How to Develop a Welding Procedure Specification

Developing, or writing a welding procedure, goes far beyond setting up amps and volts.  It entails the selection of many variables which fall under the 9 required components of welding procedure specifications we discussed last week. Today we look at those 9 components again, but rather than just stating what they contain we explain how […]

9 Required Components of Welding Procedure Specifications

  Regardless what position you hold, if you work in the welding industry you have heard of welding procedures specifications (WPSs).  To some, a welding procedure simply means the selection of a few variables such as amps and volts.  To others, these are the documents that govern all welding done in their facility.   A […]

FCAW prequalified welding procedures and their limitations

Dangers even if you follow all the requirements of AWS D1.1

The use of prequalified welding procedures has many advantages as well as many disadvantages.  One danger of using prequalified welding procedures is that AWS D1.1 allows for quite a bit of freedom in weld sizes.  If you look at Table 5.1 –Prequalified WPS Requirements of AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2020 Structural Welding Code (Steel) you’ll see that in […]

Basic (Overlooked) Steps to Develop a Welding Procedure

A welding procedure specification (WPS) consists of a series of welding variables and corresponding allowable ranges. The selection of these ranges is very important.  The idea is that if the welder is within all acceptable ranges he or she will deposit a sound weld, provided of course that the welder has the required skill.  The […]

Importance of Implementing a Specification for Weld Quality

Understanding the basic components

If you have been reading our articles for some time you know how strongly we feel about having documented welding procedure specifications which have been qualified by testing or prequalified in conformance with code requirements. Yet when we recommend that these very important documents be developed and used in production we get a lot of […]

7 Variables That Affect Weld Penetration

Complete joint penetration (CJP) welds will have the exact same effective weld size regardless of welding process.

Getting deeper penetration, or at least adequate penetration is very important in welding.  There are a few applications in which we wish to minimize penetration, but in general we always want good penetration.  There are many variables that affect penetration, some more than others.  It is important to know how each individual variable affects the […]

How to Qualify a WPS for Welding Stainless to Mild Steel using AWS D1.6

Macroetch locations for welding procedure qualification of fillet welds.

It is very common to weld stainless steel to mild steel.  But, when it comes to qualifying a welding procedure it can be somewhat confusing.  Do you follow AWS D1.1 (Steel) or do you following AWS D1.6 (Stainless Steel)?   Or is there another code or standard you should use? The answer to this question is […]

14 Welding Procedure Specification Variables

A Welding Procedure Specification has several variables which should be carefully specified.  The values selected for the variables discussed below have a significant impact on weld soundness and mechanical properties. It is critical that these values be appropriate for the specific requirements of applicable code and job specifications.  Some of the most important variables in […]

The 3 Biggest Problems with Welding Procedures

Have you ever developed, written, qualified or approved a welding procedure? If you have, what was the reason? To satisfy the requirements of a contract?  To control quality? To improve productivity?  To pass an audit?  To help new welders? As welding consultants, CWIs and welding engineers we see hundreds of welding procedure specifications (WPSs) every […]

9 Steps to Develop a Repair Welding Procedure

Some repairs, whether it is repairing a failed weldment or repairing a crack in a casting, may easily be done by simply grinding out the crack and applying more weld.  Other repairs, however; are more complicated.  Or at least they should be. Just last week a customer contacted us asking for help in developing a […]