AS/NZS 1554.4:2004

1 - AS/NZS 1554.4:2004 STRUCTURAL STEEL WELDING - WELDING OF HIGH STRENGTH QUENCHED AND TEMPERED STEELS
4 - PREFACE
5 - CONTENTS
7 - SECTION 1 SCOPE AND GENERAL
7 - 1.1 SCOPE
8 - 1.2 EXCLUSIONS
8 - 1.3 INNOVATION
9 - 1.4 REFERENCED DOCUMENTS
9 - 1.5 DEFINITIONS
9 - 1.5.1 Fabricator
9 - 1.5.2 Inspecting authority
9 - 1.5.3 Inspector
9 - 1.5.4 May
9 - 1.5.5 Principal
9 - 1.5.6 Shall
9 - 1.5.7 Should
9 - 1.6 WELD CATEGORIES
10 - 1.7 BASIC WELDING REQUIREMENTS
10 - 1.8 SAFETY
10 - 1.8.1 Safety equipment and procedures
10 - 1.8.2 Welding equipment
10 - 1.8.3 Other hazards
11 - SECTION 2 MATERIALS OF CONSTRUCTION
11 - 2.1 PARENT MATERIAL
11 - 2.2 BACKING MATERIAL
11 - 2.3 WELDING CONSUMABLES
11 - 2.3.1 Electrodes and filler wires
11 - 2.3.2 Care of electrodes and filler wires
12 - 2.3.3 Flux
12 - 2.3.4 Shielding gas
13 - SECTION 3 DETAILS OF WELDED CONNECTIONS
13 - 3.1 GENERAL
13 - 3.1.1 Permissible weld types
13 - 3.1.2 Design stresses
13 - 3.1.3 Drawings
13 - 3.2 BUTT WELDS
13 - 3.2.1 Size of weld
13 - 3.2.2 Design throat thickness
14 - 3.2.3 Effective length
14 - 3.2.4 Effective area
14 - 3.2.5 Transition of thickness or width
14 - 3.3 FILLET WELDS
14 - 3.3.1 Size of weld
14 - 3.3.2 Design throat thickness
16 - 3.3.3 Effective length
16 - 3.3.4 Effective area
16 - 3.3.5 Minimum size of fillet welds
16 - 3.3.6 Maximum size of fillet welds along edges
18 - 3.4 COMPOUND WELDS
18 - 3.4.1 Description
18 - 3.4.2 Design throat thickness (DTT)
19 - 3.5 SEAL WELDS
19 - 3.6 PLUG WELDS
19 - 3.7 SLOT WELDS
20 - SECTION 4 QUALIFICATION OF PROCEDURES AND PERSONNEL
20 - 4.1 QUALIFICATION OF WELDING PROCEDURE
20 - 4.1.1 General
20 - 4.1.2 Butt welds
21 - 4.1.3 Fillet welds
21 - 4.1.4 Qualification of multiple welding positions
22 - 4.2 METHOD OF QUALIFICATION OF WELDING PROCEDURE
22 - 4.3 PREQUALIFIED WELDING PROCEDURES
22 - 4.4 PORTABILITY OF QUALIFIED WELDING PROCEDURES
23 - 4.5 PREQUALIFIED JOINT PREPARATIONS
23 - 4.5.1 General
23 - 4.5.2 Prequalified complete penetration butt welds
23 - 4.5.3 Prequalified incomplete penetration butt welds
23 - 4.5.4 Prequalified fillet welds
23 - 4.5.5 Additional requirements for welds in hollow section members
30 - 4.6 QUALIFICATION OF WELDING CONSUMABLES
30 - 4.6.1 Prequalified welding consumables
31 - 4.6.2 Qualification of welding consumables by testing
31 - 4.7 QUALIFICATION OF WELDING PROCEDURE BY TESTING
31 - 4.7.1 Method of qualification
31 - 4.7.2 Preparation of special test piece
31 - 4.7.3 Dimensions of test pieces
31 - 4.7.4 Macro tests
36 - 4.7.5 Transverse butt tensile tests
36 - 4.7.6 Bend tests
36 - 4.7.7 Charpy impact tests
36 - 4.7.8 Hardness comparison tests between parent metal and weld metal
36 - 4.7.9 Hardness tests for weld-heat-affected zones
36 - 4.7.10 Retests
36 - 4.8 EXTENSION OF QUALIFICATION
36 - 4.9 COMBINATION OF PROCESSES
37 - 4.10 RECORDS OF TESTS
37 - 4.11 REQUALIFICATION OF WELDING PROCEDURES
37 - 4.12 QUALIFICATION OF WELDING PERSONNEL
37 - 4.12.1 Welding supervisor
38 - 4.12.2 Welders
43 - SECTION 5 WORKMANSHIP
43 - 5.1 PREPARATION OF EDGES FOR WELDING
43 - 5.1.1 General
43 - 5.1.2 Thermal cutting
43 - 5.2 ASSEMBLY
43 - 5.2.1 General
43 - 5.2.2 Alignment of butt-welded joints
44 - 5.2.3 Alignment of fillet welds and incomplete penetration butt welds
44 - 5.2.4 Separation of a backing material
44 - 5.3 PREHEATING AND INTER-RUN CONTROL
44 - 5.3.1 General
44 - 5.3.2 Need for preheating and interrun temperature control
45 - 5.3.3 Extent of preheating and cooling after welding
45 - 5.3.4 Determination of preheating temperature
46 - 5.4 WELDING UNDER ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS
47 - 5.5 TACK WELDS
47 - 5.6 WELD DEPTH°TO°WIDTH RATIO
47 - 5.7 CONTROL OF DISTORTION AND RESIDUAL STRESS
47 - 5.7.1 General
48 - 5.7.2 Stressed parts
48 - 5.7.3 Peening
48 - 5.7.4 Correction of distortion
48 - 5.8 BACKGOUGING AND REPAIR OF DEFECTS IN WELDS
48 - 5.8.1 General
48 - 5.8.2 Removal of weld metal
49 - 5.8.3 Grinding
49 - 5.8.4 Stop/Starts
49 - 5.9 TEMPORARY ATTACHMENTS
49 - 5.10 ARC STRIKES
50 - 5.11 CLEANING OF FINISHED WELDS
50 - 5.12 DRESSING OF BUTT WELDS
51 - SECTION 6 QUALITY OF WELDS
51 - 6.1 WELD CATEGORIES
51 - 6.2 METHODS OF INSPECTION AND PERMISSIBLE LEVELS OF IMPERFECTIONS
51 - 6.2.1 Methods of inspection of completed welds
51 - 6.2.2 Permissible levels of imperfection
51 - 6.2.3 Adjacent imperfections
51 - 6.2.4 Interpretation of tests
52 - 6.3 RADIOGRAPHY
52 - 6.3.1 Method
52 - 6.3.2 IQI sensitivity
52 - 6.3.3 Acceptance limits
53 - 6.4 ULTRASONIC EXAMINATION
53 - 6.4.1 Method
53 - 6.4.2 Evaluation
53 - 6.4.3 Acceptance limits
53 - 6.5 MAGNETIC PARTICLE EXAMINATION
55 - 6.6 LIQUID PENETRANT EXAMINATION
55 - 6.7 WELD DEFECTS
55 - 6.8 REPORTING
60 - SECTION 7 INSPECTION
60 - 7.1 GENERAL
60 - 7.2 QUALIFICATIONS OF INSPECTORS
60 - 7.3 VISUAL INSPECTION OF WORK
60 - 7.4 NON°DESTRUCTIVE EXAMINATION OTHER THAN VISUAL
62 - APPENDIX A - LIST OF REFERENCED DOCUMENTS
64 - APPENDIX B - BRITTLE FRACTURE
64 - B1 METHODS
64 - B2 NOTCH°DUCTILE RANGE METHOD
64 - B3 DESIGN SERVICE TEMPERATURE
64 - B3.1 General
64 - B3.2 Basic design temperature
64 - B3.3 Modifications to the basic design temperature
65 - B4 MATERIAL SELECTION
65 - B4.1 Selection of steel type
65 - B4.2 Limitations
65 - B4.3 Modification for certain applications
66 - B5 FRACTURE ASSESSMENT
68 - APPENDIX C - TYPICAL FORMS FOR WELDING PROCEDURES
71 - APPENDIX D - CHECK LIST OF MATTERS FOR DISCUSSION
72 - APPENDIX E - WELDED JOINT AND PROCESS IDENTIFICATION
72 - E1 NOTATION FOR JOINT IDENTIFICATION
72 - E2 NOTATION FOR DIMENSIONS, POSITIONS AND BACKING MATERIAL
73 - E3 NOTATION FOR PROCESSES
73 - E4 EXAMPLE

Specifies requirements for the welding of steel structures made up of combinations of steel plate, sheet or sections, including hollow sections and built-up sections, or castings and forgings, by the MMAW, SAW, GMAW, GTAW or TIG, FCAW, ESW and EGW processes. The Standard is limited to the welding of quenched and tempered steel parent material.

This Standard specifies requirements for the welding of steel structures made up of combinations of steel plate, sheet or sections, including hollow sections and built-up sections, or castings and forgings, by the following processes: (a) Manual metal-arc welding (MMAW). (b) Submerged arc welding (SAW). (c) Gas metal-arc welding (GMAW), including pulsed mode.(d) Gas tungsten-arc welding (GTAW or TIG).(e) Flux-cored arc welding (FCAW). (f) Electroslag (including consumable guide) welding (ESW) (see Note). (g) Electrogas welding (EGW) (see Note). NOTE: These processes may not be suitable for welding quenched and tempered steels in all cases (see WTIA Technical Note 15). The Standard is limited to the welding of quenched and tempered steel parent material complying with Clause 2.1. The Standard applies to the welding of steelwork in structures complying with appropriate Standards. Where welded joints in these structures are governed by dynamic loading conditions, the Standard applies only to those welded joints that comply with the fatigue provisions of AS 3990, as limited by Item (ii) below, or with the directly equivalent fatigue provisions of other application Standards. The Standard applies to welded joints that are— (i) not subject to fatigue conditions; or(ii) subject to fatigue conditions; and— (A) the stress range in the welded joint complies with the permissible stress range of stress Categories C, D, E or F of AS 3990, or weld categories lower than or equal to detail Category 112 of AS 4100 or NZS 3404.1; or (B) the stress range in the welded joint is not more than 80% of the permissible stress range of stress Category B of AS 3990, (Category SP weld, see Clause 1.5.2); or (C) the stress range in the welded joint is greater than 80% of the permissible stress range for stress Category B of AS 3990, or exceeds the stress range permitted for detail Category 112 of AS 4100 or NZS 3404.1 (Category FP weld, see Clause 1.5.2), but does not exceed the maximum stress ranges permitted for these categories. In addition to the abovementioned structures, the Standard applies to the welding of bridges, cranes, hoists, earthmoving equipment, other dynamically loaded structures and steelwork in applications other than structural. NOTES: 1 Further information on this Standard, which the drafting committee could not incorporate, is given in WTIA Technical Note 11. 2 Complementary codes that facilitate design and fabrication of high strength quenched and tempered steels include the following:(a) American Institute of Steel Construction Specification for the Design, Fabrication and Erection of Structural Steel for Buildings.(b) American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Standard Specifications for Highway Bridges.(c) American Railway Engineering Association Specifications for Steel Railway Bridges. 3 The Standard requires that weld preparations, welding consumables and welding procedures be qualified before commencement of welding. Prequalified joint preparations, welding consumables and welding procedures are also given in the Standard. 4 In catering for structures subject to fatigue conditions as well as statically loaded structures, the Standard provides three categories of welds with three differing levels of weld quality assurance, associated with the different types of service to which the welds are subjected. The intention is for designer to elect the category suited to the severity of the service and nominate this on the drawings, where a structure contains more than one category, this will ensure that appropriate levels of supervision and inspection will be applied to the relevant parts of the structure.

First published as AS 1554.4-1989.
Jointly revised and designated AS/NZS 1554.4:1995.
Third edition 2004.