American Welding Society (AWS) has taken the lead in the welding industry with alternative methods to developing a Welding Procedure Specification (WPS). Other welding codes have acknowledged these alternative methods (such as ASME adopting AWS SWPSs), but none have spent the time and resources AWS has adopting them into their welding codes. While I believe developing a WPS from the ground up including Procedure Qualification (PQs) based on the companies scope of work, welding capabilities, and welding process preferences, is the most economical and technically sound option, I think it is important for welding companies to know their options and have the ability to take advantage of the work AWS has put forth.

AWS D1.6, Structural Welding Code—Stainless Steel, should be used for welding st ainless steel structures. When-ever contract documents specify AWS D1.1 for welding stainless steel, the requirements of AWS D1.6 should apply. 1.3 Definitions The welding terms used in this code shall be inter-preted in conformance with the definitions given in the. Candidates seeking the AWS D1.1 endorsement shall pass an open book written examination consisting of 50 multiple choice questions in two hours. Candidates are required to use the AWS D1.1 Structural Welding Code - Steel to answer the questions. Reference the AWS D1.1 Structural Welding Code for Acceptance Criteria for Bend Tests. Four types of bend samples are shown above. Left to right are: face bend, face bend, root bend and a side bend The bend samples shown above differ in the radius that they were bent. This is a requirement set forth by the code or standard that is being used. AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2015 Dedication This 23rd edition of AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2015, Structural Welding Code—Steel, is dedicated by the D1 Committee on Structural Welding and the D1Q Subcommittee on Steel Structures to Keith Landwehr. In his 15 years of service, Keith contributed 30 years of expertise to the development of the D1.1, Structural Welding.

AWS D1.1 Structural Steel Welding Code allows for three different methods to developing a code compliant WPS. They include;

Qualified Welding Procedure Specifications covered in Clause 4
Prequalified Welding Procedure Specifications covered in Clause 3
Standard Welding Procedure Specifications (SWPS) covered in AWS B2.1-X-XXX Series Standards

While AWS D1.1 is the flag ship of welding codes for American Welding Society, D1.2 Structural Aluminum, and D1.6 Structural Stainless have also incorporated allowances for prequalified and standard welding procedure specifications. This article will cover the aspects of the D1.1 Structural Steel welding code.

Qualified Welding Procedure Specifications – This method is the traditional route welding companies have built their welding programs with. Many times you can find a filing cabinet deep in the weld program administrator or QC Manager’s office full of Procedure Qualification Records (PQRs), unknown to most, understood by few. These hidden gems are the road map and technical basis for how the weld shops produces quality welds, in accordance with the governing codes. In order to build a WPS following the traditional route, the following steps are required to be performed IAW AWS D1.1;

Determine desired welding process based on the job, company equipment, etc.
Identify all essential variables and non-essential variables required to be covered by the WPS.
Determine if Charpy V Notch testing is required and if additional essential variables need to be considered.
Purchase, or machine WPS qualification coupons.
Perform WPS qualification test, recording all variables for entry onto the PQR.
Perform qualification tests – once the WPS qualification coupon is welded out, a visual examination of the cap and root (if open root) must be performed. In addition to a visual examination, volumetric examination is required, either UT or RT. This volumetric exam is often overlooked by companies, and an easy find for auditors. Once the non-destructive examination is completed, you’re ready to cut test specimens out and bend/pull them in accordance the requirements in Table 4.2, 4.3, or 4.4 depending on your test type.

Prequalified Welding Procedure Specifications – The AWS D1.1 committee established prequalified WPSs to alleviate the need to test the most common processes on the most common base material year after year, decade after decade. The thought was, these materials and welding processes have been proven hundreds of times over, and no value was being added by requiring each company to test the weldability of these combinations. As a result of this effort, AWS added Clause 3; Prequalification of WPSs, to the welding code. In order for a company to take advantage of this effort, they simply need to follow the limitations laid out in Clause 3, including essential variable, base material, joint detail, and welding process limitations. The use of Prequalified WPSs is ideal for companies who generally work on industry standard, typical jobs, such as structural steel building, enclosures, supports, etc. If a company writes a WPS in accordance with Clause 3, not procedure qualification is required, which exempts them from the testing, PQR, and other qualification requirements. A high level summary of the limitations are:

Aws D1.1 Structural Welding Code Free Download

The welding process must be SMAW, SAW, GMAW-Globular, GMAW-Spray, or FCAW.
The base materials and filler materials must be listed in Table 3.1 of the Code. The list is expansive and covers most materials one would expect to see in a common AWS D1.1 job.
Preheat and Interpass temperatures must meet the requirements in Table 3.2. Again these are common sense, and typical what one would see in a qualified WPS.
The variables outlined in Table 3.8 for the given process must be met, and fall within the limited range. Examples include amperage change limits, PWHT addition or deletion, etc.
The joint details provided in Caluse 3 must be used. AWS isn’t going to let you weld a new configuration, without requiring you to qualify the weld procedure.
Other design and fabrication limits that in the opinion of the author are pretty common sense.

Aws D1.1 Structural Welding Code Free Pdf

Standard Welding Procedure Specifications (SWPSs) – The third and final option for developing a WPS for use in a structural steel application is SWPSs. AWS and its members collected hundreds of PQRs from the industry, sat down and reviewed them as the “Welding Research Council”, and developed a set of industry wide WPSs based on these PQRs. SWPSs cover a wide range of welding processes, materials, and joint configurations, and can be purchased from AWS for around $200/ea. A comprehensive list of available SWPSs is on AWSs website, a link is provided here. I recommend the use of SWPSs to anybody who needs an approved weld procedure quick, but based on the limitations in these SWPSs (very conservative allowances to protect the lowest performing weld shops), and the requirement for the Engineer to approve them (paragraph 4.2.1.2) prior to use, I do not recommend welding companies build these into their normal business practice. One could spend close to $1,000 on SWPSs to cover their welding needs, and still run into a problem with an over conservative or inexperienced project Engineer scared to put their name on the line for accepting WPSs to other standards. If the AWS D1.1 language changes, allowing the use of these without the Engineers approval, and/or the SWPSs are revised to allow a broader range of conditions to be welded then SWPSs may become the industry standard, until then they are a quick fix when procedure qualification is not an option.

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