October 14, 2026
Weld Mapping and Documentation for Critical Systems
Contributed by Joe Poniatowski, Applications Engineer
How do weld mapping and documentation help prevent critical system failures? Well, we first need to understand what each of those components is. A “critical system” is one that, if it were to fail, could cause injury to personnel, environmental damage, loss of operational capability, or a combination of all three. Weld mapping and documentation refers to the weld record of a fusion; it records weld process time, temperatures, and pressures. It also ties the weld record to the weld operator, date, time, and joint identification number. The data-recording program can also include additional information, such as work order numbers, spool ID numbers, or specific part numbers.
In the United States, ASTM standards are used across many industries and are usually rooted in manufacturing. ASTM International, formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials, is a standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical international standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, and services. Over 12,500 of these standards apply globally.
ASTM F3124, which covers standard practice for data recording in welding applications, was developed in 2015 and has had four revisions since then to keep up with newer “data logging” capabilities and equipment types. The current version is ASTM F3124-23a, where the number after the standard code indicates the year of the last revision.
Internationally, ISO 21307 is used and outlines specific guidelines for recording butt fusion welding data into protocols or electronic data carriers during pipe jointing operations.
Depending on the tool manufacturer, weld data can be captured in different ways. The AGRU SP Series tools and electrofusion tools store weld data for each weld, and the data is available for download via a memory stick, or even via Bluetooth® to a phone with the app or a PC laptop. The data can then be stored and managed using AGRU’s WeldNet software to view and identify weld records; these are commonly downloaded by customers for their records, or by operators for internal record keeping.
In the image to the right, you can see the machine’s serial number and type, the last recorded maintenance, the welder’s name and identification number, the joint (sequence) number, the weld date and time, and the material, size, and wall thickness.
McElroy tools can use an accessory called the DataLogger® 7 to record the entire welding process, which connects to any manual or hydraulic welding tool we offer at Asahi/America. The DataLogger® 7 includes a pressure transducer component that is calibrated yearly to record actual pressures throughout the welding process. The DataLogger® 7 connects to McElroy’s Vault (cloud storage) via Wi-Fi and automatically uploads weld records to a “job folder” the user creates in their Vault account. The welds can be identified by inputting the weld ID, spool number, and/or job name.
The vault account can be accessed at any time by the vault account creator. They can also share that job folder with someone else who has a vault account. Once the job folder is opened, you will see all of the stored welds for that job folder. As you can see in the example dashboard to the left, there are ten weld records, and the McElroy Vault intelligence displayed at the top shows how many welds need to be reviewed and how many have been approved or rejected by the vault owner or QA/QC assessor for the project.
By clicking into a specific weld record, you can see all weld data: date and time, welder name, weld specifications (parameters) used, tool type, material type, size and wall thickness, and the required pressures, temperatures, and times. The DataLogger® 7 also provides additional information, such as recorded heater temperatures, weather conditions, GPS location, the DataLogger® serial number, and the date of the last transducer calibration.
All of this information is nice to have, especially the additional weld record reports, such as the interactive weld graph (above) that shows the actual weld pressures and times. The graph includes colored boxes that show the ranges the pressures and times should fall within for each step of the welding process; green represents the heat soak phase, red represents the changeover time when the heater is removed and the weld is made, and tan represents the cooldown time.
The DataLogger® 7 also allows operators to add photos of completed welds and mark the weld location on a map. The location feature is especially useful for large projects, as it gives customers the exact location of a particular weld joint in a system.
In July 2026, a new feature was released for the DataLogger®: weld ID tags. The new weld ID tags include a QR code that can be linked to a specific weld joint in the vault record. When a joint is complete, the operator can attach the weld ID tag to the pipe near the weld, then use the built-in camera of the DataLogger® to scan the unique QR code and assign it to the newly completed weld. Conveniently, a vault account is not needed to view the weld record; scan the label to the right with your phone’s camera to see an example.
Collecting weld data serves multiple purposes: many customers want assurance that only a qualified welder made the joint, the weld process was conducted properly, and the installed critical system will not fail prematurely due to poor weld techniques and procedures. With help from Asahi/America and tools from AGRU and McElroy, these can all be accomplished with ease.
If you have any questions about data documentation and/or the use of the McElroy Vault, please contact [email protected].