Welding-qualification:Record of qualifying Results.SOLUTIONS with Effective, Powerful AdviceWelding-qualification practice has evolved in a complex and well defined protocol conceived to provide the assurance that every precaution is taken. The purpose is to guarantee that the application of welding techniques is realized with adequate competence and workmanship to fulfill design purposes. Welding-qualification of procedures and of personnel is an important part of weld quality management. These are the essential tools capable of assuring that the performed welds will meet the construction intent. Welding Codes and Standards (see Welding Standards) are established by professional associations and accepted as distilled current knowledge and experience relative to fabricated constructions, addressing the needs of particular service conditions. The responsibility for Qualification of Welding Personnel and Procedures lies with the employer, fabricator, manufacturer or contractor. Those are liable for selection, definition and control of the welding procedures they will use to perform the work.
Welding-qualification requirements are generally formalized as binding Codes. However, even if the application is not covered by a code or standard, it is strongly recommended that some form of welding procedure qualification be performed for all critical welding operation. The document detailing the specific welding instructions to be followed for a given job is called Welding Procedure Specification (WPS). The WPS describes a set of conditions including, materials and consumables, thickness, position, welding process, welding parameters etc. The Welding-qualification of the procedure may be required by the applicable code, that will generally request also the qualification of personnel involved. The Welding-qualification of the personnel consists in demonstrating that the welders are indeed capable of producing satisfactory welds when using the prescribed process, materials and procedure. The adherence to all WPS requirements has to be confirmed by the representative of the responsible agent, who will witness the whole operation. Welding-qualification of procedures consists in performing on a test piece the typical weld described in the WPS document, and then submitting the welded sample to all the prescribed examinations and tests. Failing the tests prevents the PQR issue. The results meeting the requirements are to be reported by the employer in a standard document called Procedure Qualification Record (PQR). This document provides the details of the qualification, including the essential variables that were used for welding the test piece, and an official statement of certification confirming that all applicable code requirements were met. Because of this statement, welders having passed the Welding-qualification tests are designated as Certified Welders. The use of prequalified procedures is sometimes admitted, provided all code requirements are met. Codes admit a measure of variability around the conditions used for qualifying any given procedure. If the conditions exceed the limits, a new procedure has to be established and qualified. A single welding procedure qualification test may support a number of welding procedure specifications. Alternatively a single welding procedure specification may be supported by a number of procedure qualifications. The following documents deal with different aspects of Welding-qualification, important to demonstrate acceptable Quality level in all manufacturing operations.
B2.1-BMG:2005, Base Metal Grouping for Welding Procedure and Performance Qualification ANSI/AWS B2.1:2005 ANSI/AWS B2.2-91 ANSI/AWS B2.4:2006 ANSI/AWS G1.6:2006 ANSI/AWS B5.1:2003 ANSI/AWS B5.2:2001 AWS B5.4:2005 ANSI/AWS B5.5:2000 NEW EDITION: B5.9:2006, Specification for the Qualification of Welding Supervisors ANSI/AWS B5.14:2002 ANSI/AWS B5.15:2003 ANSI/AWS B5.16:2006 ANSI/AWS B5.17:2004 ANSI/AWS C2.16/C2.16M:2002 ANSI/AWS C1.5:2005 AWS CMWS:2005 European Welding Standard DIN EN ISO 15610
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