This specification prescribes requirements for the classification of shielding gases. Gases may be supplied in either gaseous or liquid form, but when used in welding, the shielding is always in the gaseous form. Gas shielded arc welding processes include, but are not limited to: manual, semiautomatic, mechanized, and automatic gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), gas metal arc welding (GMAW), flux cored arc welding (FCAW), electrogas welding (EGW), and plasma arc welding (PAW).