ISO standard · reference card
Does ISO 15614-1 qualify your procedure? Scope decision flow for the arc-welding procedure test, the codes it sits inside, and the records that evidence the qualified range.
ISO 15614-1 answers one question: can this procedure produce a sound weld, proven by an actual test weld rather than by argument. It works through essential variables — the inputs the test has to demonstrate — and the resulting qualification record states the range each one covers.
The recurring misuse is treating a WPQR as broader than the test that produced it. A qualification covers the combination of process, material, thickness and position the test weld actually used; a production job outside any one essential variable sits outside the qualification, whatever the finished bead looks like. The second error is reaching for ISO 15614-1 on a job whose construction code invokes Section IX instead — the two routes are not the same document by another name.
Therness equipment does not qualify a procedure. It records what a test weld, and every production weld measured against it, actually did — the essential-variable values, and a per-weld trail showing the qualified range was held.
| Question | If yes | If no |
|---|---|---|
| Is the process arc or gas welding of steel, or arc welding of nickel or nickel alloys? | ISO 15614-1 is the applicable qualification-by-test route. | Another part of the ISO 15614 series, indexed through ISO 15607, applies instead. |
| Does the contract or application standard call for the ASME route instead of the ISO route? | Use ASME Section IX; a WPQR under one scheme does not automatically satisfy the other. | Continue under ISO 15607, which the qualification-by-test route in ISO 15614-1 sits inside. |
| Does an existing WPQR already cover the essential variables of the job in front of you? | Check its range of qualification before welding a new test piece — a fresh test may not be needed. | A test weld has to be welded, tested and recorded to create a WPQR covering this combination. |
| Is the parent material outside the steel and nickel-alloy groups this part covers? | This part does not qualify the procedure; another part of the ISO 15614 series covers that material group. | ISO 15614-1 covers the material group; qualify against its essential variables for the process used. |
Conformity is decided by inspection and testing against the criteria the standard and the contract set. The records below are evidence that the process was held where it was qualified; they support an inspection result, they never replace one.
| Requirement | Record produced | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Recording the essential variables actually achieved on the qualification test weld | Measured voltage, current and wire feed speed per pass, set against the range the WPQR will state | WeldTrace |
| Holding interpass temperature within the range a multi-pass test is meant to demonstrate | Non-contact interpass measurement on every pass, on the test weld and in production | HeatCam IR-C |
Therness records what the machine actually delivered on every weld — parameters, thermal signature and a per-weld trail — so a conformity argument rests on measurements instead of recollection.
Progetto cofinanziato nell'ambito del PR Piemonte FSE+ 2021-2027,
Priorità I, Obiettivo Specifico a), Azione 4 – "Sostegno alla nascita delle start up"
