6.5.3 Tensile-Strength Test Requirements for
Butt Welds
For the tensile-strength test, if any of the reduced-section
specimens or the full-section specimen breaks in the weld or
at the junction of the weld and the parent material and fails to
meet the soundness requirements of 5.6.3.3, the welder shall
be disqualified.
The above excerpt is from the section in API 1104 addressing welder performance qualification. Note that it says nothing about "Tensile strength." It says the if the sample fails in the weld or at the juncture of the weld and filler metal, it must meet the soundness requirements of 5.6.3.3, which is the same as the nick break test. See the following:
5.6.3.3 Requirements
The exposed surfaces of each nick-break specimen shall
show complete penetration and fusion. The greatest dimension
of any gas pocket shall not exceed 1/16 in. (1.6 mm), and
the combined area of all gas pockets shall not exceed 2% of
the exposed surface area. Slag inclusions shall not be
more than 1/32 in. (0.8 mm) in depth and shall not be more
than 1/8 in. (3 mm) or one-half the nominal wall thickness in
length, whichever is smaller. There shall be at least 1/2 in.
(13 mm) separation between adjacent slag inclusions. The
dimensions should be measured as shown in Figure 8.
Fisheyes, as defined in AWS A3.0, are not cause for rejection.
Again, I see no criteria saying the "tensile" test has to meet any tensile strength requirements, minimum strength, elongation, etc. Do you see something I'm missing? No need for silly gages, calibration, calculations, UTS, or elongation. Maybe someone didn't read the standard, but should have. Maybe they didn't know the difference between qualifying the welder and qualifying the WPS.
Apparently API 1104 doesn't make sense to a lot of other people. Glad to see you are in my corner JT. Bring on the Farm Code!
Best regards - Al