not result in a
low ductility austenitic/ferritic/martensitic weld metal micro-structure. Nickel based consumables
may also be used and will result in better service performance where the component is thermally
cycled. Although the ferritic steels contain only small amounts of carbon, on rapid cooling, carbide
precipitation at the grain boundaries can 'sensitise' the steel making it susceptible to inter-crystalline
corrosion. When this is associated with a weld it is often known as weld decay (see below).

15
Developments in recent years of extra low carbon, titanium or niobium containing grades have,
however, improved this situation

3.2.2 Martensitic Stainless steels

If a ferritic type stainless steel has Carbon or Nitrogen added to it, it will significantly change its
properties. Carbon and nitrogen are two elements that promote the formation of austenite so, as the
percentage of carbon and/or nitrogen increases, the ferritic steel can be designed so that, on heating
up, to transform, wholly or partially, to austenite before, on cooling transforming back to ferrite. This
series of phase changes are similar to those in a carbon manganese steel, enabling the steel to be
hardened by producing martensite mixed with the ferrite.

Martensitic stainless steels are not as corrosion-resistant as the other two classes but are extremely
strong and tough, as well as highly machinable, and can be hardened by heat treatment. Martensitic
stainless steel contains chromium (12–14%), molybdenum (0.2–1%), nickel (less than 2%), and
carbon (about 0.1–1%) (giving it more hardness but making the material a bit more brittle).

The martensitic grades have better weldability and higher strengths than the ferritic grades. They are
often found in creep service and in the oil and gas industries where they have good erosion and
corrosion resistance. The martensitic grades are used in more challenging environments and, as the
name suggests, present rather more metallurgical problems than the ferritic steels. Both the higher
carbon (>0.1%) and low carbon (<0.1%) versions, with a few exceptions, require preheat and PWHT to
avoid weldment cracking problems and to provide a sufficiently tough and ductile joint.

The PWHT must be tightly controlled and depends on a number of factors. It is advisable to treat each weld
procedure individually and take expert advice before starting the work.

3.2.3 Austenitic Stainless steels

Austenitic stainless steels have an austenitic crystalline structure, which is a face-centred cubic crystal
structure. Austenite steels make up over 70% of total stainless steel production. They contain a
maximum of 0.15% carbon, a minimum of 16% chromium and sufficient nickel and/or manganese to
retain an austenitic structure at all temperatures from the cryogenic region to the melting point of the
alloy.

The most widely used austenite steels are normally referred to by their USA designation of 3 figures,
sometimes with further information attached to the end. The most widely used is the 304, also known
as 18/8 for its composition of 18% chromium and 8% nickel. The second most common austenite
steel is the 316 grade, also called marine grade stainless, used primarily for its increased resistance to
corrosion particularly being resistant to chlorides and is thus used extensively offshore.

Austenitic steels are not susceptible to hydrogen cracking, therefore pre-heating is seldom required,
except to reduce the risk of shrinkage stresses in thick sections. Post weld heat treatment is seldom
required as this material as a high resistance to brittle fracture; occasionally stress relief is carried out
to reduce the risk of stress corrosion cracking, however this is likely to cause sensitisation unless a
stabilised grade is used (limited stress relief can be achieved with a low temperature of around
450°C).

Weld metal solidification cracking is more likely to occur in fully austenitic structures, which are more
crack sensitive than those containing a small amount of ferrite. Ferrite has the capacity to dissolve
harmful impurities which would otherwise form low melting point segregates and interdendritic cracks.

16
The presence of 5-10% ferrite in the microstructure is extremely beneficial, so the choice of filler
material composition is crucial in suppressing the risk of cracking

3.2.4 Duplex stainless steels

Although you are unlikely to come across them in a structural context (except off shore) there is one last
version of stainless steel which is carefully controlled to give the metal the best properties of both
ferrite and austenite.

Duplex stainless steels have a two-phase structure of almost equal proportions of austenite and ferrite.
The composition of the most common duplex steels lies within the range 22-26% Cr, 4-7% Ni and 03%
Mo normally with a small amount of nitrogen (0.1-0.3%) to stabilise the austenite. Modern duplex
steels are readily weldable but the procedure, especially maintaining the heat input range, must be
strictly followed to obtain the correct weld metal structure.

Although most welding processes can be used, low heat input welding procedures are usually avoided.
Preheat is not normally required and the maximum interpass temperature must be controlled. Choice
of filler is important as it is designed to produce a weld metal structure with a ferrite-austenite balance
to match the parent metal

3.2.5 Weld decay

If any part of stainless steel is heated in the range 500 degrees to 800 degrees for any reasonable time
there is a risk that the chromium will form chrome carbides (a compound formed with carbon) with
any carbon present in the steel. This reduces the chromium available to provide the corrosion
resistance and leads to preferential corrosion, which can be severe. This is often referred to as
sensitisation. Therefore it is advisable when welding stainless steel to use low heat input and restrict
the maximum interpass temperature to around 175°, although sensitisation of modern low carbon
grades is unlikely unless heated for prolonged periods. Small quantities of either titanium (321) or
niobium (347) added to stabilise the material will inhibit the formation of chrome carbides.

The weld decay is most likely

to be found in the heat
affected zone and, in
particular in the grain
boundaries. It can be so
severe as to cause failure
particularly when bent. A
typical, but severe case of
intergranular effect is shown
in this microsection enlarged
720 times. The depletion of
the grain boundaries is clearly
seen.

3.2.6 Phase diagram for Chromium/ Nickel steels.

There are many different types of stainless steel and each can contain a varying amount of austenite, ferrite
and martensite. It is possible to predict the phases that will be found in any stainless steel by calculating
the equivalents of Ni and Cr and using them to examine this phase diagram.

17
This diagram also shows the positions of the common alloys. There will be no detailed discussion of this,
just be aware of its existence.

3.3 Aluminium
Aluminium is only briefly touched on here. There is a part of BSEN 1090 which refers directly to
aluminium but it only differs in detail.

Aluminium comes in 7 different grades of which only 3 are of interest to us.

The major alloying element in 4xxx series alloys (4032, 4043, 4145, 4643 etc.) is silicon, which can be
added in sufficient quantities (up to 12%) to cause substantial lowering of the melting range. For this
reason, aluminium-silicon alloys are used in welding wire and as brazing alloys for joining aluminium,
where a lower melting range than that of the base metal is required. The aluminium alloys containing
appreciable amounts of silicon become dark gray to charcoal when anodic oxide finishes are applied
and hence are in demand for architectural applications.

The major alloying element of the 5000 series is magnesium; when it is used as a major alloying
element or with manganese, the result is a moderate-to-high-strength work-hardenable alloy.
Magnesium is considerably more effective than manganese as a hardener – about 0.8% Mg being
equal to 1.25% Mn – and it can be added in considerably higher quantities. Aluminum alloys in this
series (5005, 5052, 5083, 5086, etc.) possess good welding characteristics and relatively good
resistance to corrosion in marine atmospheres. However, limitations should be placed on the amount
of cold work and the operating temperatures (150°F) permissible for the higher-magnesium aluminum
alloys to avoid susceptibility to stress-corrosion cracking.

Aluminum alloys in the 6xxx series (6061, 6063) contain silicon and magnesium approximately in the
proportions required for formation of magnesium silicide (Mg2Si), thus making them heat treatable.

Although not as strong as some other alloys, 6xxx series aluminum alloys have good formability,
weldability, machinability, and relatively good corrosion resistance, with medium strength.
Aluminum grades in this heat-treatable group may be formed in the T4 temper (solution heat treated
but not precipitation heat treated) and strengthened after forming to full T6 properties by precipitation
heat treatment.

18
3.4 Others
These materials include, but are not limited to inconels, nimonics, monel tantalum, titanium, tungsten,
zirconium, niobium. If you become involved with any of these – ask an expert because none of them
are simple to weld.

The other fringe materials you may come across are proprietary metals such as Hardox. You may also
have a need for facing a component with another metal such as welding a layer of stainless steel or a
wear resistant layer onto mild steel. These are not difficult but use an expert until you understand how
to weld such components

19
 4 Weld Metal Deposition
4.1 The welding arc
A welding arc is a low voltage, high current electrical discharge between the electrode and the
workpiece. Most commonly, the electrode is a consumable one and the majority of the weld metal
comes from this electrode which is fed constantly into the weld pool. A typical welding arc is shown
here. It is in fact a MMA weld but the principles are identical for MAG also.

The arc is struck between the electrode and the workpiece; arcs typically have a temperature of 5000°C
– more than enough to melt both the electrode and the base metal. The electrode melts rapidly in small
droplets which are propelled across the arc by the electrical flow. This molten metal is very easily
oxidised at these high temperatures and the oxides formed will have a deleterious effect on the
deposited weld metal. Two principal means of shielding the gas from oxidation are used in structural
fabrication.

One, which is shown here is to have a flux coating on the outside (or inside for Flux cored wires). This
breaks down in the heat of the arc and produces a gas which prevents the air from reaching the molten
weld. The remainder of the coating is projected across the arc with the weld metal this is referred to as
slag. It mixes with the weld metal and may interact with it. Depending on the constituents in the
coating, the gas shield and the slag may have differing effects on the final weld. The gases in the arc
also have the effect of stabilising the arc and make operate smoothly

The other uses an external source of gas which is fed into the weld area such that it shields the arc.
There is no slag formed by this process.

The arc heat will also melt some of the base metal which mixes with the metal from the electrode to
form the weld pool. The way in which the arc melts the base metal is important. The arc must be
directed onto the parent material to ensure that it melts and fuses properly. If the pool is merely
allowed to flow against the parent metal on the side of a Vee preparation, for instance, it may not be
hot enough to fuse properly and an area of lack of fusion may result. Proper control of the rod or torch
manipulation is essential to avoid this.

When the molten material enters the weld pool it is diluted by mixing with the melted parent plate.

20
Although the undiluted composition produced by the welding consumable may be optimised and pure, the
parent plate may be lower in alloying elements, or introduce an undesirable level of impurities such as
sulphur and phosphorus into the weld pool. Some of these impurities will be removed by dissolving in the
molten slag (for MMA). Or, for MAG they may be acted upon by additional elements (typically aluminium
and silicon) within the wire. Prepared surfaces may also be contaminated with scale and rust, and the ability
to cope with these will depend upon the welding consumables. MMA welding can cope with dirty or rusty
plate better than MAG because of the slag interactions. The chemical reactions within the weld pool can be
very complex.

4.2 The weld pool

As the arc passes along the joint, the arc heat will reduce and the metal solidifies. Firstly, the weld
metal solidifies and the slag, which has a lower melting point, will rise to surface and solidify on top
of the metal to further shield it.

Solidification of the weld metal takes place by columnar grain growth (the weld metal crystals start at
the fusion line and grow long and thin - in columns) at the trailing edge of the weld pool. Ripples on
the weld bead (or segregation bands revealed by etching of a section through the weld) result from
alternating slow and rapid growth of the solid metal. The columnar grains grow perpendicular to these
indications of successive positions of the growth front, at the solidification temperature (about 1530°C
for mild steel). At the sides of the weld pool, the heat flows to the cold plate, and the grains grow in
the opposite direction towards the centre of the weld. In the presence of impurities (such as sulphur),
which can concentrate at the centre-line of the weld it can cause a low-melting temperature
intergranular film, and is therefore susceptible to solidification cracking on the centreline. Manganese
is beneficial as it will segregate with the sulphur and lower its concentration in the pool by the
precipitation of manganese sulphide, hence restricting the depression of melting point. An increase in
the size of the weld pool, caused by raising the rate of heat input may promote cracking. However,
solidification cracking will still not normally occur unless the smooth progress of the weld is
interrupted. Such disruptions occur at the start and stop locations as shown.

The size of the pool will depend on the amount of heat being put into the weld. So the higher the weld
current or the slower the speed of travel, the heat will be higher than in a low current, fast weld. If the
pool is large, the grains will cool more slowly and so will be larger, and so will be softer and often
weaker. If the weld pool is small, the pool will cool rapidly and will produce small stronger grains.
This can have the advantage of strength weld metal but if too small could cool so rapidly that
martensite could form. A happy medium is called for.

21
The amount of heat in the weld area will affect the size and structure of the HAZ. If the cooling is too
rapid the HAZ will be excessively hard and could lead to underbead cracking. This may be made
worse if hydrogen diffuses into the hard area as this will lead to cold cracking.

Gases can enter the molten metal from the arc atmosphere, as well as from slag-metal reactions during
welding. It is beneficial to reduce the content of these gases to a minimum, as they can adversely
affect the properties of the weld. They can form undesirable compounds but, more importantly, can be
retained within the weld and cause porosity. As well as dissolved gas, as the pool cools it may trap
slag in the solidifying metal. Both of these defects will effectively reduce the weld metal cross-section
area and can weaken the metal. Or they may act as stress raisers in the initiation of fatigue (see 7.2.4)

4.3 Arc shielding

As mentioned above, the weld is protected from the atmosphere by a shroud of gas from the coating or
a gas supply.

The MMA coating comes in three main types which are discussed in section 5. The function of the
coating is to provide shielding, cover for the cooling weld metal and also to supply additives to the
weld pool. These additives may simply be additional steel so the weight of deposited weld metal is
greater than the weight of the core wire alone (often called iron powder electrodes), or they may add
other alloying elements to the pool thus changing the composition significantly. If the strength or
corrosion resistance of the weld is dependent on the alloying from the coating, it is essential to use
electrodes which have an undamaged coating otherwise there may be parts of the weld which are
outside of the required composition.

The gas used by MAG welding provides shielding from the air but does not form a slag for later
protection. However, there should be sufficient gas to produce an extensive gas shroud to protect the
solidifying metal. The composition of the gas can have a major effect on the properties of the weld, both
in its composition and its shape. This is discussed in section 5

There is also another type of wire used for MAG. This is known as a tubular wire and can be either flux
cored or metal cored wire. The flux cored wire has an outer skin of steel and a core of welding flux of
similar composition to MMA welding coating. The weld/slag reactions are similar to MMA.
This can be either used with a gas shield or the flux may be formulated to provide adequate shielding.
The metal cored wires provide additional metal to the weld and may change the weld significantly.

As well as shielding the weld pool it may be necessary to protect the root of a full penetration weld
from oxidation, this particularly so for stainless and aluminium welding. The root area must be
protected from the atmosphere by an inert gas shield during welding and subsequent cooling. The gas
shield (usually Argon) should be contained around the root of the weld by a suitable dam, which must
permit a continuous gas flow through the area. Welding should not commence until sufficient time
has elapsed to allow the volume of purging gas flowing through the dam to equal at least the 6 times
the volume contained in the dam (EN1011 Part 3 Recommends 10). Once purging is complete the
purge flow rate should be reduced so that it only exerts a small positive pressure, sufficient to exclude
air. If good corrosion resistance of the root is required the oxygen level in the dam should not exceed
0.1 %( 1000 ppm); for extreme corrosion resistance this should be reduced to 0.015% (150 ppm).

An alternative to using a backing gas, is to protect the root by either a backing bar or by covering the root
area with a strip (usually flexible) which has a layer of flux on it to protect the root pass.

22
4.4 Effect of welding parameters
The weld pool can also be influenced by the welding parameters used. The size of the pool and the amount
of deposited weld metal can be varied, as can be the shape of the weld pass surface.

Firstly, the effect of the voltage is to alter both the width and depth of the pool. Its effect is to alter the arc
length with the following effects:

Arc Length Too Short

This weld was laid with the end of the rod covered by the molten slag. The surface of the weld is uneven
where it has been dragged along by the rod, and the weld will be low on strength and contain slag
inclusions.

Arc Length OK
A normal arc weld. The weld has a consistent profile and minimal spatter.

Arc Length Too Long

Too great a distance between the rod and the work will increase the voltage resulting in a flat and wide
weld with a great deal of spatter. It also makes the arc unstable, and the slag will be difficult to
remove from the edges of the weld. Sectioning this weld reveals undercutting to the left side.

The welding current (amps) is a contributor to the heat in the weld pool and also the amount of filler metal
that has been melted.

23
Amps too low
Setting the amps too low will result in a tall, narrow bead lacking in penetration. The weld will be difficult
to start and the arc prone to straying towards one side of a joint in preference to the other.

Amps too high

The bead is wide, flat and irregular, and a small undercut can be seen on the right of the weld in the
sectioned photo. A deep crater has formed at the end of the weld, and the slag is difficult to remove
from the edges of the weld.
Excessive current should not be compensated by excessive travel speed. This can result in slag inclusions
due to rapid cooling of the weld.

Amps OK
With the amps set correctly the bead is a consistent rounded shape, and the slag is easy to remove.

Weld travel speed also alters the heat input and can have a major effect on the size of the HAZ.

Speed OK
The bead is fairly consistent. The ridges in the weld are semi-circular.

Speed Too Fast

Excessive speed results in a thin, weak bead. The ridges in the weld are elongated and triangular. Had the
current been increased to compensate for the speed the ridges would still remain elongated.

24
Speed Too Slow
Welding too slowly results in a wide tall build up of weld. The shape of the weld is not consistent as the
weld pool has built up and then collapsed into the crater. The poor control of the weld pool can result in
cold joints and slag inclusions.

The thickness has a significant effect on the way in which the heat flows away from the weld zone.

2 dimensional heat flow

3 dimensional heat flow

Heat will be conducted away from the weld area faster in thick plate (3 dimensional flow) than in a thin
plate. This can affect the preheat needed in the joint.

4.5 Weld position

Also affecting the size of the weld pool is the position of the weld. For instance, a larger weld pool can
be maintained in the PA position than in the PC position horizontal- vertical position. A summary of
the welding positions is shown below:

25
NOTE – Position PG on pipes has been renamed as PJ

Position PF on pipe has been renamed as PH

5 Welding processes
5.1 Manual Metal Arc
The manual metal arc process (also known as ‘SMAW or shielded metal arc welding’ or ‘stick welding)
is the simplest of the welding processes.

26
Take a power source (from the mains, or from a generator), 2 cables, an electrode holder and a return cable
(earth) clamp ; plus some electrodes and you are ready to weld.

This one of the advantages of the process, it is easy to set up with minimum of equipment. And you
can use a wide variety of electrodes to weld most metals. With specially coated and waterproofed
electrodes you can even weld underwater. Because it uses electrodes of only a few mm in diameter it
is possible to weld in some restricted areas where it is impossible to get to with other welding
processes.

More kilograms of weld metal is deposited with MMA than any other process in the world

The power source use for MMA has an electrical output known as a drooping characteristic or a constant
current power source. If the arc volts and amps are plotted, they produce a graph like this.

As the welder manipulates the electrode in the weld,

it will not be a constant distance from the weld pool.
In other words, the arc length will vary and
consequently the arc voltage will not be constant.
However the weld needs a constant supply of weld
metal and as the amount of melting depends on the
welding current, one needs a power source which
supplies this.

In the graph you can see that a large variation in

voltage has only a minor effect on the current.

All electrodes are not equal. As well as there being a huge number of different chemical analyses for the
deposited weld metal, there are also three major types of electrode coating. Each have their advantages
and disadvantages.

27
The original type of coating originated in the USA in the 20’s these are known as cellulosic electrodes
because these first electrodes were simply wrapped in paper to provide a protective arc. Their
principal use is on pipelines. Their disadvantage is that they produce a large amount of hydrogen
which makes them totally unsuited for structural work.

The second, and most common electrodes, are known as Rutile electrodes and have a mineral coating
which contains a large amount of the mineral rutile (titanium dioxide). This mineral makes then easy
to manipulate and they can be used by relatively inexperienced welders. However they do produce a
moderate amount of hydrogen. Some of these electrodes are use in structural work but in general the
hydrogen content makes the unsuitable for high quality work. They are also more likely to need
preheat than basic electrodes.

Basic electrodes are the best electrodes for quality work. The coating is principally calcium fluoride and
calcium carbonate. Both these materials are alkaline giving the electrodes the name ‘basic’. They are
also known as ‘low hydrogen’ electrodes. If stored correctly and used properly they can produce a weld
deposit very low in hydrogen and consequently they are less likely to produce welds that could crack.

To keep the hydrogen at a minimum, the electrodes must be stored correctly. The packaging must be
kept intact to keep atmospheric moisture away from the coating. Once the package or tin is opened the
coating absorbs moisture, this moisture breaks down in the arc and adds to the dissolved hydrogen in
the arc. To reduce this effect, the coating should be dry when used. There are two means of having a
dry coating.

One is to bake the unused electrodes in an oven at approximately 300°C, after a couple of hours or so,
(check the manufacturer’s literature) they can be removed from this high temperature and stored
indefinitely in another oven at 120°C or so. Once issued to the welder, he should keep them at 70°C in
a sealed temporary storage box know a ‘quiver’ until used. Any electrodes issued and then returned at
the end of the day, must then be re-baked and stored again. Normally only 2 or 3 re-baking are
allowed after which they are to be scrapped. The organisation and record keeping needed to adopt this
approach is considerable. Where there are large number of expensive rods, such as high nickel rods,
this approach does pay, but for occasional use, for instance on site erection only, it is a nightmare!

Far better is to take the other approach and buy and use electrodes in packaging known as ‘vacuum
packed’. Here the electrodes are dried in the factory and immediately wrapped, in small quantities, in
robust packaging and the air removed from the package to retain the electrodes in ‘as manufactured’
condition. When needed it is opened and the electrodes can be used straight from the package. At the end
of the day all unused electrodes will be discarded. (Or they may be returned to the store for rebaking).
The packaging is more expensive that those destined for the baking system and there are a number of
electrodes to be discarded, so they are more expensive. But, there is no hassle – no baking, holding and
no keeping records etc so, overall, for small amounts of electrodes, vacuum packing is far more
practical.

One disadvantage of basic electrodes is that they are less easy to use than rutile. However experienced
welders have no problems in using them.

The standard for covered electrodes for carbon steels is BSEN 2560. Alternatively, the American
standard AWS A5.1 (or A5.5 for higher strength electrodes) is often used. Within both standards is
the key to understanding the codes that are used to accurately describe the type and use of electrodes.

28
For stainless steels use BSEN 3581 or AWS A5.9

5.2 Metal Active Gas Welding

Also knows as Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) and also as MIG (Metal Inert Gas). However the last
name is incorrect for typical welding of carbon steel, as the gas in MAG welding is ‘active’ in that the
gas constituents have a significant effect on the arc and the weld metal. MIG welding should only be
used when there is an inert gas used and this purely for shielding. It is normally used for other metals,
such as Aluminium.

This process is again an arc process but the arc is struck between wire filler and the workpiece. The
wire is fed constantly into the arc to transfer across the arc. A shroud of gas from a surrounding
nozzle protects the arc.

The typical GMAW welding gun has a number of key parts—a control switch, a contact tip, a power
cable, a gas nozzle, an electrode conduit and liner, and a gas hose. The control switch, or trigger,
when pressed by the operator, initiates the wire feed, electric power, and the shielding gas flow,
causing an electric arc to be struck. The contact tip, normally made of copper and sometimes
chemically treated to reduce spatter, is connected to the welding power source through the power
cable and transmits the electrical energy to the electrode while directing it to the weld area. It must be
firmly secured and properly sized, since it must allow the electrode to pass while maintaining
electrical contact. On the way to the contact tip, the wire is protected and guided by the electrode
conduit and liner, which help prevent buckling and maintain an uninterrupted wire feed. The gas
nozzle directs the shielding gas evenly into the welding zone. Inconsistent flow may not adequately
protect the weld area. A gas hose from the cylinder of shielding gas supplies the gas to the nozzle.

The wire feed unit supplies the electrode to the work, driving it through the conduit and on to the contact
tip. Most models provide the wire at a constant feed rate

29
Most applications of gas metal arc welding use a constant voltage power supply. As a result, any change
in arc length (which is directly related to voltage) results in a large change in heat input and current. A
shorter arc length causes a much greater heat input, which makes the wire electrode melt more quickly
and thereby restore the original arc length. This helps operators keep the arc length consistent even
when manually welding with hand-held welding guns.

This graph shows a constant voltage

supply. Also known as a flat
Welding Voltage (volts)

characteristic type

One can see that with only a

small variation of the voltage
there is a large change in welding
current.

Welding current (amps)

There are three modes in which the metal can transfer

across the arc .

Globular metal transfer is considered the least desirable of the three major variations, because of its
tendency to produce high heat, a poor weld surface, and spatter. As the weld is made, a ball of molten
metal from the electrode tends to build up on the end of the electrode, often in irregular shapes with a larger
diameter than the electrode itself. When the droplet finally detaches either by gravity or short circuiting, it
falls to the workpiece, leaving an uneven surface and often causing spatter.

Dip transfer (also known as short-circuit transfer) uses a lower current than for the globular method. As
a result of the lower current, the heat input for the short-arc variation is considerably reduced, making it
possible to weld thinner materials while decreasing the amount of distortion and residual stress in the
weld area. It also can be used in butt welds where there is a root gap. As in globular welding, molten
droplets form on the tip of the electrode, but instead of dropping to the weld pool, they bridge the gap
between the electrode and the weld pool as a result of the lower wire feed rate. This causes a short
circuit and extinguishes the arc, but it is quickly reignited after the surface tension of the weld pool
pulls the molten metal bead off the electrode tip. This process is repeated about 100 times per second,

30
making the arc appear constant to the human eye. This type of metal transfer provides better weld
quality and less spatter than the globular variation, and allows for welding in all positions, albeit with
slower deposition of weld material. Like the globular variation, it can only be used on ferrous metals.
Schematically the process looks like this

Spray transfer is well-suited to welding aluminium and stainless steel while employing an inert
shielding gas. It is also good to weld ferrous materials with the appropriate gas mixture. In this process,
the weld electrode metal is rapidly passed through the stable electric arc from the electrode to the
workpiece in a fine droplet form. The arc length stays relatively stable with no short circuiting.

As the current and voltage increases from the range of short circuit deposition, the weld electrode metal
transfer changes to large globules which get smaller as the current increases until there is a fine stream
of small droplets which is spray transfer.

A variation of the spray transfer mode, pulse-spray is based on the principles of spray transfer but
uses a pulsing current to melt the filler wire and allow one small molten droplet to fall with each
pulse. The pulses allow the average current to be lower, decreasing the overall heat input and thereby

31
decreasing the size of the weld pool and heat-affected zone while making it possible to weld thin
workpieces. The pulse provides a stable arc and no spatter, since no short-circuiting takes place.

The gas or gas mixture used for welding can have a huge effect on the welding process. For nonferrous
metals, pure argon is used (sometimes with a small percentage of oxygen added for stainless steels).

For ferrous materials the most common gas mixtures contain argon with varying percentages of
carbon dioxide and oxygen [78%A-20%CO2-2%O2 or similar] are commonly used mixtures. The
addition of O2 to argon greatly stabilizes the weld arc, increases the filler metal droplet rate, lowers the
spray arc transition current, and improves wetting and bead shape. The weld puddle is more fluid and
stays molten longer allowing the metal to flow out towards the toe of the weld. This reduces
undercutting and helps flatten the weld bead. Small CO2 additions to argon produce the same spray arc
characteristics as small O2 additions. When welding with CO2 additions, a slightly higher current level
must be reached in order to establish and maintain stable spray transfer of metal across the arc. Argon
- 10-20% CO2 - 5% O2 and similar mixes produce a hot short circuiting transfer and fluid puddle
characteristics. Spray arc transfer is good and seems to have some benefit when welding with triple
deoxidized wires since a sluggish puddle is characteristic of these wires

The standard covering all the variations of gas mixtures is BSEN 14175

As discussed in para. 4.3, the wires which can be used in MAG welding can be solid wires, metal core wires,
flux cored wires. The latter can come in types which can be used with or without a gas shield.

The cored wires are made by laying the core material onto a continuous strip of thin material which is
then ‘folded’ into a tubular shape is in diagram. Note that the seam is not sealed and if not stored correctly
moisture can enter the core.

The specifications for welding wire are:

For carbon steel BSEN14341 or AWS A5.18 are for solid wire and BSEN 17632 or AWS A5.20 for cored
wires.

For stainless steel solid wires are BSEN 14343 or AWS 5.9.

5.3 Tungsten Inert Gas Welding

Also known by its abbreviation TIG and Gas Tungsten Arc Weld in (GTAW).This process is not used
in structural engineering on a large scale. It is a slow process but is capable of very delicate work (in
the right hands). A major use is for thin sheet. Sometimes used for welding of roots on thicker
materials where it can allow the welder to manipulate the weld pool to provide a defect free root. It is
more often used for non-ferrous metals than ferrous.

32
Welding is carried out by using an arc struck between a tungsten electrode and the workpiece. The
filler metal is added by hand as it is required. This allows a high degree of control of the heat input
and the volume of weld metal.

As in MAG welding, the arc is shielded from the atmosphere by a gas shroud, usually of pure Argon.

The power source used for TIG is the same as that for MMA. Indeed all that is needed is a control box
to be added to it to allow switching of the current and the gas flow. Most TIG machines are more
complex than a simple switch. They incorporate timed gas flows such that, when the trigger is pressed
there is a gas flow before the arc is energised and a delay at the end of the weld where the gas
continues to flow after the arc stops to allow de-oxidation of the weld pool while it is still hot.

Initiating the arc is a problem with TIG, to strike the arc by touching the tungsten onto the workpiece is
highly likely to contaminate the electrode and leave lumps of tungsten in the weld. Carbon blocks are
sometimes used to strike on; but a far better method is to have a high frequency source built into the
control box. This ionises the gas molecules between the electrode and the work and allows the
establishment of an arc without contact.

There are a variety of tungsten alloy electrodes in use. Pure tungsten has the highest consumption rate of
all electrodes and its use is normally limited to AC welding.

Electrodes with 2% thorium (thoriated electrodes) are the most commonly used. They are long lasting
and provide good arc stability. They perform well with DC current. AC current can be used but only
in very thin sections. It is suitable for both ferrous and non-ferrous metals.

The other common alloy is the zirconiated electrode with less than half a percent of Zr. These are
extremely stable but can only be used on AC. They are very useful for aluminium welding which should
always be welded with AC.

Other alloys, such as ceriated and lanthanated versions, have a performance similar to the thoriated
electrodes but can be used on both AC and DC. They are very useful to optimise the welding capabilities in
that you only have on type of electrode in stock. The ceriated version is not recommended for high current
applications.

TIG welding electrodes are specified in BSEN 636

5.4 Submerged Arc Welding Arc

Not a process which is used extensively in structural work although it is used widely in the fabrication
industry as a whole.

33
A brief outline of the process is all that is necessary here.

It is not dissimilar to MIG welding except that instead of a gas shield the arc is protected by a bed of
welding flux. This flux contains the usual de-oxidants and often alloying elements. Some of the flux
granules will be melted by the arc to form a slag but much of it remains unfused and so can be collected
and returned to the flux hopper

A wide variety of materials may be welded as there is considerable flexibility by choosing various
combinations of wire and flux. Often this process uses multiple wires to increase productivity and
very high rates of deposition can be achieved.

6 Materials
6.1 Carbon Steels
Carbon, or carbon manganese steel, have been discussed earlier. Here we look at the types and grades of
steel in use and where to find the information on them.

The steel for structural purpose are manufactured to a series of BSEN standards beginning with
10(xxx). One of the most widely used is BSEN 10025-2 which is hot rolled non-alloy steels. There
other parts of 10025 dealing with steel conditions as quenched and tempered but these are not discussed
here. Hollow sections are not covered by 10025, refer instead to BSEN 10210

Besides specifying manufacturing tolerances etc, the standard’s main areas for welding are the steel
designations. All the steels have a code which describes the steel and its properties.

34
The code is summarised as follows, for instance S 275 J2.

The letter S stands for structural steel (other letters stand for other products such as P for pressure vessels,
L for pipes)

275 is the minimum yield strength in N/mm2 (refer to section 8.4.3 for a discussion on yield strength)

The usual values are: 275 & 355 and (rarely) 235 or 450

The final pair of letter/numbers indicates the impact strength of the steel (see section 8.4.2) The range of
these in terms of charpy V notch impacts is :

...JR 27 J at +20°C

...J0 27 J at 0°C

...J2 27 J at -20°C

...K2 40 J at -20°C or alternatively, 27 J at -30°C

There are also some additional letters which may be added to the code these are:

...+AR which stands for as rolled

...+N which stands for Normalised

...Z which means that the steel has guaranteed properties in the through thickness direction which
reduces the risk of lamellar tearing

For Hollow sections the code in 10210 is the same as above except that the only letters which come after
the impact part of the code is the letter “H” to denote it is a hollow section.

In addition to the coding above, 10025 also include a number of other important points for welding.
There are, for instance, limits on the alloying elements that are allowed, in particular, there is a
limit on the maximum carbon equivalent allowed. See table 6 in 10025 Detailed mechanical
properties can also be found in the standard.

All of the above codes apply to any product which is produced under this standard whether they are
plate, angle, channel etc. This means that a welding procedure qualified on plate can be used for
welding channel etc (and also hollow sections) with no further qualification . Steels to this standard are
categorised under BSEN15608 as being in group1.1 or 1.2 (discussed further in section 8)

6.2 High tensile steels

Not a run-of-the-mill type of steel in traditional structural fabrication. These steels are those with
advanced heat treatment conditions such as ‘quenched and tempered’ and also those with a higher
percentage of alloying elements. Some of these are covered by parts 3 to 6 of 10025. If faced with a steel
outside the 10025, 10210 series, take expert advice for welding them but as far as the quality system
goes, treat them all in the same way as regards inspection etc.

35
6.3 Stainless steels
A full list of the stainless steel designations is given in BSEN 10088-1together with their chemical
compositions and other reference data. This rather a daunting document and is probably only useful in
this context to find out what a code means. Part 2 of the same standard give some of the same together
with manufacturing data and information. The designation system gets rather complicated. However,
most fabricators tend to use the ATSM nomenclature which is much simpler (but not as
comprehensive) as the BSEN. Should you need to convert between the two systems there are a
number of conversion tables to be found on-line.

A useful summary of the grades is found in this diagram

The most common grades of stainless steels are.

SUMMARY OF THE COMMONEST STAINLESS STEELS

type ASTM BS EN Cr% Ni% other

ferritic 430 1.4016 17

[3CR12] 1.4003 12 0.6 0.2% N

36
 martensitic 410 1.4006 13 0.3% S

420 1.4021 13

Austentic 304 1.4301 19 9

308* 20 10 use to weld 304

309* 23 12 weld dissimilar metals

310* 25 20 weld dissimilar metals

312* 29 9 weld dissimilar metals

316 1.4401 19 9 3%Mo use to weld 316 also

321 1.4541 0.5%Ti filler wire also

347 1.455 0.8% Nb filler wire also

* primarily welding wires

There is also a range of stainless steels known as duplex, these are specially alloyed to give a balance,
roughly 50/50 of both ferrite and austenite, this gaining the advantages of both phases with few
detrimental effects. They have good weldability, good toughness and are resistant to Stress corrosion
cracking. They come in 3 ranges: Lean – 22Cr 2Ni 0.2Mo 0.2N

Standard 22Cr 6Ni 3Mo 0.2N Super

25Cr 7Ni 4Mo 0.2N

6.4 Aluminium
Aluminium alloys are graded in a series of 7 different types. Of which only 2 have potential for structural
purposes. And a third that has an application as a welding wire.

The 4000 series of Al alloys is an alloy of Al and silicon. Their main use stems from their lower melting
point which confers good casting qualities. It also is used as a welding wire as its low melting point

The 5000 Series Al alloys are based around magnesium. They have good resistance to sea water & find
use in marine applications as they have both moderate strength & ductility. They are easy to weld &
anodize well.

6000 Series Aluminium alloys contain both magnesium & silicon. They have good resistance to
atmospheric corrosion and form an attractive film after anodising. They are relatively easy to roll
extrude and forge but less easy to weld than 5000’s

Aluminium products are specified in BSEN 755 series. And the welding wires in BSEN 18273.

37
6.5 Other materials
One may come across other materials that may be required to be welded as part of a contract. In all cases
research the material thoroughly before proceeding, or take expert advice. Some things you may
encounter are:

Hardfacing - this where a wear resistant material is to be included in the fabrication. It may take the form
of a hardened plate such as Hardox or as a surface deposition of a wear resistant material onto a carbon
steel base. Hardox is a propriety name for a material of 350-600 VPN, it is weldable with care. Great
attention must be taken with preheat, interpass temperature. It is possible to use standard basic
MMA electrodes or the equivalent MAG wire

Another example is to make a corrosion or wear resistant layer onto a carbon steel base, Care must be
taken to get the correct fusion with the base metal. Qualification of the welding procedures for surfacing
is to BSEN 15614 part 7

For exotic materials such as Ta, Ti, Nimonics etc – take specialist advice they’re not easy and in some cases:
downright difficult!

7 Design for welding

7.1 Joint design
The Standard for design of welded joints is BSEN 9692-1 and additional guidance on joint types may be
found in BSEN 1011-2. For information on the symbols used on drawings to denote the required weld
types and sizes then consult BSEN 22553

Butt welds normally are three types depending how the components are arranged. Most common is the
basic butt weld where the components are joined edge to edge. They may also be jointed at right
angles (or any other angle). The weld preparation may be square ended or it may be prepared to
provide suitable access to the full depth of the weld. The welds can be full penetration or part
penetration and can be from one side only or two sides. Backing bars and back gouging may be used
also to provide good root integrity.

To use these diagrams in a welding procedure specification they need to be properly dimensioned with,
in particular, root face, root gap, plate thickness

Typical joint designs for butt welds are show below

38
Fillet welds are used to joint components together which are normally at an angle to each other and where
a full penetration joint is not required or not desirable. They may be single pass or multipass.
They are the commonest type of weld used in structural engineering.

Typical examples are shown below.

39
Pipe and hollow sections are joined in a similar way to the butt and fillet diagrams above but have
some additional configurations. When they are joined at an angle (90° or other) they are treated as a
separate case by the standard for qualifying the weld procedures to BSEN15614. They are referred to
as ‘branch welds’

butt or fillet

40
 butt or fillet

7.2 Properties of a welded joint

Any weld joint is subjected to a variety of stresses during service. Welds must be able to withstand
these forces when the joint is loaded in different ways. All of imposed stress types are discussed below.
It is an essential part of the design process that all of these properties should be evaluated during the
calculations and material choice stages of producing working drawings.

The Designer must supply the execution class (see 12.2.1) used to design the component and also must
specify the sizes of the fillets.

7.2.1 Tensile
Tensile stress is due to a load which has the effect of pulling the material to try and stretch it. This is
the most fundaments of the properties. If the strength is inadequate, the structure will not be able to
support the loads placed on and failure may occur. The method of testing the tensile strength is given
in section. 8.4.3

The strength of the joints is proportional to the cross-sectional area of the weld. So, a full penetration
weld, where the cross section is the full plate depth, is a full strength weld and the strength of the weld
should match the strength of the parent plate. On the other hand, a partial penetration weld will only
have the strength proportional to the depth of the weld. And the strength of fillet welds is proportional
to the throat thickness of the fillets.

For example the strength of each joint is proportional to the length of the thick lines:

41
 7.2.2 Toughness
Toughness is the ability of the material to withstand a sharp impact. Those with high toughness are said
to be ductile and those with low impact strength are brittle. The toughness can be assessed by two
methods. One, the Impact test (discussed in section 8.4.2) determines the ability of the material as a
whole to withstand a shock load, and the other the hardness test (section 8.4.1) will test the material in
a small area to check that there are no hard spots which may are lead to microscopic failure which
could propagate into total failure.

7.2.3 Bending
Structures are often subject to bending stresses. A typical example is a beam supported at the ends and a
load being placed at the midpoint. The ability of a material to withstand such stresses is a mixture of the
tensile stress as the bottom flange of the beam will be under tension; and the ductility of the material to
allow some distortion without breaking.

7.2.4 Fatigue
Many structures are subject to fatigue, some due to vibration, some to wind forces and some to irregular
loading such as bridges. The ability of a structure to withstand fatigue is a combination of design and
quality of workmanship.

Most fatigue failures originate from an area of local stress concentration. This is where due to either a
sharp change of section, or a defect, the stress is greater than in the rest of the structure. With a
continual change in stress caused by vibration, cracking can come from the notch or defect.

The design must take into account any sharp changes in section. The fabrication should not have any
significant areas where cracks could initiate. In particular, notches at the surface should be avoided,
these notches include caps, for both fillets and butts, which have a high contact angle (see defects
section) or surface breaking defects such as cracks,

42
The assessment of level of fatigue in a structure is an important factor in choosing the Execution class of
the structure and consequently the degree of quality control that is necessary. See section12.2.1

7.2.5 Creep
Creep is a property of materials where any load on the item, while not enough to break it, is sufficient to
distort it. Typically at room temperature, lead pipes which are not supported along their full length, will
sag between their supports over a period of many years.

Creep is not normally encountered in structural work. It is more associated with the performance of the
material at high temperatures. As such, it is important in such areas as turbine manufacture, some
pressure vessels and nuclear work.

7.2.6 Torsion
This is a twisting force, encountered to some degree in structures but should be designed out by suitable
bracing. An example of torsion is the tightening of the head of a bolt when the nut cannot move and the
stem of the bolt is twisted.

7.2.7 Shear
This is another force which should be designed out. Shear can be illustrated by the following sketch.
The block has distorted by the force on its opposite faces.

7.2.8 Lamellar tearing

This is the result of poor through thickness properties of the plate. When stress it applied through the
thickness of the plate such as in a cruciform weld (see section 8.4.8) the structure may fail by cracking
along the plate parallel to the surface. See photograph in section 11.5. One way to avoid this defect is to
design it out as in the following drawing.

43
The other way is to choose a steel with guaranteed through thickness properties. This is the “Z” grade in
the material specification see (6.1)

There are tests for fatigue, creep etc but they do not form part of the testing programme for structures and
so are not discussed here.

8 pWPS, WPS, WPQR

One of the most important jobs to be undertaken by a RWC is the establishment of a set of qualified
welding procedures to cover all the work within his company. There is a series of BSEN
specifications that deal with the writing and qualification of welding procedures. These must be
followed to comply with BSEN 3834.

8.1 BSEN15607 to 15614 standards

8.1.1 BSEN15607
This is the first in this series. This outlines the qualification of weld procedures and the various routes to
achieve this (BSENs 15610 to 15614). The use of a particular method of qualification is often a

44
requirement of an application standard. There is a recommended format for writing procedures, both
pWPS and WPS this is defined in BSEN 15609.

8.1.2 CEN ISO/TR 15608

This standard is useful in that it provides a uniform system for grouping of materials for welding
purposes. This means that a qualified weld procedure made with a material from any group can be
used for any other materials within the same group or lower. However there is sometimes there is a
proviso that it may only be used within the same group for materials of the same or lower strength.

Note that there are two other standards which are useful in this context. CEN ISI/TRS 20172 and 20173.
Both of these show common grades of materials and the group in which they belong. 20172 is for
European material specs and 20173 is for USA specs.

8.1.2.1 Grouping
The common groups used in BSEN1090 are:

Material Material Group

Carbon steels Austenitic SS

S235 304 8.1
S275 316 8.1
S355 321 8.1
S450 347 8.1

ferritic SS Aluminium
430 5000 + 22
3CR12 6000 + 23

martensitic SS
410
420

8.1.3 BSEN 15609

This standard specifies requirements for the content of welding procedure specifications for arc welding.
The variables within the standard are those influencing the quality of the welded joint. The form of the
pWPS and WPS are discussed below.

8.1.4 BSEN15610-BSEN15613
These standards are alternative methods of achieving qualification of WPSs.:

15610 qualification based on tested welding consumables

15611 qualification based on previous welding experience
15612 qualification based on an approved standard procedure
15613 qualification based on a preproduction

45
The only one of these that is considered acceptable for BSEN 1090 is 15613, where it can be very useful
in qualifying a particular set-up which is not covered by standard test pieces, such as a thin component
welded to a thick base-plate.

8.1.5 BSEN15614
This is the norm for qualification of WPSs. It comes in a number of parts depending on material, the
welding process used or particular type of welding which are not otherwise covered such as
hyperbaric welding. The two parts most relevant to BSEN 1090 are Part 1 which covers steels (both
carbon and stainless) and Part 2 for aluminium. Part one is discussed below as part of the method of
carrying out a Weld Procedure Qualification

8.2 pWPS (to BSEN 15614-1)

This is the start of the process for producing a qualified WPS. All of the requirements of BSEN 15609
should be included. A typical pWPS format is used to demonstrate the requirements.

Welding Procedure Specification WPS #

Location Workshop / site Project

Manufacturer's WPS No WPS # Method of Preparation and Cleaning
WPQR WPQR #
Qualified to: BS EN ISO 15614-1 +A2 :2012
Manufacturer ABC Fabs Parent Metal Designation
High St BSEN #
Anytown AA11 1AA Material Group(s) to BSEN15608
Welding Process Material Thickness range
Joint Type Outside Diameter range
Welding Position(s)
Joint Design Welding Sequence

Welding Details
Run Process Filler wire Current Voltage Current Wire Feed Travel Speed Heat Input
Type/Polarity Speed m/min mm/sec kJ/mm
Diameter mm A V

Filler Metal Classification and Trade Name BS EN 14341-A: #

Any Special Baking and/or Drying
Gas / Flux - Shielding / Backing BS EN 14175: Class #
Shielding Gas Flow Rate Shroud Size/Diameter
Distance From Contact Tip To Work-Piece Maximum Weave Width
Number Of Electrodes Tungsten Electrode Type / Size
Preheat Temperature Interpass Temperature
Details of jigging/ tacking etc. Details of Back Gouging / Backing
Mode of Metal Transfer
Post-Weld Heat Treatment and / or Ageing
Time, Temperature, Method, Heat & Cool rates Other
Information
1
2
3
Prepared by Approved by Client

Date Date Date

To make it easier to read it will be examined in sections.

Basic information

Preliminary Welding Procedure Specification pWPS #

Location Workshop / site Project
Manufacturer's WPS pWPS # Method of Preparation and Cleaning
No
WPQR TBQ
Qualified to: BS EN ISO 15614-1 +A2 :2012 Parent Metal Designation

46
 Manufacturer ABC Fabs BSEN #
High St Material Group(s) to BSEN15608

Anytown AA11 1AA Material Thickness range

Welding Process Outside Diameter range

Joint Type Welding Position(s)

The use of your Company logo is optional but it adds ownership to the WPS and pWPS

Firstly identify the pWPS by a unique number. This will be recorded on a register of qualified WPSs later
and there should be a unified system adopted. If you like you can incorporate a reference to your
Company in the identity such as WPS/ABC/001.

Location says can it be used on site as well as in the workshop

Next is a repeat of the pWPS number , and under WPQR (weld procedure qualification record) the letter
TBQ are used (to be qualified) that will be changed later when the PQR is completed.

The qualification standard and address is self explanatory.

Welding process is often abbreviated together with the standard number:

111 MMA

114 self shielded tubular-cored arc welding

131 MIG [solid wire]

135 MAG [solid wire]

136 MAG with cored wire

137 MIG with cored wire

141 TIG
The joint type included either butt or fillet; pipe or plate, or any other description thought necessary.
Where the joint is a branch weld (the joining of two hollow sections at an angle) the angle of the
branch must be stated. NOTE – a butt weld may be used to qualify a fillet weld, but not the other way
round. However if there are a lot of fillets on a construction, fillets must be qualified separately. Fillet
welds must also have a butt weld in the same range to allow testing of, say tensiles, which cannot be
done on a fillet weld. For a multipass fillet, backup with a multipass butt; and a single pass butt
(often with a backing bar) needs to be done to complete the qualification of a single pass fillet weld.
The Project may be used if the WPS is for specific contract or may be simply left as ‘all’

Method of preparation and cleaning;- how is the weld preparation, if any, prepared; cleaned (by wire brush
or shot blasting; chemical cleaning etc)

Parent metal designation includes the material to be welded, and its group from BSEN 15608. If you use
the highest grade you are likely to use, it will then cover all lesser materials. So use S355 J2 material if
possible.

47
Material thickness range – in the final WPS there will be a qualified range; but for a pWPS the actual
thickness to be used for the qualification is inserted here. Choose the thickness carefully to maximise
the use of the WPS. For instance, if most of your company’s work is in the range of 6 to 18mm plate
then suggest you qualify a WPS of a butt weld on 10mm plate. By reference to BSEN 15614-1 table 5
you can see the range qualified by 10mm (t) is 5 to 20mm (0.5t to 2t).

Similarly you can maximise your diameters by reference to table 7 in 15614-1.and your fillet sizes to table
6.

The weld position should reflect the position to be used in practice. Most welds are made in a
downhand position (PA or PB) [see section 4.2], however if you need to weld in all positions, the
WPS will have to be welded other than downhand if impact properties or hardness are specified (and
they usually are). All position welding can be achieved by doing 2 welds one in PC position and one
in PF. The parameters from both welds will be combined to make a single WPS for all positions.
Joint Design Welding Sequence
35° 4 5
8 mm
3

1 ± 0.5 mm 2 ± 0.5 mm

These drawings tell the welder how to prepare the test piece; sizes, thickness and root gap. The sequence
drawing shows a nominal number of runs; more importantly it shows that there is no second side weld
or backing bar.
Welding Details

Run Process Filler wire Current Voltage Current Wire Feed Travel Heat Input
Diameter Type/Polarit Speed Speed
A V kJ/mm
mm y m/min mm/sec

111
root 2.5 80 - 110 DC +ve 2.5
(MMA) 23 n/a
fills
111 3.2 90 - 140 23 DC +ve n/a 3.0
+cap
(MMA)
These figures show the probable welding parameters that will be used to qualify. There are 2 different rod
diameters, with 2 different amps ranges and an estimate at how fast the welder may go. Again, it’s just a
guide for the welder.

If in doubt as to which amps and volts are to be used, refer to previous, similar WPSs and use those figures
as a starting point. Alternatively, electrode manufacturer’s literature is a useful source of information for
new welds. Once the welder has completed the weld his accurate figures will be used for the WPS.
Filler Metal Classification and Trade Name BS EN 14341-A: #
Any Special Baking and/or Drying
Gas / Flux - Shielding / Backing BS EN 14175: Class #
Shielding Gas Flow Rate Shroud Size/Diameter
Distance From Contact Tip To Work-Piece Maximum Weave Width
Number Of Electrodes Tungsten Electrode Type / Size
Preheat Temperature Interpass Temperature
Details of jigging/ tacking etc. Details of Back Gouging / Backing
Mode of Metal Transfer

48
 Post-Weld Heat Treatment and / or Ageing
Time, Temperature, Method, Heat & Cool rates
This section includes a range of conditions to be met by the welder when the WPS is completed;

The filler metal classifications and (if desired the trade name) need to refer to both the standard and to
the grade within the standard. This information is most easily found on the certificate accompanying
the electrodes.

Baking and drying usually refers to basic MMA electrodes

If appropriate, what gas or flux (not electrode coating) is used? And, is it for shielding or backing or both)?
The grade within the appropriate specification should be shown (the BSEN 14175 is for gas mixtures.)

Gas flow rate and distance from electrode to workpiece are self explanatory. Both are ranges.

Number of electrodes refers to automatic welding where more than one electrode wire may be used.

Preheat temperature for thinner plates and standard grades of pipe are usually not required, however a
minimum temperature of 5°C is usually used to make sure that the material does not have condensed
moisture on the surface.

Details of how the weld is set up and held in place.

Mode of metal transfer is for MIG/MAG welding only [refer to 5.2]

PWHT if required can be outlined here.

Shroud size and/or diameter is for MIG/MAG only. This is just to make sure that the same amount of
shielding is provided in practice.

The maximum weave is for MMA electrodes. This is often restricted by the manufacturer to 2 or 3 times
the core diameter.

Tungsten details obviously only for TIG.

Interpass temperature, is that temperature which should not be exceeded. This is to ensure that no
unwanted metallurgical changes take place. Often set at 250°C for carbon steels, for other materials, check
the material specification.

The details of any second side work eg gouging, backing bar etc

That is all the information you need to complete a pWPS.

8.3 Weld Procedure Qualification Record

Once you’ve got your pWPS and had it approved (if necessary), you need to test it see if it works (it
should) and also to find the welding parameters actually used to make the weld. The qualification is only
valid for those parameters used in the test (with a range added).

The plate (or other) material, the filler material, and all the equipment need to be organised. The test
piece dimensions are given in BSEN 15614-1 section 6.Try and use one of your best welders then
there is less risk of the embarrassment of a failure. Makes sure the equipment is all working correctly
and if the electrodes need baking that it has been carried out. In other words – get organised......And

49
don’t forget to tell the welder what to do and give him a copy of the pWPS (and make sure he reads it
and understands it). Also check that you have the material certificate(s) and the weld consumables
certificates available to include in the weld records.

It is useful, and sometimes mandatory, to use an external inspector to supervise and record the welding.

Ensure you have means of recording the amps and volts and that you have a tape measure and stop watch
to check the travel speed; also something to measure the temperature of the workpiece.

Before the welding starts, check the weld preparation, root gap, electrode size(s). Record the material heat
number, the electrode batch number, the thickness, diameter etc for the WPQR records. A typical record
sheet is shown here: (and also supplied on memory stick)

WPQR DATA SHEET Manufacturer Sheet

WPQR
Pass No. Consumable Batch Number ROL Arc time Travel Weld AC Amps Volts Heat Start Finish Date
Interpas Comments
input s
WPS Type / Diam. mm secs. ription
Joint mm/sec Dir'n DC, kJ/mm time Tacks?
time °C
Welder Desc + /-
Contrac Specif'n
1
1 t
Proces Prehea °C Shroud
Welder s t
2 2
Positio PWH °C Other
n T
3
Flux / Flow
Gas rate
4

Description Cast number Size and WT Grade

diameter

The Component
1 boxes at the top of the chart are self explanatory.
It is Component
just recording the data for transfer to the
2
WPS.
passes
Bevel Angle

The Witnessed Root gap

table in the middle records all the parameters
Name/Signature observed during the qualification;
Root face

50
Pass number is also referred to in the diagrams in the bottom right of the chart where the pass placement
is shown.

Record the electrodes, both type and batch number, if there are more than one size, then all information
is to be recorded for each.

ROL stands for Run Out Length, either 1) for a MMA electrode the length deposited by a single rod or
2) for other processes, a typical length of continuous weld. Measure it in mm.

Arc time is the time taken, in seconds, to weld the ROL above. Then divide the ROL by the time to get
the next column Travel Speed.

Record the weld direction or position and the electrical conditions.

Record the range of amps and volts that were used in that pass.

Later, calculate the heat input used. This is discussed in detail in section 8.5 below.

Record the start and finish times and the interpass temperature at the start of the pass. This to ensure
that the welding rate was steady and indicate that, if relevant, the intervals of downtime, waiting for
the weld to cool if the maximum interpass temperature has been exceeded. -Once the weld has been
completed, note the highest temperature reached – this is the value for the interpass temperature on
the final WPS. [It is useful to make this as high as possible to maximise the welding time allowed on
multipass welds. Do not delay un-necessarily between passes to keep the temperature up but not to
exceed the interpass temperature on the pWPS.]

At the bottom of the chart, record the workpiece data.

Mark the diagrams at the right hand side with the positions of the passes. Number them also. If there are
many passes in a thick butt, record the pass number every 5 or so.

Once the welding is complete, send the test plates to your test house for the next stage.

And a plea, on behalf of my local Test House Manager – please mark all the plates with WPQR number,
the company name and any other relevant information.

Once at the test house, they will cut it up and subject the bits to a variety of tests shown in next section.

8.4 Testing the Procedure Welds

8.4.1 Hardness Testing

This test is particularly useful in determining local strength in the region of the weld. There is a
relationship between the hardness and the strength. By carrying out hardness tests which can sample a

51
small area of a weld one can test to see if the strength locally is adequate. Also areas of high hardness in
the HAZ can be susceptible to hydrogen cracking. And on this basis, most specifications have an upper
limit on the hardness value.

The test is normally carried out using the Vickers method where a load is applied to an indenter (which
is a specially shaped pointed tool) for a given amount of time. Once the load is released it will leave a
small indentation in the material. This size of this indentation can be measured and the softer the
material the larger it will be as it has sunk into the material further.

The hardness values will be recorded as VPN.

Diagrams showing the indenter and the principles of the loading mechanism are shown below:

8.4.2 Impact Testing

This is a measure of the material’s ability to withstand a shock load (eg being hit with a hammer). It is
often referred to as its ductility. A ductile material has a high resistance to breaking with shock load; for
example lead which will just deform without breaking. The opposite of ductile is brittle and this is
typified by glass which breaks under very little impact.

Two indications as to how tough the material is, are the two properties from the tensile test - the %El
and %RA (see 8.4.3). However the main test for toughness is the Impact test usually the Charpy test.
This test applies an accurate impact load to a standard specimen and then measures how much energy
is used to break the specimen.

A typical machine is shown schematically here

52
 series of charpy tests is carried out at
decreasing temperatures to give a graph such
as this.
The specimen is 10mm square and 55mm
long with a carefully machined notch in the
middle.

The hammer is dropped from a standard

height to break the specimen and the distance
it travels after hitting can be measured on the
scale.

The higher it travels the less energy has been

absorbed and the more brittle the material is.

One problem with mild steels is that while it is ductile

at high temperatures, it is less so as the
temperature drops. As the temperature is reduced

there comes a point where the ductility drops very

rapidly for a small decrease in temperature, as on this
graph.

At the lower shelf energy, the steel impact value is too

low for safety and so it is necessary to avoid this
area. To determine the transition temperature a
Many specifications require test temperatures of less than 0°C, typically -20°C for structural steels
in the UK. Modern steels have transition temperatures 20 to 30 °C lower than this, so there should
be adequate safety margin

8.4.3 Tensile Testing

The tensile strength is the ability of the joint to withstand an inline load. As an example it is the
force exerted on a crane cable when lifting a load. It is tested as part of BSEN 15614 by pulling a
specimen until it breaks and recording the amount of elongation (stretch) it undergoes. A plot of the
load versus elongation gives lots of useful information.

A typical tensile arrangement is:

53
 This tensile specimen is a
plate type. Sometimes, a
specimen with a circular
cross-section is used,
particularly for parent
materials.

Round tensiles are also

used for All-weld metal
tests where it is
necessary to know the
actual strength of the
weld metal

When the load (or stress) and the amount of extension (strain) are plotted against each other a graph
such as that shown below is the result.

As the load increases the strain increases, initially it is at a regular rate over the elastic region. In this
area if the load is released the metal will return to its original shape, (it returns elastically). The
loading of the finished fabrication will be within this range. Once the limit of the elastic range is
reached, the metal behaves differently. The point at which the elastic range finishes is known as the
yield point, the strength at that point is one of the most important properties of a metal, normally
known as the yield stress (YP). As the stress is increased further, there is a hesitation in the curve
where, for want of a simple explanation, the atoms reshuffle themselves into new positions. As the
stress increases the metal now starts to stretch more. If the load is taken off at this point, the
specimen will not return to its original shape- it has now plastically deformed. The stress will
increase as the load rises until it can no longer support the load and it will neck down and break.
The highest load that was reached is known as the Ultimate tensile stress (UTS)

Note that at the point

“yield strength”, there is a
dip in the curve. This is

54
 normal for parent
materials.

However, for a weld test

specimen, there is usually
only a change in the shape
of the curve. This is
because the weld and the
parent yield at different
levels and so there is no
single point of yield.

Two more properties of the tensile test are measured once the specimen has broken -the elongation
(%El) and the reduction in area (%RA).

The %El and %RA can be calculated from

these specimens of round test pieces.

%El= amount of plastic deformation x100 %

Original gauge length

%RA= diameter at failure x100 %

Original diameter

8.4.4 Bend Testing

One test that can be used as a qualitative test for this is the bend test. Here a specimen is supported
at both ends with the weld in the middle and is bent round a former of standard diameter. As shown
here;

55
There are no values recorded for this test, it either bends without breaking, or showing cracks, or it
doesn’t. This test is often used as quick test to test for defects in welds.

8.4.5 Macro
A macrosection is a cross-section of the weld which is smoothed and polished to a fine surface
finish and then etched to show the metallurgical structure of the weld and the parent plate. A typical
macro is shown here.

The macrosection is also used for the hardness testing as it is easy to see where the weld, HAZ and
parent metal are positioned so the each of the hardness impressions can be put in the right place.

8.4.6 Cruciform Tensile Test

BSEN 1090-2 requires that if a qualification procedure applies to a transverse stressed fillet in
material greater that S275, a cruciform tensile test shall be performed in accordance with EN ISO
9018. The test piece is as follows:

56
The standard gives calculations to determine the dimensions of the test pieces.

8.4.7 Fillet break

This not a test in BSEN 15614 or BSEN 1090, (but is used in various ASME specifications) but it
can be a quick and useful test to check on the quality of a fillet weld. Weld it single sided and the
test it as shown. A big hammer is often used for provide the force. When it breaks, check the
fracture faces for excessive effects such as slag or porosity. Purely a qualitative test but useful for a
quick test of welders.

8.5 Welding Procedure Specification

The pWPS was written, the weld procedure test was welded, and hopefully, the test house has said it
has passed. So your WPS is qualified. Now all that is necessary is the write the WPS document as
an instruction to the welders as to how that particular weld should be carried out.

Most of the work has already been done; the pWPS needs to be updated with the test data and the
ranges qualified inserted.

So: update the heading to eliminate the word ‘preliminary’, remove the’p’ from the WPS number
and insert the WPQR number so they can be cross referenced.

The parent metal designation may need modifying. If the tests have been dome on S355 material
you may wish to include S275. Or add the words ‘up to’ in front of the qualified material to show
it’s good for lesser grades as well.

The material thickness needs to be altered to a range. Use tables 5 and 6 ib BSEN 15614 to
determine the range.

57
Similarly, put in the range for diameter. Note that welding a plate also qualifies for welding a pipe
500mm diameter and above; if the pipe is rotated and all the welding takes place on top of the pipe,
the minimum diameter becomes 150mm.

Update the two joint diagrams to reflect the test parameters put the thickness as a range for instance.

The table of welding details will need modifying to include the values used in the test, they need to
be recorded as a minimum of root, fills and cap because each of these tends to have a different set of
values. Where you have many runs of fill and possibly a spilt cap, use the maximum and minimum
values recorded. (Where only one value has been recorded, then this should be regarded as both the
maximum and minimum in the following calculations).

Having got your average values they need to be extended to a range which gives a 10% variation
within one can weld.

To calculate the range (volts, amps or travel speed) carry out the following:

Bottom of range = (maximum value + minimum value) divide by 2 and multiply by 0.9

Top of range = (maximum value + minimum value) divide by 2 and multiply by 1.1

If there are any values recorded in the WPQR that are outside the calculated range then the range
may then be extended to include an actual value.

Then calculate the heat input range as follows:

Heat input (kilojoules/mm) = (volts x amps) divided by (travel speed x 1000) and then multiply the
result by an efficiency factor which is 0.8 for MAG and MMA or 0.6 for TIG

As an example:

The figures as taken from the WPQR test are shown and the ranges calculated from them

Welding Details

Run Process Filler wire Current Voltage Current Wire Feed Travel speed Heat Input
A Type/Polarity Speed m/min mm/sec kJ/mm
Diameter mm V
root 111 (MMA) 2.5 86 - 98 22 - 23 DC +ve n/a 2.5

Amps range = (86 + 98)/2 then multiple by 0.9 and 1.1.

Minimum = 92 x 0.9 = 83 Maximum = 92 x 1.1 = 101

Similar calculations will make the voltage range as 22.5 x 0.9 & 22.5 x 1.1

And the speed range as 2.5 x 0.9 & 2.5 x 1/1.

The welding details now look like this:

Welding Details

58
 Run Process Filler wire Current Voltage Current Wire Feed Travel Speed Heat Input
A Type/Polarity Speed m/min mm/sec
Diameter mm V kJ/mm
root 111 (MMA) 2.5 83 - 101 20 - 24 DC +ve n/a 2.25 - 2.75

To calculate the heat input:

Average heat input kJ/mm = efficiency factor x (average amps x average volts)
(average speed x 1000)

=0.8 x (92 x 22) / (2.5 x 1000) =

0.65
Minimum heat input kJ/mm = 0.65 x 0.9 = 0.58

Maximum heat input = 0.65 x 1.1 = 0.71

[Efficiency factor for MMA, MAG, MIG is 0.8 for TIG it is 0.60]

So the following line can be put into the WPS - then repeat the calculations for all passes.
Welding Details

Run Process Filler wire Current Voltage Current Wire Feed Travel Speed Heat Input
Type/Polarity Speed m/min mm/sec kJ/mm
Diameter A V
mm
root 111(MMA) 2.5 83 - 101 20 - 24 DC +ve n/a 2.25 - 2.75 0.58 - 0.71

In the final part of the WPS only a few of the entries will need to be updated and these will be
obvious eg, the shielding gas flow rate may have changed.

A WPS may also be written as a combination of 2 WPQRs for instance one weld was carried out on
10mm plate, another was carried out using 30 mm plate using substantially the same values and
welding parameters. It is then possible to write a single WPS to cover the thickness range:

Minimum 5mm (0.5 x 10mm) to maximum 60mm (2 x 30mm)

You can do a similar single WPS from welds carried out in the PC and PF positions and write a
single WPS to cover ‘all positions’. If you use 2 WPQRs to back up a WPS quote both WPQR
numbers in the appropriate box.

Within the BSEN15614-1 standard are a number of variables which can widen the scope of the
WPS.

Already discussed are the parent metal grouping, thickness, diameter and weld parameters.

The others include:

Heat input – the limits of heat input qualified are the average heat input (calculated as above)
multiplied by 0.75 and 1.25. ie the heat input plus and minus 25%. This range can be useful if you

59
change the electrode diameter and new parameters for the change in size can be used provided the
heat input is in range.

Branch angle – the WPS is qualified for all angles greater than that recorded in the test. The angle is
measured from the main section to the branch

Welding position – when positional welding refer to BSEN 15614-1 para 8.4.2 for detailed
discussion.

Type of joint/weld – This includes the ability to qualify a fillet weld ‘on the back’ of a butt weld, but
not the other way round. Other joints which can or cannot qualify another WPS are shown in
BSEN15614-1 8.4.3.

Also within BSEN 15614-1, there are restrictions on filler metals, gas types, etc. Refer to the
standard for information.

9 Welder Qualifications
The ability of a welder, or welding operator, to follow verbal or written instructions and verification
of a person’s skills are important factors in ensuring the quality of the welded product.

The testing of a welder’s, or operator’s, skill in accordance with BSEN9606-1, or BSEN 14732
depends on welding techniques and conditions used by the welder under a uniform system of rules
and the use of standard test pieces.

9.1 BSEN 9606-1 manual welding

This standard provides a set of technical rules to qualify the welder over a range of variables such
that the qualification is uniformly accepted.

The standard includes a system of reference numbers and abbreviations to exactly define the range
of capabilities of the welder. This is an extremely comprehensive method of description which (in
my opinion) is totally over the top when the requirements of straight-forward structural steel
fabrication are considered. In other circumstances where a wide variety of materials is welded, with
a variety of differing processes and consumable type is used, this summary of the welder’s
capabilities can be invaluable.

In structural engineering, the welder is usually called on to weld 1.1 or 1.2 materials using one (or at
the most) two processes, within a relatively small range of thicknesses. The range of questions
asked of such a welder is:

Is he qualified to BSEN 9606-1?

Is he qualified for butts and fillets?
Is he qualified for the [process, consumable, position] that I need?
Is he qualified in the thickness/diameter range adequate for my work?

60
The welder requires a separate qualification for both butts and fillet. His butt weld qualification
applies to all butt welds. If he successfully completes a multi-pass fillet weld it qualifies him for all
fillet welds ie single pass and multi-pass.

In most cases a welder is qualified to a single process. In Structural terms, usually MAG, although
some welders may also be dual qualified to use MMA out on site.

The consumables are usually restricted to solid wire for MAG and Low hydrogen MMA electrodes
for site use.

Much shop work, where there are cranes to turn the structure, is done in the downhand position. Site
workers usually don’t have that luxury.

Note that para 5.7 says “It is not intended that material thickness or outside pipe diameters should be
measured precisely but rather the general philosophy behind the values in tables 5 & 6 should be
applied”. This a very useful statement indeed. In other words, if a welder is asked to weld a
thickness which is only a little outside the ranges quoted, provided the RWC considers that he needs
no extra skills to weld outside his qualification is can be allowed.

SO! Taking all the above into account and ignoring the overly complex reference system, the
following is a guide to the important parts to consider in the qualification of welders.

[Any references in square brackets refer to clauses in BSEN 9606-1]

Any welder who carries out tests using the only process he is likely to use, to the following plan
should be able to weld anything within the normal range of the Company. Please check that this is
indeed the case, as this is a generalisation. The following is not a full picture of the qualifications,
just a summary.

For MIG, MAG a welder who is qualified for dip transfer is also qualified for spray and globular but
not vice versa. [5.2]

Pipe or plate – pipe weld with Ø > 25mm covers welds in plates. There are restrictions on weld
position, [5.3]. Plate covers pipe Ø ≥ 500mm

Butts only qualify butts.[5.4 b] and fillets only fillets.

A multipass fillet weld will qualify multipass fillets and single pass fillets. Single pass fillets do not
qualify multi-pass fillets.[table 12]

Pipe butt welds qualify for branch welds at 60° or above [5.4 d]

There is a material grouping system where a welder is qualified by type of filler. [Unlike BSEN287
where the welder is qualified on a parent material grade.] Only 2 groups concern us - FM1 and FM5
[tables 2 & 3]

If the welder is qualified to a low hydrogen procedure he is qualified to weld all types of MMA
electrodes with the exception of cellulosic coatings [5.6 table 4]

61
[Table 5] gives qualifications for types of wire electrodes – in most circumstances the welder will
only use one of the wire types, usually solid wire.

[Table 6] gives the ranges of deposited thickness ‘s’ that are qualified for butt welds. Unless
welding sheet metal less than 3mm thick, a butt weld test in plate greater than 12mm will qualify for
all above 3mm. NOTE this is deposited thickness (definition – thickness of the weld metal
excluding reinforcement) for full penetration welds s = plate thickness. For partial penetration welds
only the depth of penetration is qualified.

[Table 8] has the thickness ranges for fillets. Provided the welding is all above 3mm thick, any
thickness will qualify above 3mm.

[Table 7] is the qualification for pipe diameters. Above 25mm Ø, any pipe will qualify from 0.5 x
diameter upwards. So qualify your welder at the smallest diameter he can do – down to 50mmØ.

[Tables 9 & 10] cover welding positions. For detail, see the tables. For general work on plate, a
welder who is qualified for butts in the both the overhead position PE and vertical PF can weld plate
in all positions. He would also be qualified for pipe butts welded upwards. That is so for both butts
and fillets.

[Table 11]Qualification of welding on single sided butts without backing qualifies for welding with
backing also. With backing does not qualify for non-backed welds.

[Section 6] gives the method testing including plate dimensions. Note the need for the welder to
weld to a qualified WPS (or pWPS if it is also a WPS qualification). There shall be at least one
stop/start along the weld – this position to be marked for test house information. The weld is
assessed by NDT to BSEN 5817 category B.

9.1.1 Certification
There are a number of options for the requalification.

1) A welder’s qualification test certificate is valid for three years. However it must be
confirmed every 6 months that the welder has been working within his qualification range.

2) Provided his 6months confirmation is valid, and if he has had 2 production welds examined
by Xray or U/T within the last 6 months, and accurate records kept of the WPSs used etc he may
have his qualification extended by 2 years

3) Provided it can be proved that the welder has been working within the range of his
qualifications by keeping meticulous records within a 3834 system he may be prolonged
indefinitely.

If you opt for option 1 it is easy to requalify every 3 years.

Option 2 involves only butt welds as UT or Rad cannot be used for fillets and one must ensure that
all welders who have butt qualification are tested within the required period.

Option 3 is new, it looks an easy option but will take some dedication to get all the information
collated to comply [and this option is unlikely in the next revision of BSEN 9606-1]

62
The choice is yours – read para [9] before deciding but you must make up your mind which system
you are going to use and state it on the welder qualification certificate. Remember once it is put on
the certificate you cannot change your mind and use another variation.

9.2 BSEN 14732 Automated welding

The qualification for automatic or mechanised welding follows the same process as for manual
welding and used the same test pieces and testing criteria.

As one might expect, the range of qualification differs from manual and refer to section 4 for more
details.

As for manual qualifications, the certificate needs to be re-validated every 6 months. However, a
retest is not needed for 6 years. Other re-verification methods are also included.

9.3 BSEN 287-1

There is currently a transition stage between BSEN 287-1 and BSEN 9606-1. There are a number of
differences. So for those of you who are used to 287, the following are some of the major
differences: (but look at the standard and the ewf document to confirm everything.)

The dimension s – ‘deposited thickness’ has a bearing on the range of qualified thickness for butt
welds. Not just parent thickness.

A welder who is qualified in the area of short circuit arc welding is also permitted to weld with
globular, pulse and spray. BUT not the other way round. The ewf booklet supplied has more on this
subject.

A new test to combine fillet and butt qualifications is proposed as in Annex C. Unlikely to be useful
for structural welding.

There are 3 methods of re-qualification. The system is being used must be stated on the welders
certificate.

Parent material is no longer an essential variable it is replaced by filler metal type.

Welder needs to have vertical qualification to weld this position. Other positions can qualify further
positions. CHECK THE TABLES.

63
 10 Inspection
Inspection of the welding at all stages of manufacture is a major part of the control required by
BSEN 3834. With the exception of visual inspection for EXC2 and below, all inspection should be
carried out by qualified personnel. This section briefly outlines the various techniques so you can
understand some of the jargon used by Inspectors.

Final inspection should be delayed until sufficient time has elapsed for any defects to show
themselves. This mainly is to do with hydrogen cracking (see section 3.1.4). A table can be found in
BSEN 1090 part 2 (para 12.4.2.1) or NSSS standard in Annex A, which gives recommended hold
times. A general outline of the NDT of metallic materials is given in BSEN 12062.

All personnel must be qualified. Even the welders should be given some training in the recognition
of defects and their causes and repair [A tool-box talk by a qualified person will suffice – but the
format of the talk and the attendance at the talk should be recorded as part of the BSEN3834
documentation]. Where the fabrication is to 3834 part 2 (Comprehensive), in-house visual
inspectors should be qualified to a minimum of PCN level 2 or CSWIP 3.1. For visual
examination, other Inspectors should be qualified by the appropriate means as laid out in BSEN
473.

10.1 Visual
Visual inspection of welds can take place at any time of the construction. At the very least EVERY
weld should be visually examined on completion. Most of this will be carried out by the welder,
although at least 10% should be re-examined by a second person. [See above for welder training]

BSEN 17637 covers all aspects of visual inspection. In particular it emphasises the inspection
should take place under good lighting conditions and by looking as directly at the weld as possible
and not at an angle. It also includes the inspection of the work piece before and during welding.
Lighting can be made practical by using a pen torch [preferably of 4 Lumens] at a distance of
150mm.

10.2 Magnetic Particle Inspection

MPI is a surface inspection technique which can only be used on magnetic materials so cannot be
used on austenitic stainless or non-ferrous materials. Commonly, 10% of the total length of weld is
tested. The standards for MPI are BSEN1290 and BSEN 1291.

It is carried out by placing a magnet, either a permanent magnet or an electro-magnet, across the
weld. A ‘magnetic ink’ which is a magnetic material suspended in a liquid medium, is sprayed onto
the surface. Any disruption in the magnetic field caused by a discontinuity (ie surface breaking
defect) attracts the particles to the area and so outlines the defect.

64
10.3 Dye Penetrant Inspection
DP is also used for surface inspection but can be used on any materials. Again 10% of the weld
length should be inspected. The standards for dye penetrant inspection are BSEN571-1 and
BSEN1289.

Before testing make sure the surface to be tested is clean and degreased. Then spray onto the surface
a specially formulated dye and leave for time specified by the manufacturer. The dye has a very low
surface tension and this allows it to enter soak into cracks, pores etc. At the end of the soak, the
surface is cleaned of any surplus dye on the surface. Following this, a ‘developer’ is sprayed onto
the surface this will draw the dye in the cracks and pores out and will stain the developer thus
showing location of defects.

10.4 Ultrasonic Inspection

Ultrasonic Inspection is technique for examining the interior of materials for imperfections. An
ultrasonic beam of sound which originates in a ‘probe’ which, if in close contact [usually via a
‘conact gel’] with the surface of the metal, will cause a beam of this ultra-high sound to be sent
through the metal. If this beam encounters a surface or a discontinuity it will be reflected back
towards the probe. It’s the same principle as radar. These probes act both as an emitter and a
receiver. The pulse is not continous but is emitted in bursts. Any reflections which return will be
received by the probe when it is in the period between bursts.

Now add some electronics. Record the pulses sent and received and measure the time between them.
Display the pulses on a graph plotted against time and you will get a trace of two peaks (x & y).
Where there is a defect a second pulse will return at a shorter time and will produce a third pulse. (z)

65
The position of the defect can be found because the distance x to z is a fraction of the distance x to y
which you know to be the thickness. It is also possible to put the probe at an angle and send the
beam to scan a weld from the side.

The determination of the exact

position of a defect needs a bit of
maths. (As shown).

There also a wide variety of aids to

help to avoid the maths.

There are also automated versions of the system which detect and interpret the reflections and
produce pretty graphs of size and position of defects.

10.5 Radiography
The last of the NDT techniques which may be used in structural engineering is radiography. As it is
used extensively in medicine, the process really needs no explanation. The major difference
between industrial and medical radiography is the strength of the radiographic waves. It needs to be
a lot higher industrially to traverse a metal, rather than flesh and bone. The increased energy makes
it much more dangerous to use and, for that reason, now that there are alternatives such as
automated ultrasonics, it is being phased out for field use. It is still used in test houses where special
cells are constructed to give a high standard to the shielding from the radiation which can be safely
controlled.

10.6 Acceptance standards

The NDT results need to be assessed against a set of rules which dictate the acceptable size of the
defects. The acceptance standards may be one that is imposed by the client; or to use the BSEN
5817 which is the industry standard or to use the standards set out in the NSSS.

66
BSEN5817 has 3 levels of acceptance, B, C and D. B being the most onerous. The default level is
usually C with level B being used for welder’s tests. Level B is used for constructions with an
Execution Class of EXC3 or EXC4, whereas C is used for lower stressed fabrications. There is
another level B+ which is used for critical work.

NDT techniques find imperfections or flaws in the materials. They become classed as defects when
the measured defect is assessed against one of the above standards and is found to be unacceptable.

67
 11 Defects
This section shows photographs of a number of the more common defects. There is an explanation
of the defects, how to avoid them and how to repair them. The list is not exhaustive but most of the
common ones are here. This list is to help people who do visual inspection recognise them and deal
with them

11.1 Rolled plate

These are a number of possible defects that may be encountered before they are welded. Some only
come to light as they are worked, but some can be seen on the surface. These are the most common.

Laminations are caused by steel-making slag not being fully removed before rolling. It then stays
in
the centre of the ingot and is subsequently rolled
out in the centre of the plate. It can affect the
welding by the slag breaking down in the arc and
causing wormhole porosity. It is often found buy
fuel-gas cutting when the cut is distorted by the
lamination. Detected by U/T or by MPI of cut
edge. Do not use the plate if ‘through thickness’
properties are an issue. If there is a significant
amount of lamination - return to supplier.

Surface laps are irregularities in the surface of the ingot which, when they are rolled out, become a
thin
sliver
of
steel
on
the
plate

surface. Some, which are not attached, may fall out.

Others may distort under the heat of welding and give an
unsightly surface. For none critical work if the lap is
small, or if it will not be seen, it may be ground out to a
smooth finish. Otherwise refer to supplier.

68
Corrosion ie rust is obvious. If only a slight amount, it can be removed –wire brushing, shot/grit

blasting etc. If severe, particularly if pitted, it may not be

useable for critical work or where it might be seen in
service.

11.2 Extruded sections

Surface tears/ smears/blisters may result from the extrusion process, possibly by being forced
through the die without adequate lubrication or from a fault in the metal before being worked. In
some
cases it may be ground or
machined out. In other cases –
reject it.

Straightness may not be as extreme as in this photograph. It is more common on nonferrous

materials

69
 such as this aluminium. But it is a fault that may
be critical on steel also particularly on sections
where straightening may be difficult. If detected –
use basic engineering judgement as to whether it
is useable or not. Otherwise reject.

11.3 Weld cap

Undercut is an irregular groove at the toe of a run in the parent metal. It is caused by A wide

spreading arc (high arc voltage) with insufficient fill

(low current or high travel speed) is the usual cause.
However, welder technique, especially when weaving,
and the way the welding torch is angled can both cause
and be used to overcome undercutting (ie angled to push
the weld metal to fill the melted groove).

This imperfection may be avoided by reducing travel speed and/or the welding current, together
with good welder technique in maintaining a good arc length and manipulating the pool correctly

Excess cap is weld metal lying outside the plane joining the weld toes. This imperfection is formed

70
 when excessive weld metal is added to the joint,
which is usually a result of poor welder technique

In multi-run welding a poor selection of

individual bead sizes may also contribute

If the imperfection is a result of welder technique

then welder retraining mat be required.

If excessive, the weld cap may need to be dressed

to smooth to contour and improve the angle of
contact with the plate.

Lack of fill. This is a continuous, or intermittent, channel in the surface of a weld, running along its
length, due to insufficient weld
metal

This problem arises when there has

been insufficient filler metal
(current or wire feed too low or too
high a travel speed)

Additional weld passes may be

needed to correct this defect.

Concavity is a variation of lack of fill. There is insufficient weld metal to fill the joint but there is
adequate fusion at the
edges of the weld.

There is a need to
slow down the
welding to allow a
greater build up of
weld.

Additional weld
passes may be needed
to correct this defect.

71
Incomplete fusion is another version of insufficient weld metal in the cap. Here there is adequate
weld metal but the welder
has not fused fully on the
edges. It is possible that this
weld has been done in the
PC or horizontal vertical
position and gravity has
kept the weld metal from
fusing properly. If this is the
case there may also be areas
of lack of sidewall fusion
within the weld.

There is a need for the

welder to manipulate his arc
to fuse with the preparation
edges.

Overlap This is an imperfection at a toe or root of a weld caused by metal flowing on to the surface
of the
parent
metal
without
fusing
to it. It
may
occur in
both
fillet
and butt
welds.

This is often caused by poor manipulation of the

electrode or welding gun, especially when the weld pool is large and 'cold', where the welder allows
gravity to influence the weld shape before solidification.

Welder needs to use a smaller weld pool probably by increasing travel speed or reducing amps.

Overlap may need to be corrected by surface dressing.

72
11.4 Weld root
• Lack of penetration (LOP) is caused by the failure of the weld to fuse all of the weld root
face. It can be caused by an excessively thick
root face in a butt weld; too small a root gap;
passes from a double sided weld not meeting in
the middle; failure to remove sufficient metal in
cutting back to sound metal in a double sided
weld; incomplete root fusion when using too
low an arc energy (heat) input.

To avoid LOP make sure that the weld

preparation is correct and the root gap set
properly. Ensure the weld parameters are
correct and there is enough power in the arc to
melt all the root face.

This is another variation on LOP caused by

the closing up of the root gap. Either the
work is insufficiently clamped or jigged; or
the tacks have broken.

Out-of –specification LOP will need to be

removed and repaired. On single sided
welds the repair is best carried out from the
root side if there is adequate access.

Lack of root fusion (LORF) is similar to lack of penetration but it only affects one side of the weld.
Most likely to be due to poor manipulation of the root
pass where unequal heat has been applied to both root
faces, or a variation in the depth of the root faces.

To avoid both LOP and LORF, it may be

advantageous to use a small electrode in
the case of MMA or to use dip transfer for
MAG. This will allow better manipulation
of the weld pool.

Root undercut is similar to cap undercut in that it is usually a combination of excessive weld pool
size and poor manipulation

73
 Avoided by reducing the size of the weld pool
by increasing travel speed but not so much as to
risk LOP.

Excess penetration is excess weld metal protruding through the root of a fusion (butt) weld made
from one side only

Penetration becomes excessive when the joint gap is too

large, the root faces are too small, the heat input to the
joint is too high or a combination of these causes

Check the root faces and root gap are correct to avoid
this defect.

Concave root or suck-back is a shallow groove that may occur in the root of a butt weld, often in
weld made in the overhead position

Root concavity is caused by shrinkage of the

weld pool in the through-thickness direction
of the weld. Melting of the root pass by the
second pass can also produce root concavity.

This imperfection is frequently associated

with TIG welding

Ensure that the root bead is not too large and

is not allowed to cool too slowly

Un-fused tacks are self explanatory. It is where tacks, which should have been removed, have

74
 remained and the weld pass has not
had enough power to melt out the tack
and provide satisfactory penetration.

Or, that if the tacks were meant to be

welded over, the tacks were too thick
or the weld parameters couldn’t melt
them. You need a weld procedure to
confirm that this approach is
satisfactory

Ensure the size of the tacks is

specified and also the parameters of
the root pass are adequate.

For best results, remove all tacks before welding.

11.5 Weld internal

Slag, also known as inclusions, is an area of entrained welding slag which has been left in the weld.

Usually associated with MMA, it can also be

found in cored wire MAG.

Usually caused by inadequate cleaning of the weld pass before the next pass is placed over it. It may
be made worse by poor welding parameters which allow the arc to excessively penetrate the
sidewall and leave ‘overhangs’ where slag may be trapped.

Welder training may alleviate the problem. But most of the problem is welder laziness.

Lack of sidewall fusion (LOSWF), together with Lack of inter-run fusion LOIRF is exactly what
it
says it is. The principal causes are too
narrow a joint preparation, incorrect
welding parameter settings, poor
welder technique and magnetic arc
blow.

75
Too narrow a joint preparation often causes the arc to be attracted to one of the side walls causing
lack of side wall fusion on the other side of the joint or inadequate penetration into the previously
deposited weld bead

It is important to use a sufficiently high current for the arc to penetrate into the joint sidewall and
previously deposited weld runs. Poor welder technique such as incorrect angle, or manipulation of
the electrode/welding torch, will prevent adequate fusion of the joint sidewall.

Weaving, especially dwelling at the joint sidewall will enable the weld pool to wash into the parent
metal

When welding ferromagnetic steels lack of fusion imperfections can be caused through uncontrolled
deflection of the arc, usually termed arc blow. Arc deflection can be caused by distortion of the
magnetic field produced by the arc current. It is not common in structural welds but can be a
headache if you get it. Ask an expert if you have a problem.

Porosity is entrainment of gas pores within the weld metal. These pores are most likely the result of
poor shielding – for MAG, poor gas
flow, too much air movement blowing
the gas away or excessive shroud to
workpiece distance. For MMA, it could
be damaged electrode coating, again too
much air movement, too long an arc,
moisture in the coating.

To avoid it, take care to maintain an

adequate shield at all times.

Linear surface porosity is what it says. It is usually, but not always, along the centre line of the

weld. Can be a product of dirty plate affecting only

the final pass. And also lack of shielding where the
arc may be subject to stronger air movement as it is
no longer protected by the weld preparation.

76
Other causes as for porosity above.

Wormholes are another type of linear porosity. The cause is usually due to an external influence

and not, for a change, due to the welder!

Sources of wormholes are usually are linear such as laminations, crevices due to joint geometry or
contamination

To avoid these ensure that the sources of contamination are removed.

11.6 Surface Defects

Spatter is droplets of weld metal ejected from the weld pool. Some of these may stick to the
surrounding parent plate material
causing an unsightly mess. It is of
visual importance, it does not affect
the strength. However, if spatter is
not removed, it may detach in
service and be instrumental in
causing damage. It also looks ugly.
It is particularly so if it is
galvanised.

77
Even with care, spatter does occur but there should be no excuses for leaving it on the finished joint.

The cause is usually having incorrect welding

parameters which do not allow a smooth transfer of the weld metal across the arc. Refine the
conditions to improve the weld.

If pure CO2 is being used for a shielding gas, consider changing to an argon based gas

Arc strikes are a result of striking an arc momentarily on the workpiece adjacent to the weld. More
usually they come from an accidental touch from
the live filler material, but could be caused by a
faulty cable or holder.

They are unsightly, but more important they could

have hardened the plate where it struck which may
crack.

Severe strikes such as shown here should be

ground out to a smooth finish and, if thought
serious, crack detection should be carried out on
the affected area.

Missed welds are an obvious defect but are surprisingly common on complicated fabrications.

Do make sure that the welding is inspected 100%

before it goes onto the next stage.

Weld it completely with the correct WPS

Hammer marks, grinding marks, indentations etc etc. All surface marks should be avoided.
Mostly, it needs care and a pride in one’s work.

If you do get them, dress out carefully.

If necessary you may need to use weld to fill the

holes followed by dressing smooth. If the
material is susceptible to hardness put on 2
layers (the second one will heat treat the first)

78
Crater pipes are shrinkage cavities in the finish crater caused by too rapid shrinking of the weld
pool.

Avoid them by pausing at the end of the pass to

allow slower cooling

Grind them and repair properly, do not just weld

over it!

11.7 Cracks
Cracks which originate in the HAZ are usually associated with the coarse grain region,

In fillet welds, cracks in the HAZ are usually

associated with the weld root and parallel to
the weld

They are usually a result of hydrogen

generated by the welding process acting on a
hard, brittle structure within the HAZ which
is susceptible to cracking

Centreline or Solidification cracks are normally readily distinguished from other types of cracks
due to the following characteristic factors:

79
 They occur only in the weld metal and
normally appear as straight lines along the
centreline of the weld bead.

They are often associated with insufficient

weld bead size or shape and welding under
high restraint

Control is by adjusting joint fit-up to reduce

gaps and before welding, clean off all
contaminants from the material. Ensure that
the welding sequence will not lead to a
build-up of thermally induced stresses.

Avoid producing too large a depth to width ratio.

Toe Cracks originate from the toe of the weld usually where there is a stress concentration due to a
poor
profile
giving
a
notch
effect.
They
are
often

associated with brittle microstructures (you can see a root

crack also)

They usually require additional stress to form and this is regularly seen where a pipe or nozzle is set
into a hole and then either t-butt welded or fillet welded. Either way, there are significant stresses
built up in the weld due to cooling contraction.

A typical toe crack on such a circular weld is shown in the second photograph

Toe crack in circular weld

80
Root cracks are similar to the toe cracking in that they arise from sharp changes of section and as in
the photograph are frequently
associated with misalignment.

Avoidance is the same as toe cracks

Transverse cracking is almost always a material problem. It is not a common defect, and is usually
a

problem with the parent material rather than weld

composition or welder related

81
Lamellar tearing occurs in rolled steel products (primarily plates) and its main distinguishing
feature
is that the cracking has a terraced
appearance. It is also known as stepwise
cracking. It is due to inadequate strength in
the through thickness direction.

Solution is to use a clean steel with

guaranteed through-thickness properties; a
combination of joint design, restraint
control and welding sequence to minimise
the risk of cracking is also incorporated.

This is discussed further in sections 11.5 [wormholes] and 7.2.8

Crater cracks are similar to crater pipes. Here the welder has stopped welding far too soon and has
left
a

hollow weld pool, there is insufficient metal to flow

properly as is cools, so the metal thins and cracks.

Avoid by filling up the pool before breaking the arc

Repair by grinding out and bringing weld back up to contour. Don’t weld over the top.

Stress corrosion cracks are found in stainless steels. They may be caused by strong alkali solutions
but it is the halides (chlorides, fluorides and
bromides) that are primarily responsible.
Cracking takes place in areas of high stress,
as the name suggests, and is not therefore
confined solely to welds, but in the plate
adjacent to welds

82
To eliminate any chance of SCC, the only solution is to stress relieve the weld at a temperature of
around 700 to 900°c, BUT, stress relief may give rise to stress corrosion cracking – section 3.2.5.
Use a low carbon version of the steel

The alternative is to select a steel that is more resistant; type 316 is normally used. The ferritic
stainless steels are not susceptible to SCC.

11.8 Geometric
This section covers the variations in profile

Butt welds

An ideal butt weld with even weld caps which

are not too high. R not more that 3mm

These welds are all less than perfect. All the defects have been discussed earlier in this section

Fillet welds

These are ideal profiles. The one on the right being the
theoretical ideal, the other being even better with
smooth toes.

83
These are more normal contours and are perfectly acceptable.
Note that the throat thickness is 0.707 x the leg length D

A little convexity or concavity is acceptable provided the throat thickness is satisfactory.

These are all unsatisfactory. The first 2 have toe

weld is also uneconomic.

defects as seen in other parts of this section.

The third is undersized. An uneven fillet is easily

spotted but if it is a good shaped fillet, but small, it is
less easy to see

The first one from a multipass weld has the passes

badly placed. Another pass to build up the throat is
needed.

The excess convexity has stress concentrations at the toes and a large

Traditionally all fillet welds have been specified by their leg length.

However it is increasingly popular to use the throat thickness. Look at the drawings and if fillet sizes
are ‘a=6’ then that is throat thickness and ‘z=6’ refers to leg length. If in doubt ASK. It’s important
to know.

If asked for a 6mm fillet, and that figure is ‘leg length’ and you assume it is ‘throat’ then you will
actually produce a weld with a leg length nearly double that required . Very expensive.

On the other hand if it is ‘throat’ and you assume it’s ‘leg’, the weld will be 2/3 the size. Dangerous!

This chart converts between the two dimensions

84
It’s good to specify the dimensions but how do you check them. To help you there are a number of
gauges on the market. Here is a selection of them;

A gauge for checking the throat thickness of a fillet. It

can also measure the reinforcement height of a butt weld

A ‘Pit’ gauge for measuring the depth of

undercut, corrosion pits and misalignment.

85
 Two type of gauge
sets for measuring
both throat thickness
and leg length

There are many

different types or
some people make
their own

A useful gauge widely used in pipelining where ther is little or no access to the root area. This
measures both misalignment and root gap.

86
 This is the universal gauge you can measure most important
dimensions with this. Very useful.

See below for all it can do.

Finally a couple of defects that come under geometric type.

Mis-alignment This imperfection relates to deviations from the correct position/alignment of the
joint.

This is primarily a result of poor component fit-up

before welding

87
Distortion

When a weld bead is deposited, the fused metal and the part of the HAZ heated sufficiently to form
austenite will readily deform under the constraint of the cooler surrounding steel. As the hot metal
cools, shrinkage occurs. The weld area is subject to stresses caused by the shrinkage ( these stresses
are called residual stresses). These stresses will try to relieve themselves. One way is to distort the
material thus you can get your weldpiece to shrink or move itself:

Where you have avoided such movement by restraining, the residual stresses may be very high.
Careful attention is required for high restraint situations. The fit-up of such joints should be correct,
as shrinkage and residual stresses are increased by excessively wide welds. Proper monitoring by
nondestructive examination should be used.

It is unwise to allow stop/start positions to be located at locations of stress concentration (such as the
end of a stiffener) or of high restraint (corners at plate intersections). Cracking is most likely to
occur at these locations.

12 Working Standards / Legislation

12.1 CPD
The Construction Products Directive (CPD) of 1989 was introduced to create a common framework
for the regulations on buildings and construction works. It was one of the early directives from the
EU designed to create a single market for goods and services.

The mechanism for implementation adopted by the CPD was to set very high level requirements for
works known as the Essential Requirements. It then left it to the European Committee for
Standardisation (CEN) to develop standards for every construction product to support these
Essential Requirements. Over 400 standards and 1500 test methods have been developed and
adopted.

The CPD has been replaced in 2011 by the Construction Products Regulation (CPR)which was
formally published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 4 April 2011. The first parts of

88
the Regulation will come into force 20 days after publication and the remaining parts come into
force on 1 July 2013. Although the regulation has now allowed the Structural Steel to be in force on
1st July 2014.

12.1.1 Harmonised standards

There are over 200 harmonised standards - but the only one of importance here; is BSEN 1090. It
comes in 3 parts – 1) General; 2) Steel; 3) Aluminium.

12.1.2 Legal implications

Under the Construction Products Regulation (CPR), there exists a legal obligation for
manufacturers to provide proof of their products “fitness for purpose”.

The CE Mark provides proof of this “fitness for purpose” and the manufacturer affixing the CE
mark shows that the construction product will enable the finished construction works to comply
with the Construction Products Regulation requirements.

Member states of the EEA are legally obliged to take all necessary measures to ensure that the
construction products placed on the market and put into service will allow the finished structure to
comply with these seven Basic Works Requirements of:

Mechanical resistance and stability

Safety in case of fire
Hygiene, health and environment
Safety & accessibility in use
Protection against noise
Energy economy and heat retention
Sustainable use of natural resources

In summary, CE marking is a passport that enables a construction product, irrespective of its origin,
to be legally placed on the market of EEA member states. It means that a construction product meets
certain minimum standards for health, safety and economy of energy. It is NOT a quality mark.
The difference between a quality mark and the CE mark is that the certification system upon which
quality marks operate is determined by the legal owner of that quality mark e.g. BSI, whereas the
CE mark represents a common approach to conformity that is recognised in all countries making up
the EEA.

12.2 BSEN 1090-1

1090 (all parts) does not contain rules for structural design. These matters are covered by the
Eurocode set of standards for design. These Eurocode items are outlined in para 5.6

1090-1 covers such items as come under the seven basic work requirements and the performance
and evaluation needed to comply with the CE regulations.

One item of importance is the evaluation of conformity which includes the need for ‘initial type
testing’. Initial type testing is the complete set of tests or other procedures determining the
performance of samples of products representative of the product type. This is a method of
assessment to demonstrate the capabilities of the manufacturer to provide components that match
the specification requirements. It can be carried out by ‘initial type calculations’ or ‘initial type
testing’. For details look at para 6.2.

89
Another specific item required is the establishment of a Factory Production Control (FPC) system.
This can based on an ISO 9001 Quality Management System augmented by requirements of BSEN
3834, or can be a standalone Quality system not to 9001. Appendix B gives the assessment criteria
for a FPC system.

There is a requirement for control of :

Responsibility and authority of personnel

Equipment
Structural design process
Materials used for construction and the traceability of materials through the works.
Component and evaluation
System for Non-conformances.

Also there is a requirement to classify components in accordance with a system of Execution

Classes.

The standard outlines the details of requirements for the application of the CE Mark.

12.2.1 BSEN 1090-2

BSEN 1090-2 covers the particular requirements for constructions in steel. One of the most
important concepts introduced here, which has major consequences on the level of control
necessary, is the determination of the appropriate execution class for the contract. Each contract
must be assessed to determine the class and the decision is to be recorded.(see section 12.3.1)

The introduction to 1090-2 has a simple explanation of execution classes and weld quality levels
which is useful. The full method is given in appendix B

The determination of the execution class (EXC) is crucial to the standard of workmanship required
for any contract. It depends upon the service requirements of the components as determined by 3
different factors:

Consequences of failure.

Service category

Production category

These are assessed as follows.

90
This table is taken from BSEN 1990. (It doesn’t appear in 1090)

Use the three tables above to determine which of the categories is appropriate to your contract
Use these categories in the following table to determine the EXC class is to be used. Then using
Annex A.3 you then determine the level of control that is necessary.

91
Note that if your accreditation to BSEN 3834 is only to Part 3 (standard), your quality system is
not qualified to do work to EXC3 or 4.

If no execution class is specified, EXC2 shall apply.

{Your designer MUST tell you what EXC he has designed to!!!}

Other parts of 1090-2 cover the following aspects. Note that the only subjects covered in depth are
those which have a direct bearing on the RWC’s duties within 3834. The remainder of the standard
is very much taken up with design. The RWC may have an input in terms of, say, types of welded
joints, but otherwise is the territory of the Designer.

Para 4 includes the need for EXC classes and the need for a quality plan (Annex C gives guidance
on the content of a quality plan). The latter is also covered by 3834. Para 5 deals with type of
materials and their certification, any special properties specified by the designer, welding
consumables and fasteners.

Para 6 covers the general manufacturing requirements. Of particular interest in welding is the,
requirement in paras 6.4.3 and 6.4.4 which refers to tests to be carried out on thermal cutting
processes. This should form part of maintenance schedule.

Para 7 is all welding. The first paragraph of the section reads –

“Welding shall be undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the relevant part of BSEN
3834...”

“According to the execution class, the following parts of BSEN 3834 apply

• EXC1 Part 4 Elementary quality requirements.

• EXC2 Part 3 Standard quality requirements.
• EXC3 and EXC4 Part 2 Comprehensive quality requirements.”

This section also includes the requirements for a Welding Quality Plan, for qualification of WPSs
and welders and the requirements for a Welding Coordinator for EXC2 and above. A few pages of
welding requirements are included, much of which is covered in section 12.3 below.

Paras 8, 9, 10 and 11 are of little relevance to the RWC.

Para 12 includes a subpara 12.4 which related to inspection before, during and after welding.

92
Annexes A.3, B, C, E and L also include information of help to the RWC.

The requirements of BSEN 1090 Pts 1 & 2 (Pt 3 is substantially the same outline as Pt 2), in-so-far
as they refer to welding, have been included in this section because it only by complying with
BSEN 1090, all parts, that the Manufacturer is certified to use the CE mark.

12.3 BSEN 3834

Why BSEN 3834? It is a specific quality control for the special process of welding. ISO 9001 treats
it as a special process because the quality of welding processes cannot be readily verified.

QUALITY CANNOT BE INSPECTED INTO A WELDED PRODUCT, IT HAS TO BE BUILT IN.

As stated in 1090-2, welding shall be carried out in accordance with BSEN 3834 – ‘Quality
requirements for fusion welding of metallic materials’.

This standard comes in 6 parts:

• Pt 1 Criteria for the selection of the appropriate level of quality requirements’

• Pt2 Comprehensive quality requirements
• Pt3 Standard quality requirements
• Pt4 Elementary quality requirements
• Pt5 Documents with which it is necessary to conform .....
• Pt6 Guidance on implementing BSEN 3834

There follows a detailed list of requirements to comply with 3834 (written from the RWCs point of
view) for details refer to the standard itself.

12.3.1 BSEN 3834 Pt1

Pt 1 deals with an outline of the series of standards; with advice as to the part of 3834 should be
used. Much of this was discussed in 1090 above regarding the part of the standard which is to be
used – mainly in terms of the EXC class. Annex A gives a useful guide as to the differing
requirements for compliance with the different parts of the standard.

The next 3 parts (-2, -3 &-4) all have the same objective – to give the requirement for compliance
to that particular part. The all cover the same ground with some differences. A check list for all the
items in 3834 which need to be assessed is included.

12.3.2 BSEN 3834 Pt3

Only Pt 3 is discussed in detail as this is by far the most common part used. Where part 2 differs, a
note will be made to this effect.

These notes are intended to be read in conjunction with the actual standard

Section 5 Review of requirements and technical review

This should take place at the pre- contract stage. It is a review of the proposed works and should be
used to check that the project can indeed be carried out. And/or if there are any further things to be
taken into account such as: do we need to qualify any more WPSs? and, have we got enough
welders who can carry out the work?

93
 A standard form of record should be devised for use by the review personnel. This confirms that the
review has been carried out. A sample record form is included, it is only meant to be a guide from
which you will develop your own company format.

The standards and additional requirements should be on the form together with the EXC class and,
based on this, the part of 3834 which will be used. Also on the form, the list of technical
requirements as given in para 5.2 should be included where appropriate and comments etc should be
made against every item on the list.

Section 6 Subcontracting

The details of this will probably be carried out as part of the ISO 9001 assessment but it must be
recorded if the subcontractors are also accredited to 3834. If they are not [and they are required to
provide welded items] - then it may be necessary to arrange that the Company’s surveillance to be
extended to the subcontractor in order to comply. This includes: the adoption of the Company’s
WPSs; qualification of the welders to the requirements to the Company’s system, and the
production of the components indistinguishable from those of the parent Company.

All sub-contractors must be approved in accordance with Company procedures, the ability of the
subcontractor to meet requirements and the competence of his employees ascertained.

A prequalifying questionnaire may be used to assess the capabilities of the subcontractor

Where the Company intends to use sub-contracted services or activities (e.g. welding, inspection,
nondestructive testing, heat treatment), all information necessary to meet applicable requirements of
this standard shall be supplied. Typical information would include all relevant data from the review
of requirements and technical review

Section 7 Personnel

This includes welders who should be appropriately qualified and welding coordination personnel.

The welding coordination personnel should have clearly defined tasks and responsibilities have
sufficient authority to carry them out. A job description or a modification to an existing, one is the
best way of conforming. Modifications to the appropriate part of the Company organigram should
also be made. The duties of RWC personnel are given in BSEN 14731.

It is advisable to list all personnel who may be associated with the welding process and their
responsibilities and reporting structure.

Section 8 Inspection personnel

The inspection and testing requirements along with the Standard to be adopted for welding and
fabrication shall be agreed at the review stage.

Visual inspection should be carried out by appropriately qualified company personnel; initial
inspection by the welders may be undertaken by those who had received a suitable ‘tool-box’ talk
together with a short test. Other personnel may carry our more stringent tests; these persons should
preferably be qualified by an external assessor to CSWIP 3.1 or PCN Level II, (if using part2 it is
strongly advised to use personnel with either of those qualifications)

94
If properly qualified, Company personnel may carry out any other type of NDT All inspections not
carried out in-house shall be carried out by external inspection companies suitably accredited and
using fully qualified inspection personnel.

Section 9 Equipment

Provision shall be made to ensure the correct equipment is available when required.

A list of the equipment shall be maintained, to include: the items in 9.1; their description as in 9.2.

[pt 2]All new equipment should be properly installed and calibrated.

The maintenance of welding and welding related equipment shall be the responsibility a particular
person and shall be carried out at least annually; the Welding Coordinator and the welders also have
responsibility to check equipment on a daily basis, any faulty or defective equipment must be
reported to the that named for immediate rectification and the faulty equipment either removed from
the shop floor or suitably marked as “do not use”.

Section 10 Welding and related activities

Production planning is needed. All the items in para 10.1 are to be considered. To ensure conformity
to the requirements of the production plan, suitable means, such as job cards, should be used to
enable proper information to be issues to the workforce. Such job cards can usefully include the
means of recording the completion of the required sequence of tasks by ensuring that each stage it
suitable signed off.

All welding procedures shall be made available to shop floor personnel. All procedures shall be
suitably qualified and recorded in a standard format. This is to avoid errors in reading the WPSs
where different formats are used.

The RWC is responsible for the documentation associated with the welding tests ie pWPS, WPQR,
WPS and has to maintain a weld register.

Al welding shall be carried out by qualified welders. A register of welders shall be maintained and a
system of ensuring that all qualifications are up to date is to be established.

[pt 2] - procedures must be produced to formally prepare and control documents (usually part of
ISO9001)

Section 11 Storage and handling of welding consumables

A procedure should be put in place to control the handling and storage of welding consumables.
This should be in line with the manufacturer’s recommendations. Also a system of issue of welding
consumables is to be established, where you can trace the used of specific batches to particular
welds. [pt2] confirm or otherwise if batch testing is required. – [normally can be ignored unless in
one of the more pernickety Companys]

Section 12 Storage of parent materials

Materials should be supplied from CE accredited sources and stored suitably to avoid damage.
Appropriate materials certification is to be provided by the supplier. The material should be
appropriately identified so that it can be traced back to the original certification.

95
A system should also be established as to actions to take with non-conforming materials eg the use
of a quarantine area.

Where the construction is a EXC3 format – it is necessary to trace each individual component back
to a specific material cert. See section 17 – below.

Section 13 Post weld heat treatment

Where PWHT is a requirement of the project specification it shall carried out to an appropriate
procedure as given in this section. A full record of the heat treatment including recording of the
temperatures shall be made and retained.

Where in house facilities are not available, the treatment shall be carried out by a specialist
subcontractor. If there is not a pre-existing WPS, a pWPS shall be written up and qualified after the
appropriate heat treatment.

Section 14 Inspection and Testing

The RWC, with the assistance of works personnel as appropriate, shall establish a system of
inspection for all parts of the welding process –before, during and after. Each part of the inspection
shall be assigned to one or more persons or groups of persons.

Suitable records shall be kept to demonstrate continuing conformance with the requirements.

A list of all the items that must be included in such a system is given in this section. Where external
personnel are needed to complete such inspections, they shall be suitably qualified.

Section 15 Non-conformances and corrective actions

All items and activities which do not comply with the standard or other requirements shall be dealt
with appropriately. Most Companies will have a NCR system within their ISO 9001 system.
Corrective actions may include: measures to avoid similar problems in the future, or repair of
defective areas. No repairs shall be carried out without the agreement of an appropriate level of
authority (to be established as part of the personnel responsibilities). Repairs shall be carried out
using an approved procedure. Records of all repairs should be kept. Minor repairs need not be
included in the formal NCR procedures but, where significant repairs are encountered a formal NCR
report may be made.

Section 16 Calibration and validation of ...equipment

All equipment used shall be suitable for its purpose. Where necessary measuring equipment must be
regularly calibrated, the frequency to be in line with manufacturers’ recommendations, if none exist,
annual inspection are acceptable.

All welding machines are to be calibrated by an external agency. Each machine is to be uniquely
identified so the certificates can be traceable to that machine.

Section 17 Identification and traceability

If required, (and it mandatory for part 2) systems shall be established to trace the progress of
materials through the fabrication process and to record the relevant information. Not all items in this

96
section need to be recorded, appropriate records need to be established to fit in with Company
requirements.

Section 18 Quality records

The list is good guide to the documents to be kept. To be added to this:

• Any surveillance reports,

• Completed job cards (or whatever system is used to control progress through the works.
• Calibration certificates (no need to keep these records with every contract)

Note the requirements to keep these records for at least 5 years.

12.3.3 BSEN 3834 Pt5

This part of the standard covers all the relevant documents that you may need to refer to in
producing a quality system to 3834. This useful for reference only

12.3.4 BSEN 3834 Pt6

This is a useful document that gives guidance in implementing 3834. If you are setting up a
completely new system, this is essential reading - as it includes lots of pointers as to what you need
to do to control the quality system. Again, the following notes are meant to be read in parallel with
the standard as there is no point in just repeating parts of the standard here. Most of standard is
relevant.

The introduction confirms that 3834 is not a substitute for ISO9001 but is to be used in parallel with
it. Many 3834 systems are set up by simply adding to, or amending, an existing 9001 system. On the
other hand, a system conforming solely to 3834 can be a standalone option.

DO NOT LISTEN TO “EXPERTS” THAT SAY THAT’ ALL YOU NEED IS ISO 9001

Section 4 Using 3834

This shows the areas where conformance to 3834 needs to be demonstrated.

Section 5 is not relevant to RWCs

Section 6 Using other documents...

Simply says if you already have a system with documents which provides a quality control which
achieves the same ends as 3834, but which are different to those in 3834-5, that provided they give
the same technical conditions they may be used. (Suggest use with caution)

97
Section 7 Documentation and quality systems

This summarises much of what has been discussed above, however, it acts as useful reminder of the
paperwork requirements. Table 1 is a useful list of documents to be used, and where necessary,
generated to establish a 3834 quality system.

Section 8 Selecting level of quality requirements

Includes the assessment of EXC class but also says that this is not the only aspect to be taken into
account: the materials; the potential problems that may arise in fabrication such as hydrogen
cracking; effect of fabrication imperfections; loadings.

It also states that a manufacturer, who is qualified to a specific grade, is also qualified to any lower
grades; on that basis a qualification to pt2 qualifies also pt3 and pt4. NOTE: if the manufacturer is
qualified to pt2 and has a job which is assessed as pt4, he only needs to use the requirements of pt 4
to comply. (eg pt 4 can be used without WPSs so if the Company don’t have WPSs to suit the pt4
work, then they don’t need new procedures.)

Section 9 Implementation in fabrication

This includes as basic principles; procedures, instructions and competences. Implementation of 3834
should not involve a major alteration of any existing systems within the Company. However there
may be significant upgrades to the system. The control of welding outlines the procedures discussed
above to comply.

Similarly the production procedures are also outlined these include: technical information as in the
Technical Review (Pt 3 section 5); WPSs and the associated documents; use of in-process
documentation; NDT; thermal cutting.

It also includes the arrangements by which the Organisation relates to the requirements of 3834.

Section 10 Interpretation of particular clauses of 3843

This is a useful reminder of the processes that need to be addressed to comply with 3834, a check
list. is included on the handout. It is quite comprehensive but covers the vast majority of what has been
discussed in earlier in this course. Suggest that you work your way through this section
methodically and ensure you comply. If you follow section 13 (RWC Involvement) you should be
able to check where your Company lies within requirements of para 10.3 and be able to have the
evidence to comply.

Annex A gives a reminder of the minimum standard of the documents that are needed.

12.4 BSEN 14731

For RWCs this is one of the most important documents within the CE accreditation. It outlines the
area of control that the RWC should have as his responsibility. It needs to be read carefully and
adapted to suit your Company.

The most useful part of the standard is Annex B. This lists in some detail all the tasks which are
associated with the RWC in order to comply with 3834.

All these points, and more, are discussed in section 13 below.

98
Also supplied is a list of all the Annex B tasks on a matrix which can be used to allocate
responsibilities to various classes of personnel. (Useful in complying with 3834-3 para 7.3.

12.5 BSEN 1011

This standard combines most of the welding aspect needed to produce any fabrication. It is very
comprehensive and is useful as a reference

Part 1 of 1011 includes all the very basics such as assembly, tacking, arcing, cleaning, procedures
etc. It is very basic but can act as a guide when setting up the production plan for a new component
such you don’t forget anything important.

Part 2 of 1011 is a more detailed discussion of all welding aspects for carbon steel (there are 2 more
parts – 1011-3 for stainless steel and 1011-4 for aluminium.

It is the annexes which are the most interesting parts of the standard. In particular – annex C is of
importance. The use of this annex is essential to accurately assess the preheat requirements. There
are 2 methods, for our purposes Method A is the easiest to use and interpret. The practical use of
this annex is included in section 13.

Method B can be used as an alternative, but it’s not as easy to use and needs a bit more care in the
assessment. It has its uses where the C, Mn, or Cr levels are a little higher than the limits for using
method A.

Annex D is useful for D1 to D4 but then gets a bit mathematical! If you do get HAZ hardness
problems, it can be approached by more practical methods.

Annexes E and F may provide guidance for problems with solidification cracking and lamellar
tearing.

13 RWC Involvement
13.1 Authority within Company
Extracts from 14731 say – ‘The manufacturer shall appoint at least one responsible welding
coordinator...a job description is required...their position in the manufacturing organisation..the
extent of authorisation accorded to them.

13.1.1 Organigram
To place the RWC within an organisation, use an existing organigram and modify it to suit. Ensure
it includes - who the RWC is responsible to and who is responsible to them. There must be access to
high management, eg CEO or board member, to be able to ensure the quality is kept at the required
level and is not hampered by other managers who have their own problems and responsibilities.

13.1.2 Job descriptions

These should be written (or re-written) to include the duties and authorisation of the RWC any
anyone else who has authority under 3834. This may include work’s managers, designers etc.

99
13.2 Factory Production Control
To quote annex B of 1090 Pt1 – “The FPC system shall demonstrate that the systems for performing
the work ...are adequate for delivering components that conform to the requirements...”

Systems should be set in place to generate a FPC (or adapt an existing one). This is one of the core
requirements of 1090. It should include all the activities carried out where they may influence
welding. This may involve many different personnel and may need all the authority you are
allocated to achieve this. The items below are an absolute minimum – most of these items are
discussed in more detail elsewhere, but are included here as a reminder of the parts of a FPC which
are specifically mentioned in the standard and are included in the evaluation outlines in Annex B

13.2.1 Material supply

The first area of concern is that the material supplied is correctly marked and with correct
certification. Ensure that materials are from a CE source and that they have (as a minimum)
certification which complies with BSEN 10204 – type 3.1. BSEN10204 gives a range of types of
documentation for material supply. Certification to a lesser standard is not acceptable

Particularly for 3834-Pt2, a system of material identification should be established. For 3834-pt2
each item of material should be traceable back to the original certificate. For Pt3, the material must
be controlled through the workshop such that material does not get mixed up with other contracts,
that only identified material is used and that the traceability is documented as appropriate.

This material traceability shall include welding consumables also.

13.2.2 Personnel
Qualified personnel only are used to do the welding. They shall be suitably qualified, records kept,
their validity must be kept in force. A register of qualifications should be kept up to date.

Welding coordination personnel must have their duties defined.

13.2.3 Equipment
All equipment is to be suitable and maintained correctly

13.2.4 Product evaluation

An inspection regime to be established and suitable records kept.

13.3 Responsibilities of the RWC

In order to cover this, the list set out in Annex B of 14731 is used as a base. The numbering is that
of this Annex. The duties or involvement of other personnel is also included, as the RWC needs to
know where to interface with other disciplines.

A spreadsheet is included which gives a list of the tasks and the columns at the right of the sheet
allow the allocation of duties to various classes of personnel. This document, when completed, can
be used in the Assessment to demonstrate compliance in the matter of ‘who does what’

B1 review of requirements B2 technical review B3 Subcontracting

These were discussed earlier and are mainly carried out by senior personnel and the results recorded.
There should be an involvement of the RWC, to check there are no unexpected problems with say,
materials or lack of WPSs

100
B4 Welding personnel

Are there enough welders? Are they all qualified? Are they up-to date? Do we need to qualify any
more? Much of this was covered in section 9.

B5 equipment

Are there enough welding machines? Do they all work? Are they calibrated? Have they been
maintained properly?

Are there enough pieces of other equipment? E.g. grinders (and discs), clamps, jigs etc.

Have the personnel all been issued with appropriate PPE? Is it serviceable? Do they wear it?

Are all electrical checks in place?

B6 production planning

Are there appropriate WPSs in force? Are they fully qualified? Do you need any more?

Do you need to use weld mapping for the contract, to confirm the number of WPSs needed? It is not
necessary to weld map each job unless; 1) required by the client; or 2) the drawings are complicated
and have many different weld types on them.

Examine the drawings and determine if there are any possible problems with weld sequence. You
may have to do weld A before weld B because B will hamper access to A if done first.

Are there any environmental problems? Few for shop work. Could be problem on site – Is there
adequate protection to the weld and the personnel?

Allocate the personnel appropriately.

Do you need heating equipment for preheat. Do you need preheat?

To determine the need for preheat use Annex C of BSEN 1011as follows:

When the combined thickness of the components is les than 50mm or the carbon equivalent [CE] is
less than 0.45, preheat is not normally needed. If preheat is needed use the following procedure:

Find the appropriate material test certificate.

Read off the chemical analysis for the following elements and get their values. eg

C Mn Cr Mo V Ni Cu
0.16 1.26 0.14 0.07 0.04 0.32 0.13

Put these values into the CE formula (section 3.1.4.1)

It will then look like this; CE = 0.16 + (1.26/6) + (0.14 + 0.07 + 0.04)/5 + (0.32 + 0.13)/15

Do some addition: CE = 0.16 + (1.26/6) + (0.25 / 5) + (0.45/15)

Do some division: CE = 0.16 + 0.21 + 0.05 + 0.03

101
 And the last bit of addition: CE = 0.45

That’s the first value you need.

-----------

Find hydrogen scale of welding consumable. Use table C2.

As a general rule, MAG, MAG, TIG will gave a scale D (although TIG can sometimes be E)

For MMA, a rutile electrode is B and basic electrodes can either be C or D. For a vacuum
packed electrode it is usually D

We will assume we’re using MAG so the second value you need is: hydrogen scale is D

----------

The third value is the combined thickness. This is calculated from the weld set up as
follows:

The combined thickness of a joint is calculated by adding all the thicknesses of the components
where they meet to form the joint. Examples are given below.

d1

d1

d1 d2 d2 d3
d2

d=d1 +d2 d=d1 +d2 d=d1 +d2+d3

1

Where the metal is tapered, the thickness of the plate is averaged over 75mm from the
weld :

d = d1 + (d2+d3) /2
d3

d2 d1

75 mm

So let’s assume the weld is a fillet of a 12mm thick plate welded onto 20mm plate.

For a fillet : d = d1 + d2 + d3

So, d = 12 + 20 + 20 d = 52mm is the third value

----------

The final value is the heat input. So get the WPS you are going to use and find the average
heat input from the last column. Assume it’s 0.8kJ/mm.

102
 0.8 kJ/mm is the fourth value.

----------

Now go to Annex C of BSEN 1011-2 and page 22. Here you will find a series of graphs
(pages 22 to 28) which you can use to find the preheat.

Page 22 is reproduced below for an example.

First stage – choose your graph. Use the hydrogen scale and the CE

In our example, that is D and 0.45 examine the bottom of each graph where it has rows 4
and 5. Starting at figure C2.a examine the values until you get a match. C2a has a CE of
0.44 in column D. This is lower than our CE so it can’t be used.

Try fig C2b. Here the CE figure under D is 0.46 and is higher than our CE value of 0.45. So
we will use C2b for the next stage. (If this figure was not useable, then go through the series
of graphs until you find the right one)

Second stage

Using C2b, go along the bottom line until you reach the heat input. In this case it is 0.8.

Then go up the 0.8 value until you reach the combined thickness of 52mm.

Third stage

103
 Look at the point where the thickness and heat input cross. Is it to the right and/or below the
line on the graph marked 0. If so, no preheat is needed. In our example it is outside so no
preheat.

NOW – suppose the combined thickness had worked out at 80mm. Using fig C2b follow the
0.8kJ/mm line up to 80mm. Now you are in inside the ‘0’ line so preheat is needed. But
how much? The intersection now is between the lines marked 50 and 75. Take the higher
figure and preheat to that, so the preheat is now 75°C.

To reinforce a point made in section 5.1 when discussing electrode types, the figure in our
example of no preheat is also valid for basic, low hydrogen electrodes. BUT, if we were to
go through our example above with a rutile rod, then the figures are:

CE = 0.46; combined thickness = 50mm; heat input 0.8kJ/m and hydrogen scale B.

If you put these figures into the system then in graph C2f you find a preheat of 125°C. Basic
electrodes may be more expensive but they can save an absolute fortune in preheat!

Next on the list from 14731 is: How do you measure preheat, for ease of use, a temperature
indicating crayon that melts when touched on metal hotter than crayon’s value is easy and ideal. But
it is useful to have digital type of pyrometer for more accurate measurements. (You should use one
for the WPQR qualification)

Does the client want production test plates? In other words does he want further mechanical testing
on a weld produced, with the same consumables, at the same time as the contract. Very unlikely for
structural work (sometimes used in pressure vessel work.)

B7 Qualification of welding procedures

Do all your WPSs comply with BSEN 15609-1 and are they qualified to BSEN 15614-1?

B8 Weld procedure qualifications

Do you need to qualify additional WPSs?

B9 Work instructions

Do you need additional work instructions which are for this particular contract?

B10 Welding Consumables

Are your welding consumables compatible with the WPS? Welding consumables must be stored
appropriately, in line with the manufacturer’s recommendations. Opened boxes are particularly
vulnerable to deterioration. Issue of consumables to welders is to be controlled. Consumable batches
must be recorded for each contract.

B11 materials

Is all the raw material marked so you can trace it? Is it stored correctly?

104
B12 Inspection and testing before welding

Ensure that all of the following actions are covered by one, or more, personnel. And that the results
of the action are recorded where required.

• Validity of welder qualifications?

• Check the WPSs to be used. Are copies accessible to the welders? Ensure the welders know
and understand the WPS(s) to be used and the importance of following them
• Identity of parent material
• Identity of welding consumables.

• Joint preparation; is it to drawing?

• It the fit-up correct? Is it adequately supported, positioned or clamped as appropriate?
• If there were any special requirements, have the welders been told?
• Are the working conditions acceptable? Particularly important for site work.

B13 inspection and testing during welding

Check the essential welding parameters. Are they in accordance with the WPS
If appropriate, check preheat and/or interpass temperature.
Are the passes being laid down in a satisfactory manner? Are they being cleaned properly?
Is any back gouging etc being carried out satisfactorily and adequate metal is being removed.
Is the weld sequence correct?
Are the electrodes being treated correctly? (particularly for MMA electrodes)
Is distortion being controlled? Is tacking adequate?
Have surveillance reports been completed?

B14 Inspection and testing after welding.

Is it dimensionally correct?
Are the profiles of the welds acceptable?
Are there are obvious defect on a visual inspection?
Have 10% of welds been further visually examined? (does the contract require more than 10%?)
Have 10% of welds been tested by either MPI or DP? (does the contract require more than 10%?)
Does UT examination need to be done?
Check the reports for failures and mark all reports (with a stamp?) to show they’ve been checked.

B15 PWHT
If carried out, has it been carried out correctly? Have you got the graph?

B16 Non-conformances and corrective actions

If there are any repairs, were they marked out correctly to assist the proper removal of the defect?
Have they been done correctly to the procedure?
Has a record been made of the repair?
Have serious non-conformances been entered onto the NCR system?
Have they been tested to at least the standard they were originally tested to?

B17 Calibration of measuring equipment.

Discussed previously

105
B18 identification and traceability
Have all the necessary reports been completed? And filed correctly?

B19 Quality records

Have all reports etc for the ISO 9001 system been completed?

That’s all you have to do to be a RWC ☺

14 After the course

Having attending this course does not automatically qualify you as an RWC. You must be able to
demonstrate that you can put this knowledge into practice.

You need to establish your authority within the Company and establish, with as many other
personnel as you need, the cooperation you will need to set up a WQMS (welding quality
management system). From that it should only be a small step to getting BSEN3834 accreditation.
And not too far beyond that to getting a CE marking.

After a period of time you will be visited by a member of the TUV team who will want to see your
progress – how you have put the information you have learnt here into practice. There will also be a
short written examination to make sure you have the necessary knowledge

Further information on the process and metallurgy aspects can be acquired from the internet.

BUT BEWARE – there are an awful lot of self-styled experts out there who haven’t got a clue!!

Two trustworthy places to start are:

http://www.twi-global.com/technical-knowledge/job-knowledge/

http://www.esabna.com/euweb/AWTC/Lesson1_1.htm

106