Overview
ISO/TR 17671-2:2002 - Welding - Recommendations for welding of metallic materials - Part 2: Arc welding of ferritic steels - is an informative Technical Report from ISO (TC 44/SC 10) that gives practical guidance for manual, semi‑mechanized, mechanized and automatic arc welding of ferritic steels (excluding ferritic stainless steels) in all product forms. Issued in 2002, this TR supplements general arc‑welding guidance (Part 1) and is intended to help avoid detrimental phenomena and achieve satisfactory weld production and control. Note: as a Technical Report it is informative and may be used alongside application standards that can impose additional requirements.
Key topics and requirements
- Scope and applicability: Guidance applicable to all ferritic steels (groups 1–7 in ISO/TR 15608) and to a wide range of fabrication types.
- Weldability factors: Joint design, hydrogen‑induced (cold) cracking, HAZ toughness and hardness, solidification cracking, lamellar tearing and corrosion.
- Consumables handling: Storage, drying/baking, use of heated quivers or sealed containers to control diffusible hydrogen.
- Joint preparation and weld details: Recommendations for butt and fillet welds, backing, partial penetration, allowable gaps, and preparation of fusion and unwelded faces.
- Preheating and interpass control: Guidance on preheat maintenance temperature and interpass temperatures to control cooling rates and HAZ properties.
- Heat input and cooling time: Consideration of heat input, cooling time (t8/5), and two‑ vs three‑dimensional heat flow for controlling microstructure.
- Welding documentation and control: Advice on welding procedure specification (WPS), inspection and testing, identification, correction of non‑conforming welds and distortion.
- Post‑weld heat treatment (PWHT): Criteria and use to modify HAZ properties where required.
- Annexes: Detailed guidance on avoiding hydrogen cracking (Annex A), joint‑detail design (B), other detrimental phenomena (C), HAZ toughness/hardness (D), solidification cracking (E), and lamellar tearing (F).
Practical applications
ISO/TR 17671-2 is used to:
- Develop and qualify welding procedures (WPS) for ferritic steels.
- Specify preheat, interpass and PWHT regimes to control HAZ hardness/toughness.
- Provide design guidance on joint preparation, backing and fillet weld practice to reduce cracking and distortion.
- Inform QA/QC inspection, consumable handling and remedial actions for non‑conforming welds.
Typical users:
- Welding engineers and procedure writers
- Fabricators and welding supervisors (manual and mechanized processes)
- NDE inspectors, QA/QC managers and materials engineers
- Designers and structural engineers specifying welded steel fabrication
Related standards
Relevant companion documents include:
Keywords: ISO/TR 17671-2, arc welding ferritic steels, welding recommendations, hydrogen cracking, heat affected zone, preheating, welding procedure specification, weldability, joint preparation.