How to write a welding

procedure specification
(ISO 15614-1)
JUNE 6, 2016 / TIAGO PEREIRA / 0 COMMENTS

One of the most important documents in regards to welding

is the WPS (Welding Procedure Specification) and many
people working with WPS look at them like they are just an
issue, or something that only the engineers and quality
control technicians have to worry about, but is it a hard thing
to create and/or look at? Lets break it down into parts.
I am providing a WPS template form that is compliant with
ISO 15609 and ASME IX which you can download here.
This article will be related to ISO 15614-1 and ISO 15609-
1. I shall cover ASME IX on a future article. Lets get started
with a summary of the essential variables:

Essential Variables
Base Material Groups (8.3.1)
Base Material Thickness (Table 5 for Butt Welds, Table 6
for Fillet Welds 8.3.2.2)

o Throat thickness is also essential for fillet welds

Diameter, for pipes (8.3.2.3)
Branch Angle (for branch connection welds 8.3.3)
Welding Process (8.4.1)
Process Mechanization (8.4.1)
 Welding Positions (8.4.2)
Weld Type (8.4.3)
Product Type (8.4.3)
Filler Material Classification (8.4.4)
Type of Current and Polarity (8.4.7)
Heat Input (8.4.8) if there are hardness and/or impact
requirements
Preheat Temperature (8.4.9)
Interpass Temperature (8.4.10)
Postheat Temperature (8.4.11)
Post Weld Heat treatment (8.4.12)
Note: Take a look at 8.4.5 for process specific essential
variables

Header

Some of these informations are not related directly to ISO

15609-1, but your clients will want you to specify which
project this WPS is related to and, as such, you should also
include your clients company in there.
The biggest and most relevant piece of information here is
the WPS Number (in this case Ive named it Sample WPS
(ISO), but you should use your own designations.
There should also be spaces where logos should go. In this
specific example I have two logo spots, in which the left one
should be your companys logo, leaving the right space for
your ISO 9001 certification body, or your clients logo.

Basic Information

Most WPS will be backed on a PQR (Procedure Qualification

Record) and this information should always be stated in the
WPS. All you need to do is reference the PQR number which
will allow any reader of your WPS to trace back to the original
qualifying document.
The standard is also related to the PQR, in this case it is ISO
15614-1, but ISO 15609-1s WPS format is relevant to other
standards, such as ISO 15614-2/3/4/5 or even ISO 15613.
As you already know, PQRs always have approval ranges
based on what was welded for the approval of that specific
test. One of the main points in how to elaborate a WPS is that
you may use these approval ranges to limit your
specification, but in some cases you need to specify
accurately what will be welded on the job. The first example
for this is the product type:
This WPS is meant for piping work. Sometimes the PQR will
approve welding Pipes and Plates. This means you could
technically use a WPS for piping and plating / structural work.
That is not the point of the welding procedure specification
though, as you should specify the details so that there is no
room for doubts when a welder interprets this document.
The same goes for the weld type, in which some standards
will approve welding fillet welds by performing a butt weld
test. Like the product type, you should specify which type of
weld will be made with this WPS, and only choose a single
option.
Welding processes are pretty straightforward. Just type in
the processes used in the PQR / the ones to be used in
production.

Base Material Details

The base material details are also quite straightforward. Keep

in mind that this isWeldNotes WPS format and as such you
do not need to place the fields exactly where Ive put them.
First of all ill cover the base materials themselves, which
are intertwined with the groups. These groups are what
define which base materials should be welded with this WPS.
These group definitions can be found at ISO/TR 15608, but if
youd like to know what group a material belongs to, you
should check out ISO/TR 20172 and ISO/TR 20173.
NOTE: You may notice that the base materials grade and
specification come from an american standard (ASME /
ASTM). While using ISO standards, it is preferable to use ISO
designations for this steel (e.g. EN 10028-7 X2CrNiMo17-12-
2), but while preferable, it is not mandatory, as long as the
base material groups are correct.

In this case, the thickness range is exactly the approval

range limits of the PQR. While this is perfectly acceptable in
regards to standards, you should restrict the limits of your
WPS in order for them to be accurate with the amperage,
voltage and travel speed parameters (you would not want to
weld a 3 mm plate with the same parameters you would use
for a 24mm plate).
The same goes for the diameter, but id say this one is more
lenient. My suggestion would be to use a WPS for small
thicknesses and small diameters, and a WPS for bigger
thicknesses and bigger diameters (more, if the project has a
lot of different pipe or plate sizes).
Always use a range of thicknesses and diameters though,
even if they are a bit strict. You wouldnt want an inspector to
come to your shop floor and order you to stop using a 15mm
WPS because the welder is welding a 15.2mm pipe (which
has already happened before).
Welding positions are quite important, and you should plan
for them ahead of time. The safest way to go at it is to put
them all in your WPS, as it is approved by the PQR, but the
best way to proceed is to define which are the positions to be
used in the shop floor, which will mostly be PA, PC and PH.
Filler Material Details

Getting into the filler materials or consumables, in my

experience there have been some misconceptions on some
of the requirements here.
The specification and classification of the filler material
should be exactly as the standards (AWS, ASME or ISO) say.
This is for a 316 stainless steel and as such Ive chosen the
ER316L for both TIG and MAG processes.
NOTE: Like the base materials, in the filler materials you
should preferably use ISO specifications and classifications.
But once again it is not something required.

The commercial name for a given filler material is not

mandatory as per ISO 15614-1, it is not an essential variable
unless you are using the following processes: 111, 114, 12X,
136 and 137, so according to 8.4.5 only the fluxed
processes require your WPS to have a filler
material commercial designation in them, and even then,
its only when impact tests are required, even if that is true
for most cases.
In regards to the diameter or filler material size, according
to ISO 15614-1, you can change it, so long as you take into
consideration the heat input requirements and, as such, I
would recommend you to have 2 to 3 options here (e.g.
2.0mm and 2.4mm for the TIG rods).
You can find the symbol for the gas designations in ISO
14175, I1 means 100% Argon and M21 means a mixture of
Argon with 15 to 25% CO2. This information will probably
come in your gas certificate along with the commercial name,
which is something that is not at all required to put in your
WPS, however, you probably want to put it, especially if you
work with more than one gas supplier. Why? This way your
welders will know exactly which gas tank they should pick up
and avoid any problems with your client about the specified
gas for the job at hand.
Flow rates are important, they make the difference between
a welder being able to control the torch easily and assuring a
sound weld, with no oxidation either on the root or the top
side, which means this value should be thought out and
based upon previous experience, for both the shielding and
backing gases.

Joint Details
While the joint details are only intended to give some guiding
lines for the welders, their importance should not be
underestimated. It is very hard to define exactly the number
of passes on the weld layer configuration, and as such you
should have, at most, a range of the maximum number of
layers to be made. Thegroove design should have
important information such as the root gap, root
faceand groove angle (which could mean its meant for
fitters and tack welders).
Preparation methods do not need a lot of details, you
should just specify if this welded joint is going to be grinded,
machined, etc.
The weld details are an essential variable so they are of the
utmost importance, but you just need to specify whether the
joint will have material, gas or no backing, or if it will be
welded in a single side or both sides. You may mention the
fact that it could be a single or multi layer weld, but that is
not so important, as that information will already be available
on the welding passes themselves.

Welding Parameters
Now weve reached into the most important part of the WPS.
The detailed description of how each pass should be welded.
This should be filled in with care, with information based
upon your companys welding experience and your
certifications.
Pass #: This is pretty straightforward as you only need
to specify which layer youre referring to. You may put a
range of layers (e.g. passes 3 to 6) or if youre referring to
the remaining passes until the capping layer you may use
passes 3 to N or 3+.
Process: Name the processes to be used for the
specific welding pass
Filler Material: The filler material should always be
metallurgically, physically and chemically compatible with
the base material and should be chosen prior to this WPS
elaboration. In this case you just have to associate it to the
corresponding welding process and pass.
Diameter: The fact that the filler material diameter or
size is not an essential variable gives you some freedom in
what to insert here, however, as the heat input is an
essential variable, you will need to take care in selecting a
proper diameter. The rule of thumb is to use a small
diameter for the first passes, and raise the diameter as
you weld more layers. On higher layers you can raise the
amperage, voltage and travel speed to gain some
productivity while maintaining the heat input levels, but for
that you also need a larger rod, electrode, or in the case of
semi-automatic processes, a higher wire feed speed.
 Current: These parameters are the most critical to
assure a sound weld. Amperage has a direct influence on
the heat input and also defines how a welder will control
his puddle. In case of a semi-automatic process you will
not control the current directly. You will, however, be able
to control the voltage and wire feed speed. You should
either use previous experience to define these values, or
hire an experienced consultant to help you with them.
Voltage: If you are using a manual welding process, you
cannot control the voltage, as this value is defined by the
height of the welders hand, relative to the pipe being
welded, and as such you should set a considerable range
of values, regarding to your welders skills and usual
techniques. In the case of semi-automatic welding, the
voltage is a set value that will remain the same throughout
the welding pass, and should be defined, like the current,
with previous experience in mind, or with the expertise of
an experienced consultant.
Polarity will have a big influence on the deposit rates of
your weld, but it will also influence your penetration. On
ISO 15614-1 you are not allowed to change this parameter
from the PQR, although you should always use higher
penetration polarities for the root passes (DC- for TIG and
DC+ for the other processes) and higher deposit rates
polarities for some of the filling passes and or capping
passes (DC+ for TIG is not really recommended in this
case, but DC- in other processes is doable)
 Wire Feed Speed: Only applicable to semi-automatic
and automatic processes, like the voltage and the current,
it is something that should be based on previous
experience or from an experienced consultants
knowledge. Selecting a wire feed speed from your PQRs
parameters is also a viable option.
Travel Speed should always be accounted to an
acceptable heat input, however, if you are using manual
welding, you can have a wider range of values, as you will
have to take into account that each welder has different
techniques and may reach sound welds with very different
travel speeds.
Heat Input is a critical value that has to be calculated.
All the other parameters have to boil down to bring this to
acceptable values, as it will be a way to determine if a
weld is sound or not. Calculate this with the following
formula

Additional Details
There are some additional details that are, nonetheless,
relevant to making WPS according to ISO 15609-1 and ISO
15614-1. Although less important, they should be mentioned.
The most important here would be the torch
angle andnumber of electrodes. The torch angle will
directly influence the morphology of the weld bead.
The oscillation is mostly used for machine welding, but you
can define the limits of the weaving that a welder should
restrict himself to. Details of back gougingare only
relevant if you are performing welding from both sides, and
could have some information of the electrode used, how
much thickness and width to be gouged, etc.
Pulse weld details is similar, but only if you are welding
with a pulsed transfer mode / current type, and should have
the current minimum and maximum peaks, with the period
between pulses, etc. Stick-out has an effect on the heat
developed on the electrode, causing it to eventually raise or
decrease the deposit rate.

Thermal Parameters
The thermal parameters are usually pretty straightforward,
even if they are of the utmost importance (they are
straightforward from a WPS standpoint, but if you have to
specify a welding procedure before it is qualified it becomes a
serious design issue, as it will take into account your
companys resources and shop areas, as well as material
types).
The preheat temperature is stated on your PQR, and
according to ISO 15614-1 it should not be lower than what is
stated there. As such you could opt to go with the minimum
value or if you find there is an extra need for preheating, you
may do so (e.g. higher thickness requiring a higher
temperature).
The interpass temperature is especially important when
youre dealing with austenitic stainless steels, but should not
be disregarded for any other material (I would recommend
about 150 for austenitic, and 300 for carbon steels).
Post weld heat treatment is perhaps one of the most
important aspects of your welding, if it is verified to be
necessary. In high thicknesses it is mandatory in pretty much
every welding code, in Cr-Mo steels as well, in order to
prevent the forming of cracks due to three dimensional
cooling rates or the high temperability of these Cr-Mo steels.
The time field is the duration of the heat treatment at the
highest temperature, usually 1 to 2 hours, depending on the
steel and application. The method is dependant on your
companys resources. If you have to perform work outdoors
you wont have an oven readily available and as such you
may have to use an oxypropane torch.
The heating and cooling rate should be around 100C / h,
especially for the cooling rate, which should not be too high.

Revisions and Approval

Finally, the revisions should be numbered (or lettered), with

the signatures of the persons responsible for writing the wps,
verifying it and approving it, to be provided to your client to
sign and approve it themselves.
I hope this has been helpful, if youd like to read more, you
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Best regards,
Tiago Pereira
CEO at WeldNote, Welding Management Software