FABRICATION, WELDING AND INSPECTION BASICS FOR MAINTENANCE ENGINEERS

Codes and Standards

By Mr. Ansuman Sen Sharma; POMC

Codes and standards exist for a reason. They provide a framework for maintenance
engineers and managers to keep a grip on quality and reliability of their work. Many
aspects of the design and fabrication of welded components are governed by codes and
standards. These documents also are called guides, recommended practices. They are also
called regulations, rules, and specifications. How you look at it is up to the end users. For
maintenance personnel, it definitely would be the former.
It is a common fact that maintenance personnel are not quite known to refer codes and
standards very quickly. Most of the welding requirement are repetitive, the procedures of
which have already been established during the project stage. Therefore most of the time
all you have to ensure is putting a skilled welder on the job. But the fun starts when you
are faced with a mystery material. The BOM of a particular equipment drawing may
sometime catch you on the wrong foot. It can be quite embarrassing, if what is written
looks like French to you when it is written in English. You are THE MAINTENANCE
ENGINEER, which means you know everything that is there to know. A rudimentary
knowledge of different codes and standards comes handy in those kinds of situation. At the
least if you are able to identify that a particular alfa numerical specification pertains to a
specific code, you know where to look.
Apart for the American codes, which are commonly followed for material and welding
specification in our country, some of the other codes are:
DIN standards are developed by Deutsches Institut fur Normung in the Federal Republic
of Germany. All West German steel specifications are preceded by the uppercase letters
DIN followed an alphanumeric or numeric code. The latter method, known as the Werkstoff
number, uses numbers only with a decimal point after the first digit.
JIS standards are developed by the Japanese Industrial Standards Committee, which is
part of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in Tokyo. The JIS steel
specifications begin with the uppercase letters JIS and are followed by an uppercase letter
(G in the case of carbon and low-alloy steels) designating the division (product form) of the
standard. This letter is followed by a series of numbers and letters that indicate the specific
steel.
British standards (BS) are developed by the British Standards Institute in London,
England. Similar to the JIS standards, each British designation includes a product form and
an alloy code.
AFNOR standards are developed by the Association Francaise de Normalisation in Paris,
France. The correct format for reporting AFNOR standards is as follows. An uppercase NF is
placed to the left of the alphanumeric code. This code consists of an uppercase letter
followed by a series of digits, which are subsequently followed by an alphanumeric
sequence.
UNI standards are developed by the Ente Nazionale Italiano di Unificazione in Milan, Italy.
Italian standards are preceded by the uppercase letter UNI followed by a four-digit product
form code subsequently followed by an alphanumeric alloy identification.
Swedish standards (SS) are prepared by the Swedish Standards Institution in Stockholm.
Designations begin with the letters SS followed by the number 14 (all Swedish carbon and
low-alloy steels are covered by SS14). What subsequently follows is a four digit numerical
sequence similar to the German Werkstoff number.
Almost all design, welding, fabrication, material, repair, testing, and inspection
requirements are covered under three main governing organizations, most of which are
followed by Indian industries. These are the most common codes being used.
These main organizations are the American Welding Society (AWS), the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and the American Petroleum Institute
(API). All of these organizations have multiple specific codes for various types of

FABRICATION, WELDING AND INSPECTION BASICS FOR MAINTENANCE ENGINEERS

construction, processes, and/or materials. Design specifications and approved materials are
included in these codes.
Here is a list of only the major codes from these organizations that control metal
construction with a brief overview, which can be useful for a maintenance engineers.
American Welding Society (AWS):
AWS publishes many documents addressing welding use and quality control. These
documents include such general subjects as welding definitions and symbols, classification
of filler metals, qualification and testing, welding processes, welding applications, and
safety. Some of the relevant standards are:
AWS D1.1/ D1.1M: This code contains the requirements for fabricating and erecting
welded steel structures. This code applies to steels with a thickness of 1/8 inch (3.2mm) or
more.
AWS D1.2/ D1.2M: This is the Structural Welding Code-Aluminum. The welding
requirements are applicable to any type of welded aluminum alloy structure. This code is
appropriate for use in fabrication of supporting structures and appurtenances.
AWS D1.6: Structural Welding Code-Stainless Steel. This code covers
requirements applicable to stainless steel weldments subject to design stress.

welding

AWS D14.1: Specification for Welding Earth Moving and Construction Equipment. Applies
to all structural welds used in the manufacture of earthmoving and construction equipment.
AWS A5.13: Specification for Surfacing Electrodes for Shielded Metal Arc Welding
AWS A5.21: Specification for Bare Electrodes and Rods for Surfacing
AWS C5.5/C5.5M: Recommended Practices for Gas Tungsten Arc Welding
And there are so many more. One good source would found following the link
http://retail.ihs.com/abstracts/aws/aws-whb29.jsp
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME): This society is responsible for the
development of the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, which contains 11 sections and covers
the design, construction, and inspection of boilers and pressure vessels.
ASME Section I: Requirements for Power boilers.
ASME Section II: Material Specifications-4 Subparts (A,B,C,D). Subpart A-Ferrous
Material Specifications and Subpart C- Specifications for Welding Rods, Electrodes, and
Filler Metals are relevant to us.
ASME Section III: Nuclear ASME Section IV: Rules For Construction of Heating Boilers.
ASME Section V: Non-Destructive Examination. Unless otherwise specified by the
referencing Code Section, or other referencing documents, this Section of the Code
contains requirements and methods for nondestructive examination which are Code
requirements to the extent they are specifically referenced and required by other Code
Sections. These nondestructive examination methods are intended to detect surface and
internal discontinuities in materials, welds, and fabricated parts and components. They
include radiographic examination, ultrasonic examination, liquid penetrant examination,
magnetic particle examination, eddy current examination, visual examination, leak testing,
and acoustic emission examination.
ASME Section VI: Recommended Rules for the Care and Operation of Heating Boilers.
ASME Section VII: Recommended Guidelines for the Care of Power Boilers
ASME Section VIII: Pressure Vessel and Tank Code. This is divided into three subdivisions. Division 1-Subsection A is general pressure vessel information. Subsection B
covers the Requirements Pertaining to Methods of Fabrication of Pressure Vessels.
Subsection C lists the Requirements Pertaining to Classes of Materials. Division 2 covers
Alternative Rules for Construction of Pressure Vessels. Division 3 lists Alternative Rules for
Construction of High Pressure Boilers.

FABRICATION, WELDING AND INSPECTION BASICS FOR MAINTENANCE ENGINEERS

ASME Section IX: Welding and Brazing Qualifications. This section covers the
requirements for Weld Procedure Specifications (WPS), Procedure Qualification Records
(PQR), and certification requirements for tackers, welders, welding operators, and brazing
personnel.
ASME Section X: Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Pressure Vessels.
ASME Section XI: Rules for Inservice Inspection of Nuclear Power Plant Components.
An interesting information about ASME B & PV codes: In 1998 after a major revision
where the factor on tensile strength in deriving allowable stress was reduced to bring them in
line with other European codes, total number of pages for all the 11 sections of ASME B&PV
code were 12,591.
It was a three page code when it first appeared in 1914!
The phenomenal growth has been driven mostly by technological advancement in materials,
testing, inspection, design and analysis methodology, fabrication and overpressure protection
as well as demands for rules covering new service conditions

ASME also produces the Code for Pressure Piping, which consists of seven sections,
each prescribing the minimum requirements for the design, materials, fabrication,
erection, testing, and inspection of a particular type of piping system. Some of the
more relevant codes are:
ASME B31.1: Power Piping -This Code prescribes requirements for the design,
materials, fabrication, erection, test, and inspection of power and auxiliary service
piping systems for electrical generation stations, industrial and institutional plants.
Piping as used in this Code includes pipe, flanges, bolting, gaskets, valves, relief
devices, fittings, and the pressure containing portions of other piping components. It
also includes hangers and supports and other equipment items necessary to prevent
overstressing the pressure containing components.
ASME B31.2: Fuel Gas Piping-Material, This Code covers the design, fabrication,
installation, and testing of piping systems for fuel gases such as natural gas,
manufactured gas, liquified petroleum gas-air mixtures above the upper combustible
limit, liquified petroleum gas in the gaseous phase, or a mixture of these gases.
ASME B31.3: Process Piping- Rules for the Process Piping Code have been developed
considering piping typically found in chemical, petroleum refineries, pharmaceutical,
textile, paper, semiconducter, and cryogenic plants; and related processing plants and
terminals. This Code prescribes requirements for materials and components, design,
fabrication, erection, assembly, examination, inspection, and testing of piping. This
Code applies to all fluids, including: raw, intermediate, and finished chemicals;
petroleum products; gas, steam, air, and water; fluidized solids; refrigerants; and
cryogenic fluids.
ASME B31.5: Piping Refrigeration-This Code prescribes requirements for the materials,
design, fabrication, assembly, erection, test, and inspection of refrigerant and
secondary coolant piping for temperatures as low as -320F except as specifically
excluded.
American Petroleum Institute (API): This institute publishes many documents
relating to petroleum production, a number of which include welding requirements.
Some of the important and well known are:
API 570: Piping Inspection Code- This code covers the inspection, repair, alteration,
and re-rating of in-service piping systems.

FABRICATION, WELDING AND INSPECTION BASICS FOR MAINTENANCE ENGINEERS

API 620: This code lists the requirements for Design and Construction of Large,
Welded, Low-Pressure Tanks. This code applies to carbon steel above ground, including
flat bottom tanks that have a single vertical axis of revolution. The tanks described in
this standard are designed for metal temperatures not greater than 250F and with
pressures in their gas or vapor spaces not more than 15 psi.
API 650: Welded Steel Tanks for Oil Storage. This standard covers material, design,
fabrication, erection, and testing requirements for vertical, cylindrical, aboveground,
closed and open-top, welded steel storage tanks in various sizes and capacities for
internal pressures approximating atmospheric pressure (internal pressure not
exceeding the weight of the roof plates), but a higher internal pressure is permitted
when additional requirements are met. This standard applies only to tanks whose
entire bottom is uniformly supported and to tanks in non refrigerated service that have
a maximum operating temperature of 90C (200F).
API 653: Tank Inspection, Repair, Alteration, and Reconstruction.
API 1104: Welding of Pipelines and Related Facilities. This standard covers the gas
and arc welding of butt, fillet, and socket welds in carbon and low-alloy steel piping
used in the compression, pumping, and transmission of crude petroleum, petroleum
products, fuel gases, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen, and where applicable, covers
welding on distribution systems. It applies to both new construction and in-service
welding.
A comparative table for some relevant American and British Standards
Welding standard
Application
code/standard

Procedure approval

Welder approval

Pressure Vessels

PD
5500
ASME VIII

BS
EN
ASME IX

BS
EN
ASME IX

Process Pipework

BS
2633
BS
4677
ANSI/ASME
B31.1
ANSI/ASME
B31.3
BS 2971

BS EN 288 (Part
BS EN 288 (Part
ASME
IX
ASME
IX
BS EN 288 (Part
(if required)

Structural
Fabrication

AWS
AWS
BS
EN
BS 8118

AWS
D1.1
AWS
D1.2
BS EN 288 (Part
BS EN 288 (Part 4)

Storage Tanks

BS
2654
BS
2594
API 620/650

Application

D1.1
D1.2
1011

288
3)
4)
3)

3)

287

BS EN 287 (Part 1)
BS EN 287 (Part 2)
ASME
IX
ASME
IX
BS 4872/BS EN 287
AWS
D1.1
AWS
D1.2
BS
EN
287
BS
EN
287
BS 4872

BS EN 288 (Parts 3 & 4) BS

EN
BS EN 288 (Parts 3 & 4) BS
EN
ASME IX
ASME IX

287
287

Some softwares are available for a ready cross reference of material of certain specification
in accordance with different codes. One such software is Steel CrossRef, a demo version of
which is offered in a CD to you. It is quite useful for a beginner. CrossRef Demo ver.
2004.10 comprises cross-reference tables and chemical compositions of more than 2500
steel alloys from 30+ countries, which has been offered by Key to Steel Web site www.keyto-steel.com as a demo.

FABRICATION, WELDING AND INSPECTION BASICS FOR MAINTENANCE ENGINEERS

Another software is Key to Steel, which is again very useful for finding out Designation of
a steel material, Country standard, material Cross reference table, Group of Steel and Steel
Designation and Mechanical Properties. Key to Steel is a global database of steel
materials, developed and designed for professional use worldwide. The world's most
comprehensive steel database on the Internet Key to Steel (www.key-to-steel.com)
includes steel materials and suppliers info from more than 30 countries all over the world.
The demo version which is offered to you can be used with no difficulty by following the
help mode given there.