Welding normalisation for metals

It goes without saying that all sectors of activity have their own body of standards, since standards are the essential reference points for facilitating technical and economic exchanges between all the socio-economic players in a given field. They are also an important communication tool, ensuring mutual understanding between the parties concerned in a now largely globalized context.

This is due to the complexity of the underlying disciplines (materials science, mechanics, physics, chemistry, etc.) and the almost infinite range of possible applications – from everyday consumer goods, through petrochemicals, transport, automotive and medical applications, to cutting-edge sectors such as nuclear engineering and aerospace. The need for industrial companies to set up advanced quality management systems, as a guarantee of their competence vis-à-vis their customers and principals, is also a major factor justifying the importance of standards for welding, brazing and soldering activities.

The aim of this article is to provide welding professionals, whether technicians or engineers, with an understanding of certain fundamental aspects of standardization in general, and to offer them an initial overview of the main standards documents applicable to welding and related techniques. This initial overview is by no means exhaustive, and is limited to standards considered to cover all sectors of the industry. It does not, therefore, cover welding-related aspects in application standards (or product standards), nor does it deal in detail with subjects which, although they may be related, are certainly too far removed, such as thermal spraying or additive manufacturing. Last but not least, it essentially deals only with metallic materials, although a number of the standards cited could potentially apply to other materials such as ceramics, plastics or composites.