Proposal that most future weld qualification be by tested welding consumable - ISO15610 approach

Context - why the perception that Weld metallurgical qualification Standards need a new start with a different structure

That the ISO series of Weld metallurgical qualification Standards and in particular ISO15614 no longer work is a conjecture which came to this Author from his experiences working at weld fabrication sites as a Welding Engineer. On discussing this impression with other Welding Engineers, it seems others have the same impression. The conjecture seems to be moving towards a conclusion.

Another conclusion welding engineers are coming to is that far more reliance needs to be assigned to weld production tests.

In summary, what needs to go and what is the new start?

The ISO15614 style of weld metallurgical qualification needs to go for all general welding fabrication. Only a few niche applications for complex alloys in expensive components produced by scientifically expert organisations require a weld qualification with any remaining similarity to the ISO15614 approach.

The new correct approach is overwhelmingly similar to the existing ISO15610 approach.

Additionally, the weld quality managment and weld metallurgical qualification must specify weld production tests as the dominant and preferred method of verifying weld quality.

Far greater emphasis on weld production tests might not be as daunting as might be initially feared. Rough-and-ready qualitative tests which can be performed rapidly at the manufacturing contractor's fabrication facility would serve many common severity-of-service classes of weld fabrication. Extensive testing requiring quantitative measurement using calibrated specialist testing equipment provided by contracting test laboratories could be specified only in the case of high severity-of-service high consequence-class fabrications in more sensitive high-performance alloys.



(R. Smith, 06Oct2015)