AWS Guide Publications for Welding of Piping and Tubing
Reprinted with permission: The AWS Welding Journal
Fluids and gases are essential to the operation and productivity of nearly all industrial processes. This can include products, such as gasoline, beverages, or medicines. It can also include materials, such as lubricants, industrial gases, steam, or hydraulic fluids that are used to control and operate machinery for production of many products. Steam, for example, is essential to electric power generation. One of the earliest examples of pipe welding was the joining of discarded musket barrels by William Murdock in 1815 to transport coal gas throughout London for his lamp system. During World War II, welding had moved from a fabrication method that was gaining popularity to one that was essential to the war effort to meet production and performance requirements. The use of welding quickly replaced practices, such as riveting for the construction of many necessary products. Shipbuilding was one area where large movement was made toward the use of welding, and this led to advances in pipe and tube welding.
Establishing the AWS D10 Committee
More than 70 years ago, AWS recognized the importance of welding to the pipe and tube industry. The AWS D10 Committee was established in 1951 for the purpose of writing recommended practices relating to the welding of piping and tubing for various industries. Its mission statement is the following: “The D10 Committee on Piping and Tubing is responsible for the preparation of standards that formulate safe, sound, and progressive practices for the welding of piping and tubing for all applications. This committee promotes education in the latest welding techniques.”
The original committee, which consisted of 47 members, was a cross section of American industry. The industries represented on that first committee included oil, gas, power, chemical, aluminum and steel pipe manufacturers, founders, pipe fabricators, engineering companies, welding equipment and consumable suppliers, valve and fitting manufacturers, boiler manufacturers, the American Petroleum Institute, and the U. S. Navy and Coast Guard.
Publishing of Specifications and Standards
The D10 Committee published its first document in 1953. Ironically, this document did not specifically cover the welding of piping or tubing. Instead, it was AWS D10.1, Recommended Practice for Postweld Heat Treatment of Austenitic Weldments. It was a tentative recommended practice, and it cost 50 cents. This publication served its purpose well but was withdrawn in 1955 because its contents were incorporated in other documents published by the committee.
Alloy steels were becoming popular in the piping industry, so two new publications were written in 1955: D10.3, Recommended Practice for Interruption of Heat Treatment Cycles for Low Chromium-Molybdenum Steel Piping Materials, and D10.4, The Welding of Austenitic Chromium-Nickel Steel Piping and Tubing. D10.3 was later withdrawn because much of the information contained in this document was incorporated into other D10 documents. D10.4 is still in publication and has been continually updated.
With the construction of nuclear power plants came a need for a document to cover the welding of piping for these plants. The D10 Committee took on this task and in 1959, D10.5, Welding Ferrous Materials for Nuclear Power Piping, was published. This document was later withdrawn after the welding of nuclear piping and tubing was included in ASME Sections III and XI publications.
Other documents followed as industry needs developed. These included the following:
1959 — D10.6, Gas Tungsten Arc Welding of Titanium Piping and Tubing
1960 — D10.7, Recommended Practice for Gas- Shielded Arc Welding of Aluminum and Aluminum Alloy Pipe
1961 — D10.8, Welding of Chromium-Molybdenum Steel Piping
1969 — D10.9, Standard for Qualification of Welding Procedures and Welders for Piping and Tubing. This document was withdrawn in 1992 as there was no longer a need because AWS had published B2.1, Specification for Welding Procedures and Performance Qualification
1975 — D10.10, Local Heat Treatment of Welds in Piping and Tubing (revised in 2021)
1979 — D10.12, Recommended Practices and Procedures for Welding Plain Carbon
1980 — D10.11, Recommended Practices for Root Pass Welding and Gas Purging
1995 — D10.13, Recommended Practices for Brazing of Copper Pipe and Tubing for Medical Gas Systems
2018 — D10.18, Guide for Welding Ferritic/Austenitic Duplex Stainless Steel Piping and Tubing
2021 — D10.22, Specification for Local Heating of Welds in Creep Strength-Enhanced Ferritic Steels in Piping and Tubing Using Electric Resistance Heating
Publishing of Guides
The D10 Committee has continued to produce and update recommended practices to meet the emerging needs for knowledge transfer to support pipe and tube welding applications. These documents are now referred to as “guides” and are not considered codes. They are more prescriptive than codes, providing practical information on welding processes and procedures compared to the rules and requirements found in codes. However, it is very noteworthy that many codes that address pipe welding requirements cite D10 guidelines as informative references. The D10 publications are beneficial as a resource for experienced engineers to provide emerging welding engineers with practical knowledge of welding processes and practices used for pipe and tube applications.
The expansion of the D10 guides has been focused on keeping up with new materials and welding technology. Several publications are in development and provide excellent opportunities for individuals to share their knowledge and be involved in the development of new guides. The first of these is D10.21M/D10.21, Guide for Welding Creep Strength Enhanced Ferritic Steel Piping and Tubing, which addresses creep strength-enhanced ferritic steels (CSEFSs) to meet the need for a document that is specific to welding of these materials and how they obtain and maintain properties. The use of the filler metals specific to these alloys will be addressed, including their influence on the final properties of the completed weld.
The importance of preheat and postweld heat treatment when welding CSEF materials identified a need to formally address the qualification of personnel performing these operations. Another new document, AWS D10.23M/D10.23, Specification for the Qualification of Personnel for Local Heat Treatment of Piping, Tubing and Components Using Electric Resistance Heaters, is being prepared to address this need.
Conclusion
When faced with challenges in pipe or tube welding, the D10 publications can provide a practical, quick, and economical resource to solve many welding-related issues. To access any of the D10 publications, visit aws.org and click the “Bookstore” tab. This is your entryway to a vast amount of useful information that can help reduce cost and time for your welding applications.
SHANE FINDLAN (findlas@westinghouse.com), PE, IWE, is consulting engineer, welding and materials engineering, Stone & Webster LLC, Rock Hill, S.C., and chair of the AWS D10 Committee on Piping and Tubing. WILLIAM F. NEWELL, PE, PEng, IWE, is vice president, engineering, Euroweld Ltd., Mooresville, N.C., and past chair of the AWS D10 Committee.
Fig 1 — Gas tungsten arc welding of 316L stainless steel pipe for power plant coolant water application.
