AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS
ENGINEERING
COURSE CODE: MMEN 332 (FUNDAMENTALS OF MATERIALS
TESTING)
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO ASTM
(AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND MATERIALS)
BY
OBARO ABDULGHANIYU OMEIZA
INTRODUCTION TO ASTM
ASTM, now known as ASTM International is the American Society for
Testing and Materials, is a nonprofit organization that develops and publishes
approximately 12,000 technical standards, covering the procedures for testing and
classification of materials of every sort. Headquartered in West Conshohocken,
United States, ASTM standards are used worldwide, with its membership
consisting of over 30,000 members representing 135 countries. ASTM also serves
as the administrator for the U.S. TAGs (United States Technical Advisory Group)
to an enormous amount of ISO/TCs (International Organization for
Standardization/Technical Committee) and to their subcommittees.
HISTORY
A group of scientists and engineers led by Charles Dudley formed ASTM in
1898 to address the frequent rail breaks affecting the fast-growing railroad
industry. The group developed a standard for the steel used to fabricate rails.
Originally called the "American Society for Testing Materials" in 1902, it became
the "American Society for Testing and Materials" in 1961. In 2001, ASTM
officially changed its name to “ASTM International" and added the tagline
"Standards Worldwide". In 2014, it changed the tagline to "Helping our World
Work better". Now, ASTM International has offices in Belgium, Canada, China,
Peru, and Washington, D.C. Membership in the organization is open to anyone
with an interest in its activities. Standards are developed within committees, and
new committees are formed as needed, upon request of interested members.
Membership in most committees is voluntary and is initiated by the member's own
request and not by appointment nor by invitation. Members are classified as users,
producers, consumers, and "general interest". The latter includes academics and
consultants. Users include industry users, who may be producers in the context of
other technical committees, and end-users such as consumers. In order to meet the
requirements of anti-trust laws, producers must constitute less than 50% of every
committee or subcommittee, and votes are limited to one producer per company.
Because of these restrictions, there can be a substantial waiting-list of producers
seeking organizational memberships on the more popular committees. However,
members can participate without a formal vote and their input will be fully
considered. As of 2015, ASTM has more than 30,000 members, including over
1,150 organizational members, from more than 140 countries. The members serve
on one or more of 140+ ASTM Technical Committees. ASTM International has
several awards for contributions to standards authorship, including the ASTM
International Award of Merit (the organization's highest award) ASTM
International is classified by the United States Internal Revenue Service as a nonprofit organization.
ASTM International has no role in requiring or enforcing compliance with
its standards. However, the standards may become mandatory when referenced by
an external contract, corporation, or government. In the United States, ASTM
standards have been adopted, by incorporation or by reference, in many federal,
state, and municipal government regulations. The National Technology Transfer
and Advancement Act passed in 1995 require the federal government to use
privately developed consensus standards whenever possible. The Act reflects what
had long been recommended as best practice within the federal government other
governments (local and worldwide) also have referenced ASTM standards.
Corporations doing international business may choose to reference an ASTM
standard. All toys sold in the United States must meet the safety requirements of
ASTM F963, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety, as part of
the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). The law makes
the ASTM F963 standard a mandatory requirement for toys while the Consumer
Product Safety Commission (CPSC) studies the standard's effectiveness and issues
final consumer guidelines for toy safety.
FUCNTIONS
ASTM has 140 technical committees and many subcommittees involved in
standards writing for a wide variety of products from iron and steel to petroleum to
textiles to medical devices. ASTM has come a long way from creating standards
for steel in the railroad industry. Today, ASTM develops and publishes technical
standards for many different industries with the goal of enhancing performance
and safety over a wide range of products, materials, systems, and services.
Thousands of ASTM standards are upheld all over the world, each with their own
unique number. Each standard falls into a variety of categories which include:
 Standard Specification
 Standard Test Method
 Standard Practice Guide
 Standard Classification
 Terminology Standard
Not only does ASTM create dependable standards, the society also offers
technical training programs, proficiency testing, and inter-laboratory crosscheck
programs.
Continuing education and online training programs are available for industries
and government employees. Courses can include plastics, coal, statistics, glass,
and more. Self-guided training courses are available for QA/QC technicians who
work with cement, concrete strength training, and who conduct aggregate
testing. On-site training is also available, as are certification programs that cover a
wide variety of products, materials, systems, and services in keeping with third
party compliance standards.
Laboratories can assess their performance with proficiency testing. These ASTM
tests are ideal for aromatic hydrocarbons, petroleum products, engine coolant,
textile testing, and more.
Below are some of ASTM's best standards;
ASTM D4169-16
Standard Practice for Performance Testing of Shipping Containers and Systems;
This practice provides a uniform basis of evaluating, in a laboratory, the ability of
shipping units to withstand the distribution environment. This is accomplished by
subjecting them to a test plan consisting of a sequence of anticipated hazard
elements encountered in various distribution cycles. This practice is not intended to
supplant material specifications or existing pre-shipment test procedures.
ASTM E2018-15
Standard Guide for Property Condition Assessments: This Baseline Property
Condition Assessment Process is to define good commercial practice in the United
States of America for conducting a baseline property condition assessment (PCA)
of the improvements located on a parcel of commercial real estate by performing a
walk-through survey and conducting research as outlined within this guide.
ASTM F3194-16
Standard Guide for Training for Personnel Operating Small Land Off Road
Vehicles (ATV-ROHV Ops Endorsement). This guide establishes the minimum
training requirements, including general and field knowledge, skills, and abilities,
for personnel who operate ATVs or ROHVs as part of their duties.
ASTM D3951-18
Standard Practice for Commercial Packaging
This practice establishes minimum requirements for packaging of supplies and
equipment, exclusive of ammunition, explosives, or hazardous materials, as
covered in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The values stated in inchpound units are to be regarded as standard. No other units of measurement are
included in this standard.
ASTM B117-19
Standard Practice for Operating Salt Spray (Fog) Apparatus
This practice covers the apparatus, procedure, and conditions required to create
and maintain the salt spray (fog) test environment. This does not prescribe the type
of test specimen or exposure periods to be used for a specific product, nor the
interpretation to be given to the results.
ASTM A380/A380M-17
Standard Practice for Cleaning, Descaling and Passivation of Stainless Steel Parts,
Equipment and Systems. This practice covers recommendations and precautions
for leaning, Descaling, and Passivation of new stainless steel parts, assemblies,
equipment, and installed systems. These recommendations are presented as
procedures for guidance when it is recognized that for a particular service it is
desired to remove surface contaminants that may impair the normal corrosion
resistance, or result in the later contamination of the particular stainless steel grade,
or cause product contamination. The selection of procedures from this practice to
be applied to the parts may be specified upon agreement between the supplier and
the purchaser. For certain exceptional applications, additional requirements which
are not covered by this practice may be specified upon agreement between the
supplier and the purchaser. Although they apply primarily to materials in the
composition ranges of the austenitic, ferritic, martensitic, and duplex stainless
steels, the practices described may also be useful for cleaning other metals if due
consideration is given to corrosion and possible metallurgical effects.
REFERENCES
 Archived from the original (http://info.craftechind.com/blog/what-is-astminternational) on 25 April 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
 "Membership" (http://www.astm.org/MEMBERSHIP). ASTM International.
 "Detailed Overview" (http://www.astm.org/ABOUT/full_overview.html).
ASTM International.
 "ASTM International Board of Directors"
(http://www.astm.org/COMMIT/BOD/ASTM). ASTM International.
 "Society Awards"
(http://www.astm.org/MEMBERSHIP/socawards.htm#Award).
 Transport Canada use of ASTM
(http://www.tc.gc.ca/tdc/summary/14000/14063e.htm) Archived (http
 s://web.archive.org/web/20051119212130/http://www.tc.gc.ca/tdc/summary/
14000/14063e.htm)
 webstore.ansi.org/sdo/astm