Destructive Testing
Testing methods where material samples are loaded to destruction to measure mechanical properties. They are mainly applied during procedure qualification tests.
Clamp a specimen into the testing machine and pull it until it breaks. First it deforms elastically and springs back, then permanently, until it finally tears. At the fracture you can see whether the material failed in a ductile or brittle manner. For weld specimens, you want to know if the weld can take as much as the base metal. Take the specimens transverse to the weld, then you have weld metal, heat-affected zone, and base metal. If you take the specimen wrong or don't finish the surface cleanly, you'll get a false result. Follow the standards for tensile and impact tests and document the values properly.