We are a manufacturer of materials handling equipment, welding both low carbon steels and aluminum to the AWS D1.1 and D1.2 welding codes. In our quality assurance manual we have the following provision:

When a welding procedure for a complete joint penetration groove weld has been qualified by fully testing, the welding parameters may be applied to pre-qualified complete joint penetration groove welds in AWS D1.1, recommended complete joint penetration groove welds in AWS D1.2, or any partial joint penetration groove weld, and only visual inspection and three macro etch cross section specimen are required for qualification. All welding essential variables shall be within the ranges permitted by the applicable welding code, except the groove type, groove angle, root opening, and root face may be changed as needed for partial joint penetration groove welds. The weld travel speed need only be limited so as to result in a weld bead size within those permitted by the welding code. A procedure qualification record, recording a welding procedure qualified in the above manner, shall note the original procedure qualification record where the full qualification testing was recorded and certified by an AWS Certified Welding Inspector.

Our assumption is once we prove our basic welding parameters in a CJP groove weld, qualified by testing, we can then apply them to a variety of groove welds and just do three macro etches to verify the weld size. Our primary question is, do changes in the groove weld dimensions have any effect on the weld’s properties other than to possibly change the effective weld size?