What is BS EN ISO 5817 - Fusion-welded joints about?
This is an international standard on assigning quality levels to fusion welded joints, based on the physical dimensions of typical and discernible imperfections in the weld. The purpose of BS EN ISO 5817 is to provide widely applicable process control acceptance criteria.
You can learn more about how to implement this standard by downloading our free Executive Briefing.
Who is BS EN ISO 5817 - Fusion-welded joints for?
For use in the oil and gas, automotive, nuclear, energy, aerospace, semiconductor and manufacturing sectors, users will be:
- Quality managers/assessors
- Qualification of welding personnel
- Welding, brazing or soldering personnel
- Engineers
What does BS EN ISO 5817 - Fusion-welded joints cover?
BS EN ISO 5817 specifies quality levels of imperfections in fusion-welded joints (except for beam welding) in all types of steel, nickel, titanium and their alloys.
It applies to material thickness ≥ 0,5 mm and covers fully penetrated butt welds and all fillet welds. Its principles can also be applied to partial-penetration butt welds. Quality levels for beam-welded joints in steel are presented in ISO 13919-1.
Three quality levels are given in order to permit application to a wide range of welded fabrication. They are designated by symbols B, C and D. Quality level B corresponds to the highest requirement on the finished weld.
Several types of loads are considered, e.g. static, thermal, corrosion and pressure load. Additional guidance on fatigue loads is given in Annex B. The quality levels refer to production and good workmanship. BS EN ISO 5817 applies to:
- Non-alloy and alloy steels
- Nickel and nickel alloys
- Titanium and titanium alloys
- Manual, mechanized and automated welding
- All welding positions
- All types of welds, e.g. butt welds, fillet welds and branch connections
- The following welding processes and their sub-processes, as defined in ISO 4063
- Metal arc welding without gas protection
- Submerged arc welding
- Gas-shielded metal arc welding
- Gas-shielded arc welding with non-consumable tungsten electrode
- Plasma arc welding
- Oxyfuel gas welding (for steel only)
NOTE: Metallurgical aspects, such as grain size and hardness, are not covered by this document
Why should you use BS EN ISO 5817 - Fusion-welded joints?
- BS EN ISO 5817 provides process control acceptance criteria, in the form of quality levels, that can be applied very widely
- It supplies a means of comparing weld imperfections and defects irrespective of the detection technique used
- It supplies an easily understood set of criteria that can act as a common language for discussion, design, execution, inspection, procurement and so forth across engineering roles and sectors
What’s new about BS EN ISO 5817:2023?
This is a revision of BS EN ISO 5817:2014. Some changes are technical and others presentational, and arise from user feedback. The major change is that the former Annex B has been deleted, meaning that the former Annex C on fatigue has become the new Annex B.
