MODULE 11 – WELDING CODES AND SPECIFICATIONS

WELDING INSPECTION
TECHNOLOGY
OBJECTIVE OF THE MODULE

 TO CONSIDER THE ROLE OF CODES AND SPECIFICATIONS IN RESPECT

TO WELDING INSPECTION AND THE ACTIVITIES OF WELDING
INSPECTORS.

 TO REVIEW AND PRACTICE A METHOD OF FINDING INFORMATION

AND APPLICABLE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE QUALITY OF WELDS AND
WELDING.
FINDING CODE REFERENCE
 IN WORKING WITH A CODE, IT IS A ESSENTIAL TO BECOME FAMILIAR
WITH ITS STRUCTURE AND LAYOUT. HAS IT A DETAILED INDEX OR ONLY
A TABLE OF CONTENTS? HOW ARE THE CONTENTS GROUPED AND
WHAT DOES EACH SECTION, EXHIBIT, OR APPENDIX INCLUDE? THIS
INFORMATION FORMS THE BASIS OF THE METHOD TO FIND THE
REQUIRED CODE REFERENCES.

 THE FIRST STEP IN FINDING CODE REFERENCE IS TO CONVERT THE

INFORMATION SOUGHT INTO A QUESTION: FOR EXAMPLE:

 IS THIS WELDER QUALIFIED TO FILLET WELD T-JOINT IF THE ANGLE

BETWEEN MEMBERS IS 45 DEG.?
  WHAT IS THE ALLOWABLE UNDERCUT FOR JOINT A?
 WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM CONVEXITY FOR THIS FILLET WELD?

 THE SECOND STEP IS TO IDENTIFY IN THE QUESTION, THE KEY TERMS

OR PHRASES LIKELY TO BE FOUND IN THE INDEX OR TABLE OF
CONTENTS OF THE CODE IN USE.
TAKING QUESTION #1 ABOVE, THE KET TERMS WOULD BE WELDER
QUALIFICATION, FOLLOWED BY FILLET WELD. SIGNIFICANT, BUT OF
LOWER ORDER, MEMBERS AT 45 DEG.
IN QUESTION #2 ABOVE, THE KEY TERMS ARE THE TYPE OF JOINT
REPRESENTED BY JOINT A AND UNDERCUT.
IN QUESTION #3 ABOVE, THE KEY TERMS ARE FILLET WELD AND
MAXIMUM CONVEXITY.
 THE THIRD STEP IS TO SEARCH THE INDEX OR TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR
THE KEY TERMS. REMEMBER, KEY TERMS SELECTED MAY NOT EXACTLY
MATCH THE WORDS OF THE CODE INDEX OR TABLE OF CONTENTS. SO,
KEEP POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVES INMIND. FOR INSTANCE, IN AWS D1.1,
THE TERM FIT-UP IS USED EXTENSIVELY IN THE TEXT BUT THERE ARE NO
REFERENCES TO THIS TERM IN THE INDEX OR TABLE OF CONTENTS. THE
TERM USED IS ASSEMBLY.

 THE FOURTH STEP IS TO FIND, AND CONFIRM, THE REFERENCE FOR

COMPARISON WITH THE JOB ATTRIBUTES.
SAMPLE PROBLEMS
 PROBLEM #1. FOR A PROCEDURE QUALIFICATION TEST TO BE PERFORMED,
THE WELDING IS TO BE VERTICALLY UP. IN WHAT FIELD(S)
WOULD THIS INFORMATION BE ENTERED?

 STEP ACTION

1. DATA ALREADY IN THE FORM OF A QUESTION.

2. KEY TERM IS PROCEDURE QUALIFICATION AND SECONDARY
TERMS ARE POSITION AND PROGRESSION.
3. IN THE TABLE OF CONTENTS (OF SPEC B), WELDING PROCEDURE
QUALFICATION TEST RECORDS IS SHOWN AS BEING ON PAGE 1.
( APPENDIX I).
 4. TURNING TO PAGE 1, THE APPROPRIATE FORM IS SEEN. THE
POSITION FIELD IS LOCATEDAS FIELD (4) AND THE PROGRESSION
FIELD AS FIELD (13).

 PROBLEM #2. A GROOVE JOINT IS TO BE MADE USING JOINT

DESIGNATION B-U2a BETWEEN MEMBERS AT 160 DEG.
THE EDGES OF THE MEMBERS HAVE NOT BEEN CHAMFERED
AND THE JOINT IS SET-UP FOR WELDING WITH A 7/16 in.
GAP. WHAT ACTION, IF ANY, SHOULD THE WELDING TAKE?

 STEP ACTION

1. WHAT ARE THE ANGLE AND THE FIT-UP TOLERANCES FOR PRE-
QUALIFIED JOINT BU2a?
 2. KEY TERM IS: PREQUALIFIED JOINT AND SECONDARY TERMS ARE
JOINT BU2a, JOINT PREPARATION AND FIT-UP TOLERANCE.
3. FROM TABLE OF CONTENTS, PREQUALIFIED JOINTS ARE FOUND TO
BE ON PAGE 3-APPENDIX III.
4. IN APEENDIX III, JOINT BU2a IS FOUND IN THE LOWER DIAGRAM.
THE DETAILS OF JOINT PREPARATION ARE GIVEN, ALONG WITH
FIT-UP TOLERANCES. THIS CONFIRMS THAT THE REFERENCE FOUND
IS APPLICABLE TO THE QUESTION.

 PROBLEM #3. A WELDER IS TO BE QUALIFIED ON 4 in. SCHEDULED 60

PIPE IN THE 2G POSITION. FOR WHAT OTHER GROOVE
WELD POSITIONS WILL THIS WELDER BE QUALIFIED TO
WELD IF ALL TESTS ARE PASSED SATISFACTORILY?
 ADOPTING THE METHODS OUTLINED ABOVE, APPROPRIATE
INFORMATION WILL BE FOUND ON PAGES 11 AND 12 IN APPENDIX XI.
LOOKING IN TABLE 2 OF THE APPENDIX HOWEVER, SHOWS THAT 4 in.
SCHEDULED 60 PIPE IS NOT A SIZE USED FOR THE WELDING
QUALIFICATION. THEREFORE, TESTS WITH THIS PIPE SIZE WOULD BE
INVALID.