Methods of qualification of welding procedure

Terms and definitions:

Manufacturer – person or organization responsible for welding production

Testing body – in the sense of EN ISO 15607, a person who has been designated to assess conformity with the relevant standard

Testing organisation – within the meaning of EN ISO 15607, an organisation that has been designated to assess conformity with the relevant standard

Inspection Body (IB) – is the body that carries out the inspection (in this case the qualification of the welding procedure for metallic materials according to EN ISO 15607 and related standards)

Inspection – the examination of the design of a product, product, service, process or equipment and the determination of whether it conforms to specified requirements or, in the exercise of professional judgement, meets the general requirements

Inspection procedure – a document describing the specific inspection activity in the process of assessing and examining conformity against the relevant specifications

Inspection report – a report on the progress and result of the inspection carried out

Inspection certificate – evidence of a finding of compliance with the specification of the subject of the inspection, which may be issued by the IO (in this case the WPQR)

Welding procedure – is a defined course of activities before, during and after the welding process. References are made to the welding method, basic, additional and auxiliary materials, weld surface preparation, preheating, possibly interpass temperature, composition of caterpillars and weld layers, control of the welding process, heat treatment after welding and the necessary equipment used

Preliminary welding procedure specification ( pWPS) is a document containing the required variables (parameters, conditions) according to which the welding procedure must be qualified in one of the ways specified in EN ISO 15607 to ensure the repeatability of the required quality during the production process

Welding procedure specification ( WPS) – a document that has been qualified in one of the ways specified in EN ISO 15607 and that provides the required welding procedure variables to ensure repeatability during production welding

Welding Procedure Qualification Record – WPQR – is a record that includes all the data required to qualify (approve) the preliminary welding procedure specification pWPS

Welding procedure test – fabrication and testing of a standardized test piece, specified in the pWPS and performed for welding procedure qualification

Pre-production welding test – a welding test which has the same function as the welding procedure test but is based on a non-standardised test piece which is typical of the production conditions

Tested welding material – a welding material or combination of welding materials tested according to the relevant welding material testing standards

Standardised welding procedure specification – a welding procedure specification that has been qualified by a welding procedure test that is not restricted to a single manufacturer and is qualified by a testing body or testing organisation

Previous welding experience – where credible test results can be documented that demonstrate that the welding procedures used by the manufacturer in the fabrication process were capable of producing welds of acceptable quality over a period of time

Means of qualifying the welding procedure:

(A) Determination and qualification of welding procedures by welding procedure test (according to EN ISO 15614-x series of standards),

(B) Determination and qualification of welding procedures by a pre-production welding test (according to EN ISO 15613),

(C) Determination and qualification of welding procedures on the basis of a standardised welding procedure (according to EN ISO 15612),

(D) Determination and qualification of welding procedures based on previous welding experience (according to EN ISO 15611),

(E) Determination and qualification of welding procedures based on tested welding materials (according to EN ISO 15610).