ASME IX Organization

ASME IX is organized in 4 parts.

Part QG contains general requirements

o It provides a scope description of ASME IX and definitions that apply to all material joining
processes.

Part QW contains the welding requirements

o This will be the main focus of these parts in this blog, see below.

Part QB contains the brazing requirements

o Brazing is broken into 4 articles detailing the requirements for brazing.

Part QF contains the plastic fusing requirements.

o Plastic fusing is broken into 2 articles detailing the requirements for plastic fusing.

Part QW is sub-divided into 5 articles.

Article I – Welding general requirements

o This article section defines the scope of this part, responsibilities in the organization, provides
reference to test positions for groove and fillet welds located in article IV, and provides the types
and purposes of tests and examinations used in the other articles for this part.

Article II – Welding Procedure Qualifications

o This article defines the requirements for welding procedure specifications (WPS) and
procedure qualification records. It makes reference to article IV for essential and non-essential
variables and testing.

Article III – Welding Performance Qualifications

o This article deals with the requirements for welding performance qualifications (WPQ). It
makes reference to article IV for essential variables and testing related to welder qualifications.

Article IV – Welding Data

o This article contains the welding data referenced in the other articles. It contains the variables
for welding procedure and welding performance qualifications, base metal groupings, F and A
numbers, qualification ranges for WPS and WPQ, positional reference figures, and etching
testing requirements.

Article V – Standard Welding Procedure Specifications (SWPSs)

o This article contains the requirements for use of Standard welding procedure specifications
(SWPSS).

ASME IX is not a standalone code for use. It is referenced is other construction codes such as
ASME Section VIII Division 1, 2, and 3, and the ASME B31 codes (B31.3, B31.1, etc.). Its
implementation is typically through these construction codes which may add or remove specific
requirements. As a result the starting point for use of ASME IX is through the construction code
of reference.

ASME IX Procedure Qualification Record (PQR)

What is a PQR?

The starting point for procedure qualification records is in Part QW-200. The PQR is a record of
variables recorded during the welding of the test coupons. It also contains the test results of the
tested specimens. As stated in the introduction of ASME IX:

“The purpose of the Procedure Qualification Record (PQR) is to ensure the material joining
process proposed for construction is capable of producing joints having the required mechanical
properties for the intended application. Personnel performing the material joining procedure
qualification test shall be sufficiently skilled. The purpose of the procedure qualification test is to
establish the mechanical properties of the joint produced by the material joining process and not
the skill of the personnel using the material joining process. In addition, special consideration is
given when toughness testing is required by other Sections of the Code. The toughness
supplementary essential variables do not apply unless referenced by the construction codes.”.

So essentially the purpose of the PQR is to prove the parameters you have used for a particular
welding process on a particular material / welding metal group meets the minimum mechanical
properties requirements in ASME IX. Toughness testing is a separate issue.

How to prepare a PQR?

Once you have determined the welding process(s) a review the referenced construction codes the
WPS you plan to create based on this PQR will be used in is needed. The construction codes may
have restrictions, addition requirements or exemptions to ASME IX and you want to make sure
you understand them before you start. For example, ASME Section VIII Division 1 UG-84 has
provisions that would make toughness testing mandatory for certain materials and thicknesses or
UCS-56 or UW-2 has mandatory post weld heat treatment requirements. Understanding these
requirements before you create a PQR can reduce the number of procedure qualification tests
that you will need.

Once you have determined if any requirements have been imposed by the construction code it is
time to make reference to QW-250. The tables in QW-250 make reference to all the essential,
non-essential, special process and supplementary essential variables. These variables are defined
in QG-105. As noted in QW-200.2, a PQR shall document all essential and when required
supplementary essential variables. This means that the PQR you create must as a minimum
address the corresponding essential variables in the tables for the welding processes you have
used in QW-250. Supplementary essential variables become essential variables when toughness
testing is required, typically from the referenced construction code and become non-essential
variables when toughness testing is not required. From a PQR standpoint non-essential variables
are not required to be documented.

Properly addressing essential variables can be issue as well. For example stating N/A or not
applicable to essential variables in a PQR document technically has not addressed the variable if
it is applicable to your process. The correct phrase would be not used, this clearly addresses the
variable.
For all PQRs the base metal thickness range (QW-403.8) and P. No. (QW-403.11) are essential
variables. Section QW-451 provides qualification thickness ranges based on the test coupon
that was used. For example, a 0.375” test coupon will qualify the referenced WPS from 0.0625”
to 0.75” in material thickness. This thickness range can be affected by the welding process and
other essential / supplementary essential variables referenced in QW-250, it is best to review all
variables before you determine the thickness of your test coupon.

An overlooked aspect of developing a PQR is nozzle or branch connection

attachments. Typically the thickness of the shell and nozzle of the welded joint will have
different thicknesses. Let’s say you qualify a WPS with a thickness range of 0.0625” to 0.75”,
during fabrication you have to weld a nozzle with thickness of 0.2” to an ASME B16.5 blind
flange that is 2” thick. Can you do this? The answer is it depends. Section QW-202.4 details
these requirements.

Base metals are assigned P-numbers to reduce the required number of welding procedures that
are required. For example P. No. 8, represents 304, 316, 321, 347, and more base metals. Table
QW-422 provides a complete list. A great lookup resource is http://pnumbers.com/.

The filler metal selection is another important part of the PQR. Reviewing ASME II Part C is a
great resource, below is a table reference to easily review the correction SFA specification.

ASME SFA Specification Reference Table

Welding Process

Material Type OFW SMAW GTAW FCAW SAW ESW E

GMAW
PAW
 Carbon Steel SFA 5.2 SFA 5.1 SFA 5.18 SFA 5.20 SFA 5.17 SFA 5.25 SFA
SFA 5.36 SFA 5.36

Low-Alloy Steel SFA 5.2 SFA 5.5 SFA 5.28 SFA 5.29 SFA 5.23 SFA 5.25 SFA
SFA 5.36 SFA 5.36

Stainless Steel SFA 5.4 SFA 5.9 SFA 5.22

SFA 5.22

Cast Iron SFA 5.15 SFA 5.15 SFA 5.15

Nickel & Nickel Alloys SFA 5.11 SFA 5.14 SFA 5.34

Aluminum & Aluminum Alloys SFA 5.3 SFA 5.10

Copper & Copper Alloys SFA 5.6 SFA 5.7

Titanium & Titanium Alloys SFA 5.16

Zirconium &Zirconium Alloys SFA 5.24

Tungsten Electrodes SFA 5.12

 Brazing Alloys

Brazing Fluxes

Consumable Inserts SFA 5.30

Shielding Gases SFA 5.32 SFA 5.32

Surfacing Alloys SFA 5.13 SFA 5.13 SFA 5.13

SFA 5.21 SFA 5.21 SFA 5.21

The guides in some of the referenced ASME SFA specification have great information concern
the welding process, filler metal and appropriate gases to use. Another great resource is the weld
metal material suppliers shall as Lincoln Electric, Kobelco, Air Liquid, etc.

This post would be too large if we went into all the other essential and supplementary essential
variables, the process would be to review the table is QW-250, lookup the variables and
adequately address it in your PQR.

Once you have developed your PQR from a document standpoint, the next step is to determine
the welding parameter ranges that work for your procedure. The starting point can be from
reference material such as the arc welding handbook or the weld metal material suppliers
published documents.

Once satisfactory test pieces have been made, the destructive testing requirements in QW-202
would need to be followed. If successful, the result would be included in the PQR and then
signed and dated by the fabricator to certify the results.

Below are a few other important things to consider:

First, for Canada most provinces require registration of WPSs and PQRs. It is a common
misconception that the provinces certify these documents. The provinces only register these
procedures. They may point out errors or mistakes but the responsibility is solely with the
fabricator. QW-200.2(b) highlights this as well by stating “…The PQR shall be certified
accurate by the organization. The organization may not subcontract the certification function.
This certification is intended to be the organization's verification that the information in the PQR
is a true record of the variables that were used during the welding of the test coupon and that the
resulting tensile, bend, or macro (as required) test results are in compliance with Section IX….”.

Also changes to PQRs are permitted as outlined in QW-200.2(c) (and the Introduction) but only
editorial corrections or addenda, as long as an essential variable has not changed and the PQR
can be revised. Adding supplementary essential variable will require re-qualification. Re-
registering procedures with these changes is not practical or worth the cost.

Finally, the main focus of ASME IX PQR documents is to demonstrate mechanical properties for
a given joining process. There is no mention of corrosion resistance or microstructure. For
example no purging or nitrogen back purging can be used to weld 316 stainless steel. The
finished product would be acceptable for ASME IX requirements but not for the service it may
be intended for. Another example is duplex stainless steel. Fabricators typically do not perform
macro etching to determine the ratio of austenite to ferrite in the base metal, HAZ and weld
metal. This can have an affect on corrosion resistance.

Sec2
ASME material allowable stresses are provided in ASME Section II Part D. Table 1A represents
allowable stress values for ferrous metals and are values that are to be used with ASME Section
VIII Division 1 fabrication. Table 1B represents allowable stress values for non-ferrous metals
and are values that are to be used with ASME Section VIII Division 1 fabrication. The basis for
establishing their allowable stress values are described in Appendix 1. Reproduced below is
Table 1-100 providing the criteria for the basis of allowable stresses.

Favg = multiplier applied to average stress for rupture in 100 000 h. At 815°C and below, Favg =
0.67.

Above 815°C, it is determined from the slope of the log time‐to‐rupture versus log stress plot at
100 000 h such that log Favg = 1/n, but it may not exceed 0.67.

RT = ratio of the average temperature dependent trend curve value of tensile strength to the room
temperature tensile strength

RY = ratio of the average temperature dependent trend curve value of yield strength to the room
temperature yield strength

SC = average stress to produce a creep rate of 0.01%/1 000 h

SRavg = average stress to cause rupture at the end of 100 000 h

SRmin = minimum stress to cause rupture at the end of 100 000 h

ST = specified minimum tensile strength at room temperature, ksi

SY = specified minimum yield strength at room temperature, ksi

n = a negative number equal to Δ log time-to-rupture divided by Δ log stress at 100 000 h
Similarly for bolting Table 3 represents allowable stresses versus temperature for fasteners used
in ASME Section VIII Division 1 work. Appendix 2 in ASME Section II Part D is used to
establish the allowable stress values. It has been reproduced below.

It is worth noting that for bolting the factor of safety the ASME provides for the tensile strength
and for tensile and yield strengths for bolting with strength enchancement by heat treatment is
lower than wrought product at room temperature and above.
The allowable stress tables in ASME II Part D also provide the P-No. / Group No. for the
material to be used in ASME IX, the maximum temperature limit the material is permitted to be
used at, external pressure chart number reference and notes that relate to the use restrictions of
that material.

Below are excel spreadsheets that contain all of ASME II-D Table 1A, 1B, and 3 allowable stress
values for all material that have been published for the 2015 edition.

ASME II-D Table IA

ASME II-D Table 1B

ASME II-D Table 3

Sec8

Material requirements in this division can be broken in 2 areas; general requirements that apply
to all materials, and requirements for specific material types.

General requirements for material used for ASME Section VIII Division 1 work are listed
below. These requirements apply to all pressure vessels and pressure parts.
General Requirements

UG-1 - Scope UG-15- Product

Specification
UG-4 - General UG-93 – Inspection of
Material

UG-5 – Plate UG-120(c) – Partial Data

Reports

UG-6 – Forgings UG-77 – Material

Identification

UG-7 – Castings UG-78 – Repair of Defects

in Materials

UG-8 – Pipe and Tubes UG-24-Castings

UG-10 - Material identified with or produced to a specification not permitted UG-84 – Charpy Impact
by this division, an material not fully identified Tests

UG-11 - Prefabricated or preformed pressure parts furnished without a UG-85 – Heat Treatment
certification mark

UG-12 - Bolts and Studs Appendix 43-3 Materials

UG-13 - Nuts and Washers Appendix 10-6 Material

Control

UG-14- Rods and Bars

Requirements for specific material types are listed below. Only more commonly used sections
are shown here. Material requirements for brazed material (Section UB), Cast Iron (Section
UCI), cladded pressure vessels (Section UCL), Cast ductile Iron (UCD), and Impregnated
Graphite (Section UIG) are not shown. In addition to the general requirement these requirements
must also be met.
Carbon and Low Alloy Steel Material

USC-5- General UCS-11 – Nuts and Washers

UCS-6 – Steel Plates UCS-12 – Bars and Shapes

UCS-7 – Steel Forgings Table UCS-23

UCS-8 – Steel Castings UCS-66 – Materials (low-

temperature)

UCS-9 – Steel Pipe and Tubes UCS-56(f)

UCS-10 - Bolt Materials

Nonferrous Material

UNF-5 – General UNF-14 – Bod, Bars, and

Shapes

UNF-6 – Nonferrous Plate UNF-15 – Other Materials

UNF-7 – Forgings Table UNF-23.2

UNF-8 – Castings Table UNF-23.3

UNF-12 – Bolt Materials Table UNF-23.4

UNF-13 – Nuts and Washers Table UNF-23.5

High Alloy Steel Material

UHA-8 – Material UHA-13 – Nuts and Washers

UHA-11 – General Table UHA-23

UHA-12 – Bolt Materials UHA-51 – Impact Tests

Ferritic Steel Material with tensile properties enchanced by Heat Treatment

UHT-5 – Material Table UHT-23

UHT-18 - Nozzle UHT-28 - Structural attachments

Forgings

UF-5 – General UF-37 – Repair of Defects in

Material

UF-6- Forgings UF-55 – Ultrasonic Examination

 UF-7 – Forged Steel rolls used for corrugating paper
machinery

An example of their use would be as follows:

We would like to use round bar stock to make a custom nozzle neck for a high temperature
vessel made from SA-479 316H material. Material ordered and received as A-479 2013 edition
grade 316 / SA-479 2013 edition grade 316 UNS S31609.

From a design standpoint:

1. First we review UG-4, no restrictions for the propose use.

2. We then review UG-14; UG-14(b) has a size restriction for hollow cylindrically shaped parts
of NPS 4” (O.D. 4.5”). If the nozzle neck is less than or equal to NPS 4” this would not be a
problem. If the nozzle neck is larger there is Code Case 2156-1 which provides additional
requirements for hollow cylindrically shaped parts greater than NPS 4” but we will not go into it
in this post.

3. SA-479 316H is a high alloy material; reviewing the requirements in section UHA reveals no
additional requirements. But Table UHA-23 reveals that for SA-479 grade 316H is not listed as
an accepted material. This would imply SA-479 316H cannot be used for code construction and
another material grade would need to be specified.

4. If we review UG-15 this grade of material for this specification can be used following (a) to
(e).

From a quality standpoint:

1. Reviewing Appendix 43-3 & 10-6, this would imply that the ASME material specification
year should be as approved for use in the edition specified for construction and documentation
should be provided to verify this. If you are building to the ASME 2015 edition, the material
specification should be ordered to this.
2. If the material specification is not to the edition year of the code specified for construction
Section II Appendix II provides means to accept this material. As specified in Section II SA-479
2015, it is identical with A479-13b.

a. As outlined in Section II Appendix II-200(a), Table II-200-1 lists acceptable

ASTM editions that have been reconciled against the latest edition adopted by
ASME. For SA-479, ASTM A-479 87b through 13b has been accepted. Since
our material was made to ASTM A-479 2013 it would be acceptable for used in
2015 edition construction. Since SA-479 and A-479 are identical no restrictions
apply.

b. As outlined in Section II Appendix II-200(b), the acceptable ASTM year date

range of SA-479 2015 is ASTM A-479 87b through 13b. For SA-479 2013, the
reference ASTM A-479 is 2011 edition and it is identical. This year is within the
year range provided so therefore it would be acceptable.

c. If the ASTM edition was greater than the acceptable year range provided the
material would not be acceptable as outlined in II-200(c). But as outlined in II-
300 this material may also be used if evidence acceptable to the authorized
inspector that the corresponding ASME specification requirements have been
met. UG-10(a) maybe used to provide the necessary evidence.

3. UG-77 outlines the material identification requirements during fabrication

4. UG-93 outlines the acceptance of material to be in compliance with a material specification

of Section II. Our material follows UG-93(a)(2), since the material specification requires
material marking on each piece, if the markings are present the material is acceptable.