4.1 These reference radiographs may be used as a means for establishing the types and severity levels of discontinuities that are revealed by radiographic examination of steel fusion welds.

4.2 Personnel utilizing reference radiographs to this standard shall be qualified and authorized to perform radiographic interpretation in accordance with a nationally or internationally recognized NDT personnel qualification practice or standard such as ANSI/ASNT-CP-189, SNT-TC-1A, NAS 410, ISO 9712, or a similar document and certified by the employer or certifying agency, as applicable. The practice or standard used and its applicable revision shall be identified in the contractual agreement between the using parties. A certified Level III shall be available to assist with interpreting specifications and product requirements as applied to the reference radiographs (if the Level III is the radiographic interpreter, this may be the same person).

4.3 Each volume contains illustrations of representative graded and ungraded discontinuities applicable to seven thickness ranges, as shown in Table 1. Table 2 lists the discontinuity types and severities illustrated for each thickness of base material. Each of the graded discontinuity types has five severity levels, 1 through 5 in order of increasing severity. The ungraded discontinuities are included for informational purposes.

4.4 These reference radiographs may be used in contractual specifications, for which agreement has been reached between purchaser and supplier, to establish acceptance limits of the types and severity levels of discontinuities revealed by radiographic examination.

4.5 The use of this document is not intended to be restricted to the specific energy levels given in Table 3 or to the thickness limits given in Table 1. This document may be used, where there is no other applicable document, for other energy levels or thicknesses, or both, for which it is found to be applicable and for which agreement has been reached between purchaser and manufacturer.

1.1 This standard provides reference radiographs for steel fusion welds that contain typical discontinuities with varying severity levels in different thicknesses of material. The reference radiograph films are an adjunct to this standard and must be purchased separately from ASTM International if needed.

1.2 There are three volumes of reference radiographs based on seven nominal weld thicknesses as follows:

Vol I—Set of 16 plates (8¹/₂ by 11 in.) covering base material up to and including ¹/₄ in. (6.4 mm) in thickness.

Vol II—Set of 29 plates (8¹/₂ by 11 in.) covering base material over ¹/₄ up to and including 3 in. (6.4 to 76 mm) in thickness.

Vol III—Set of 32 plates (8¹/₂ by 11 in.) covering base material over 3 up to and including 8 in. (76 to 203 mm) in thickness.

1.3 From time to time, there may be minor changes to the process for manufacturing of the reference radiograph adjunct materials. These changes could include changes in the films or processing chemicals used, changes in the dies or printing for the cardboard mats, etc.; however, in all cases, these changes are reviewed by the Illustration Monitoring Subcommittee and all reference radiographs are reviewed against a fixed prototype image to ensure that there are no changes to the acceptance level represented by the reference radiographs. Therefore, the adjunct reference radiographs remain valid for use with this standard regardless of the date of production or the revision level of the text standard.

1.4 Units—The values stated in inch-pound units are to be regarded as the standard. The values given in parentheses are mathematical conversions to SI units that are provided for information only and are not considered standard.

1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

1.6 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.