What is the best way to prepare weld/HAZ specimens for A 923 Method C testing?
The specimen should be removed by the method least disruptive of the metal condition. Cold cutting is recommended if possible. If a hot cutting method is applied, then there should be further cold cutting or grinding to remove all material that was affected by the hot cutting. In order to avoid weight loss during the test that could be associated with heat tint, it is a good practice to pickle the whole specimen before final grinding of the specimen surfaces. However, the surfaces that are actually tested should be as-ground without any subsequent pickling or other chemical treatment that might clear the surface of detrimental phases. It is permitted to leave the weld faces of the specimen in the as-pickled condition as long as the cross-sectional edges are tested in the ground condition. A slight chamfering of the specimen is helpful, but the should not be substantial rounding off of the edges. The presence of burrs on the edges will cause weight losses not related to the presence of
