Here's a tricky WPS I need to write

Date 04-30-2012 17:24

I need to do a Procedure Qualification test and write a WPS for welding a cast steel ASTM A148 Grade 90/60 part to a ASTM A513 Type 5 tube. The cast steel part has a solid stem that inserts into the 2-3/8" O.D. tube, which then gets welded all the way around. The shop has done these in the past using FCAW, E81T1-Ni1M wire, sized at .052. The dissimilar metals are making it difficult for me to feel good about what I've come up with so far.
I could use suggestions in the following:

-Recommended preheat temp.?
-Is this the correct filler metal?
-For the procedure qualification test, how thick do I go? (I'm going by the ASTM A488 spec. now)
-Post weld heat treat?

I have done quite a bit of research already and have come to several conclusions. I'm hoping any suggestions I might receive will confirm what I've come up with, but I'm more than willing to start from scratch if I get some better info.

Thanks for a great forum!

By WeldinFool (**)

Date 05-02-2012 18:29

Well, to follow up for those two guys in the whole country that cared to read this post and for the one guy nice enough to resond, I got some good info from the ESAB mettalurgist and and also consulted with a welding engineer and got this resolved.
This was one of those deals where the shop was asked to weld these parts together and just went by "what they've done in the past", and "there was never any procedure qualification or WPS involved before, why do we need it now?" My answer? "Because I am now your QC/inspector and we will now be doing everything by the book!"
I basically was just needing some good advice as to what filler metal to weld these with, pre and post heat, etc., so I put together a good weld procedure, perform a qualification test and generate a solid PQR, and then write a solid WPS for this that the guys could follow and I could feel good about.
We gotter dun. Thanks for a good forum!

By jwright650 (*****)

Date 05-02-2012 18:42

Glad that you were able to get it all worked out. :cool:

I expect that there were more than 2 people who read this,
but.... I for one had no experience with what you were welding, so I elected to not comment, but rather just watch and learn.

So what did you come up with with the help of ESAB for a filler material?

By swsweld (****)

Date 05-04-2012 12:00

WeldinFool,
Glad you gotter dun. I too have had Lincoln, Miller, ESAB and other "experts" help with issues that were not my area of expertise. Please keep in mind that you only gave two days before you commented that "two guys in the whole country that cared to read this post and for the one guy nice enough to respond" and you asked a fairly technical question that not all on here are comfortable in answering. Many on here are capable but might not have logged on in the 2 day window or just might not have had the time to give sufficient thought to your question.

Good job on the WPS/PQR work. It's tough going to a new job that didn't do those requirements in the past.
I see the forum was downgraded from "great" to "good" from your 1st and 2nd post. There are some great contributors on here and hope that the forum gets upgraded soon. :smile:

One small correction though..."those two guys in the whole country that read and the one that responded" it's actually should be "in the world" this is a world wide forum as we have many international members and i think we have a few contributors from outer space. :wink:

They know who they are...

By eekpod

Date 05-03-2012 10:28

WF

I don't typically read the technical tab on this page but I just saw your post now.

If they had been using a certain filler wire for past parts woulnd't you use that combination and settings to qualify what they had done?
Since it sounds like they already invented the wheel.
Now it sounds like your doing the right thing by trying to determine if what the were using would be ok even before taking the time and expense to test the procedure and find out it might fail.

I guess my question is are you trying to qualify what they have already done or create a good PQR/WPS going forward with different filler wire and settings?

By WeldinFool (**)

Date 05-04-2012 15:59

Thanks to everybody for a GREAT forum! I really mean it, you guys are awesome. It is really comforting to know that I have this huge, "worldwide" body of mentors to turn to, as I have many times, through the forum search. Seems like anything I need advice on I can find in a past forum (except for the situation described in the OP of this thread), and it is an invaluable resource. I need to apologize for seeming impatient. It's been really busy here at my new second home and I have been posting on the fly, I will try to be more responsible.

To finish up this thread and give any details for those who may need advice on this in the future, here is what I came up with for my WPS:

-ESAB metallurgist says that when welding ASTM A148 Grade 90/60 steel casting to an ASTM A513 Type 5 tube, the use of a FCAW E81T1-Ni1M filler metal is a good choice. It just so happens that this is
indeed what the guys had used in the past, but nobody, including our engineering department, could tell me how they came to this decision.
-ESAB guy, the welding engineer I talked with, and the literature I have on the ASTM A148 material all recommend a 500-600 F preheat, the shop wasn't doing that in the past.
-Amps, volts, and WFS are all per ESAB Data Book recommendations. On my WPS, I always put a "permissable range", which I get from the manufacturer's recommendations, and below that I always
include "optimum settings", which I get by taking readings on the more experienced welder's machines as they are welding. I have had several compliments from the newer guys on this, it really helps them
when setting up a machine for an umfamiliar process.
-Still not requiring a post weld heat treatment, this seems to be a kind of gray area for the engineers. We have not done this in the past on these weldments, and have had no problems. I am open to any suggestions or experience related guidance.
-We are doing a Procedure Qualification Test now to back up this WPS, per ASTM A488 directions, hope this goes well. Hope to hear back from the testing lab next week.

Thanks again guys!

By swsweld (****)

Date 05-04-2012 16:51

Thanks for sharing the WPS info and the upgrade to GREAT again!!

No apology necessary, most of us have needed info and replies yesterday and had to go to plan "B" because the info in the forum wasn't in time.

My "emergencies" usually come on Friday evening when lots of the capable contributors are not logged on until Monday. You know, the ones that get paid to to play..er..search technical work related issues on this forum.

My first post wasn't meant to be chastising in nature, sorry if it came across that way. I agree with your conclusion about the forum, tons of valuable info here.