Enter the classification as printed, with or without its standard. Below, an offered consumable can be checked against it, position by position, when both are in the same system.
On the designation alone: the welding procedure approval and any classification society requirement are checked separately.
A box of electrodes or a spool of wire carries its classification to a standard: E7018-1 H4R, E 42 3 B 32 H5, ER70S-6, E71T-1C, G 42 3 M21 3Si1. Enter it and the reader splits it position by position: the strength, the impact test temperature, the covering or flux type, the welding positions, the current, the diffusible hydrogen, the shielding gas and the wire chemistry; it checks an offered consumable against the one wanted and writes an RFQ line.
Only the meanings of the classification are read here, never the test results of a brand. The approval of a consumable to a welding procedure and any classification society requirement are not checked.
E is a covered electrode. The first two or three digits give the minimum weld metal tensile strength in ksi (70: 70 ksi). The next-to-last digit gives the positions: 1 all, 2 flat and horizontal, 4 including vertical down. The last two digits together give the covering and the current. AWS A5.5 adds an alloy suffix after a dash: A1, B2, C3 and so on.
42 is a yield strength of at least 420 MPa; 3 is 47 J of impact energy at −30 °C; B a basic covering; 3 a weld metal recovery over 105 up to 125 % on AC and DC; 2 all positions except vertical down; H5 at most 5 ml of diffusible hydrogen per 100 g. ISO 2560-B (E4918) gives the tensile strength instead.
ER70S-6 is an AWS A5.18 solid wire of 70 ksi; the digit after the dash sets its deoxidiser level. E71T-1C is an AWS A5.20 flux cored wire: 1 all positions, T tubular, -1 gas-shielded on DCEP, C classified with 100 % CO2. ISO 14341-A writes a solid wire as G, the gas to ISO 14175 (M21, C1) and the wire composition as a symbol such as 3Si1.
| Symbol | Standard | Meaning | Current | Positions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXX10 | AWS A5.1 / A5.5, covering | cellulosic, sodium | DCEP | all |
| EXX11 | AWS A5.1 / A5.5, covering | cellulosic, potassium | AC or DCEP | all |
| EXX12 | AWS A5.1 / A5.5, covering | rutile (titania), sodium | AC or DCEN | all |
| EXX13 | AWS A5.1 / A5.5, covering | rutile (titania), potassium | AC, DCEP or DCEN | all |
| EXX14 | AWS A5.1 / A5.5, covering | rutile with iron powder | AC, DCEP or DCEN | all |
| EXX15 | AWS A5.1 / A5.5, covering | low-hydrogen (basic) | left out | all |
| EXX16 | AWS A5.1 / A5.5, covering | low-hydrogen (basic) | AC or DCEP | all |
| EXX18 | AWS A5.1 / A5.5, covering | low-hydrogen (basic) with iron powder | AC or DCEP | all |
| EXX24 | AWS A5.1 / A5.5, covering | rutile with iron powder | AC, DCEP or DCEN | flat and horizontal |
| EXX27 | AWS A5.1 / A5.5, covering | iron oxide with iron powder | AC, DCEP or DCEN | flat and horizontal |
| EXX28 | AWS A5.1 / A5.5, covering | low-hydrogen (basic) with iron powder | AC or DCEP | flat and horizontal |
| EXX48 | AWS A5.1 / A5.5, covering | low-hydrogen (basic) with iron powder | AC or DCEP | flat, horizontal, overhead, vertical down |
| A | ISO 2560-A, covering | acid | set by the recovery symbol | — |
| C | ISO 2560-A, covering | cellulosic | set by the recovery symbol | — |
| R | ISO 2560-A, covering | rutile | set by the recovery symbol | — |
| RR | ISO 2560-A, covering | rutile, thick covering | set by the recovery symbol | — |
| RC | ISO 2560-A, covering | rutile-cellulosic | set by the recovery symbol | — |
| RA | ISO 2560-A, covering | rutile-acid | set by the recovery symbol | — |
| RB | ISO 2560-A, covering | rutile-basic | set by the recovery symbol | — |
| B | ISO 2560-A, covering | basic | set by the recovery symbol | — |
| 1 | ISO 2560-A, recovery and current | recovery up to 105 % | AC and DC | — |
| 2 | ISO 2560-A, recovery and current | recovery up to 105 % | DC only | — |
| 3 | ISO 2560-A, recovery and current | recovery over 105 up to 125 % | AC and DC | — |
| 4 | ISO 2560-A, recovery and current | recovery over 105 up to 125 % | DC only | — |
| 5 | ISO 2560-A, recovery and current | recovery over 125 up to 160 % | AC and DC | — |
| 6 | ISO 2560-A, recovery and current | recovery over 125 up to 160 % | DC only | — |
| 7 | ISO 2560-A, recovery and current | recovery over 160 % | AC and DC | — |
| 8 | ISO 2560-A, recovery and current | recovery over 160 % | DC only | — |
Every meaning is confirmed by two independent sources. Left out because the sources differ or only one gives it: the AWS covering numbers 19, 20 and 22; the current of EXX15; the impact test temperatures of the -1 suffix and of ER70S wires; AWS yield strengths; AWS A5.5 suffixes other than A1, B2, B3, C1, C3 and G; flux cored usability designators other than 1, 4, 8, 9 and 11; the ISO 2560-B covering table and its composition and heat-treatment symbols; ISO 14341-A impact symbols below −60 °C; gases other than M21 and C1; the exact manganese and silicon ranges of the 2Si1, 3Si1 and 4Si1 wires.
The Hobart Filler Metals AWS classifications chart and article, and a Hobart flux cored wire data sheet (its classification lines only); Goodheart-Willcox, Shielded Metal Arc Welding, unit 8; the Stoody Industrial & Welding Supply catalogue, page 340; TWI Job Knowledge, Welding consumables parts 3 and 5; the ISO 2560:2020 preview; ISO 14175:2008 as published by SSAB WeldCalc; the SpawBaza welder handbook; Material Welding; A Marine Blog; C-Jays; Wikipedia; the Kobelco welding handbook. Every meaning is in at least two of them.
E is a covered electrode; 70 is a weld metal tensile strength of at least 70 ksi; 1 is all positions; 18, the last two digits, is a low-hydrogen (basic) covering with iron powder for AC or DCEP. -1 marks the improved impact toughness requirement at a lower temperature, H4 at most 4 ml of diffusible hydrogen per 100 g of weld metal, and R a covering that passed the absorbed-moisture test.
AWS A5.1 gives the minimum tensile strength in ksi (E70xx: 70 ksi). ISO 2560-A gives the minimum yield strength in MPa and the temperature for 47 J of impact energy (E 42 3: 420 MPa and −30 °C). ISO 2560-B gives the minimum tensile strength in MPa (E49xx: 490 MPa); its E4918 is the counterpart of AWS E7018. The numbers of different systems do not convert one to one, so the reader compares an offer only within its own system.
The check under the reading compares an offered designation position by position. Lower strength, fewer positions, a higher impact test temperature, a missing -1, J or alloy suffix, or more diffusible hydrogen does not meet; another covering, gas or wire chemistry is a point to check, and a low-hydrogen (basic) electrode replaced by another kind does not meet. The welding procedure the job is approved to has the last word.
The full classification as printed on the box, with its standard (for example AWS A5.1 E7018-1 H4R or ISO 2560-A E 42 3 B 32 H5), the diameter, the quantity in kilograms, the packing if it matters, the maker and brand if the welding procedure names them, and a photograph of the box label.
A reading is a check of the designation, not a consumable selection. Attach the photograph and give the diameter, and Vessel Core checks them before an offer goes back.
