Some standards like the American Welding Society (AWS) require the individuals who are conducting the inspection or test to have a certain level of qualification. For example, AWS G1.6 is the Specification for the Qualification of Plastic Welding Inspectors for Hot Gas, Hot Gas Extrusion, and Heated Tool Butt Thermoplastic Welds. This particular standard dictates that in order to inspect the plastic welds, the inspector needs one of 3 different qualification levels. These levels are the Associate Plastics Welding Inspector (APWI), Plastics Welding Inspector (PWI), and Senior Plastics Welding Inspector (SPWI). Each of these levels have different responsibilities. For example, the APWI has to have direct supervision of a PWI or SPWI in order to conduct the inspection or prepare a report. These three different levels of certification also have different capability requirements, education requirements, and examination requirements. Additionally, they must be able to maintain that qualification every 3 years. Destructive testing Bend testing The bend test uses a ram to bend the test coupon to a desired degree. This test setup is shown in Figure 2. A list of the minimum bend angles and ram displacements for different plastic materials can be found in the DVS Standards, DVS2203-1 and DVS2203-5. Some of the ram speeds, bend angle, and displacement information from DVS2203-1 are shown in Table 1 and Table 2. Some of the main advantages of the bend test are it provides qualitative data for tensile, compressive, and shear strain. These results typically lead to a higher confidence level in the quality of the weld joint and process. In contrast, some of the disadvantages are it requires multiple test pieces. It is typically recommended to use a minimum of 6 different test samples. Another disadvantage is that it does not provide specific values for evaluating the joint design. Moreover, large amounts of effort may need to go into preparing the part for testing. This could cause an increase in cost and schedule depending on the complexity of the part. Lastly, like all destructive tests, the part and/or weld seam is destroyed and cannot be used. Tensile testing When conducting the tensile test, a test piece is pulled until it breaks. This test is quantitative and will provide the ultimate tensile strength, strain, as well as the energy to failure if it has extensometers attached to the sample. Additionally, the results from a tensile test cannot be transferable to that