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Thickness range for welder qualification and
procedure qualification (ASME Section IX)
17 Comments / Thickness range for welder qualification and procedure qualification (ASME Section IX),
Welder Performance Qualification / By Sandeep Anand
Thickness range for performance qualification (welder qualification
test):
ASME BPVC Section IX has provided guidelines for the thickness range up to which a welder can weld.
This can be found in Table – QW 452.1(b) of ASME BPVC Section IX. A simplified version of that table is
given below;
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According to this table, three important points can be drawn:
1. The maximum thickness which a welder can weld is 2T, where T is the thickness of the deposited
weld metal on the test coupon by that welder.
2. There are no criteria for minimum thickness
3. If a welder deposits weld metal of thickness 13 mm or more (with a minimum of three layers)
then he/she qualifies for an unlimited thickness, but the maximum thickness which the
welder can weld shall not be more than that specified in the WPS range.
For the range of outside diameter of pipes (Groove weld) for which a welder can weld is also provided
in ASME BPVC Section IX. The table which we have to refer to for this is QW 452.3. A simplified version
of that table is given below;
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From the above table we can conclude that;
1. If the outside diameter of the test coupon is less than 25 mm (or 1 inch) then the minimum
outside diameter for which the welder gets qualified is the same that of the test coupon and the
maximum outside diameter which he can weld is Unlimited.
2. For outside diameter, 25 mm (or 1 inch) to 73 mm (or 2-7/8 inch), the minimum Outside
diameter for which the welder gets qualified is 25 mm (or 1 inch) and the maximum outside
diameter which he can weld is Unlimited.
3. If the outside diameter of the test coupon is more than 73 mm (or 2-7/8 inch) then the
minimum Outside diameter for which the welder gets qualified is 73 mm (or 2-7/8 inch) and the
maximum outside diameter which he can weld is Unlimited.
4. One very important point can be observed from this table that ASME BPVC has not given any
limitation for the maximum outside diameter, there is the only restriction for the minimum
outside diameter of the pipe which a welder can weld.
Thickness range for procedure qualification (Procedure
qualification record):
To qualify a proposed Welding procedure specification (PWPS), we need to carry out the procedure
qualification which includes the following steps;
Preparation of test coupon
welding of test coupon and
sending it to the lab for destructive test
During the welding of the test coupon, all real-time data is recorded and after a satisfactory lab test
report, the welding procedure specification (WPS) gets qualified. It is also called as procedure
qualification and all the real-time welding data along-with the lab test report is known as Procedure
qualification record (PQR).
Now, we have a thickness limit for procedure qualification too. It means that a particular welding
procedure specification (WPS) gets qualified for a particular thickness range and if we have to weld
beyond that thickness range then we need a new WPS and procedure qualification.
The thickness range for which a Welding procedure specification (WPS) gets qualified is given in ASME
BPVC section IX Table QW 451.1. A simplified version of that table is given below;
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From the above table, one can easily find out the thickness range for which a Welding procedure can
be qualified or a welding engineer can prepare a welding procedure specification (WPS) accordingly.
One important point to be noted that for performance qualification (welder qualification) the
thickness which is considered is that of the deposited weld metal but in the case of procedure
qualification, it is the thickness of the test coupon which is considered.
Also read: How to write a welding procedure specification (WPS)
Also read: P-number, F-number, and A-number in welding
Also read: Welding Defects
Also read: Welding Symbols
Note: The purpose of this article is to give basic information to the readers, for terms and conditions
(in detail), Please refer to ASME Section IX.
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