Yes, you can. The porpose of welder qualification tests is determine the welder's ability to produce sound welds and you can do this using non-destructive or destructive tests; the properties of the weld is not important for the welder qualification, then you have no troubles with the backing material proposed and the Code AWS D1.5 do not considere it like an essential variable for welder qualification. For other side, the ASTM A36 is almost the same material ASTM A709 Gr.36 and both of them have equal mechanical properties. I can't understand why we have the same material under two different ASTM's specifications (one for any kind of structures and the other one for bridges).
Jorge Giraldo
Medellín, Colombia
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