The fifth edition of the American Welding Society's AWS B2.1, Specification for Welding Procedure and Performance Qualification, has been published. The standard, known now as B2.1/B2.1M:2009, includes major changes from the previous edition. The 298-page book provides the requirements for qualifying welding procedures as well as for qualifying the performance of welders and welding operators for manual, semiautomatic, mechanized, and automatic welding.

The new edition incorporates metric units as well as U.S. customary units, and includes new sample forms and covers new materials, including materials from Australian and New Zealand standards. New welding procedure specification and qualification variables have been introduced, with tighter restrictions. Filler metal groupings have been revised in accordance with the latest filler metal specifications.

The standard covers qualification requirements related to base metals, filler metals, other qualification variables, and testing requirements. Processes covered include oxyfuel gas welding, shielded metal arc welding, gas tungsten arc welding, submerged arc welding, laser beam welding, gas metal arc welding, flux cored arc welding, plasma arc welding, electroslag welding, electrogas welding, electron beam welding and arc stud welding.

The book is available from WEX at (888) WELDING or www.aws.org/standards for $158. AWS members can purchase the standard for just $117.