ASTM International (ASTM), originally known as the American Society for Testing and Materials, is an international standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, and services. A standards organization, standards body, standards development organization or SDO is any entity whose primary activities are developing coordinating A technical standard is an established norm or requirement It is usually a formal document that establishes uniform engineering or technical criteria methods processes and practices The organization's headquarters is in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, about 5 miles northwest of Philadelphia. West Conshohocken is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States.

ASTM predates other standards organizations such as BSI (1901), DIN (1917) and AFNOR (1926), but differs from these in that it is not a national standards body, that role being taken in the USA by ANSI. British Standards are produced by BSI British Standards, a division of BSI Group that is incorporated under a Royal Charter and is formally designated Deutsches Institut für Normung eV ( DIN; in English, the German Institute for Standardization) is the German national organization for Association française de Normalisation ( AFNOR) is the French national organization for Standardization and is that country's ISO member body A standards organization, standards body, standards development organization or SDO is any entity whose primary activities are developing coordinating The United States of America —commonly referred to as the However, ASTM has a dominant role among standards developers in the USA, and claims to be the world's largest developer of standards. Using a consensus process, ASTM supports thousands of volunteer technical committees, which draw their members from around the world and collectively develop and maintain more than 12,000 standards. WikipediaConsensus here as this is the article namespace and that information is irrelevant to the reader

ASTM International publishes the Annual Book of ASTM Standards each year in print, CD and online versions. The online version was available by subscription and cost was based upon usage. For 2008, the complete set of books or CDs cost almost USD $9000 and included 81 volumes.

Contents 1 History 2 Standards 3 Membership and organization 4 Mandatory use of voluntary standards 5 References 6 See also 7 External links

History

A group of scientists and engineers, led by Charles Benjamin Dudley formed the American Society for Testing and Materials in 1898 to address the frequent rail breaks plaguing the fast-growing railroad industry. A scientist, in the broadest sense refers to any person that engages in a systematic activity to acquire Knowledge or an individual that engages in such practices An engineer is a person professionally engaged in a field of Engineering. Charles Benjamin Dudley ( July 14, 1842 - December 21, 1909) was a U Year 1898 ( MDCCCXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common A fracture is the (local separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress. "Railroad" and "Railway" both redirect here For other uses see Railroad (disambiguation. The group developed a standard for the steel used to fabricate rails.

The organization celebrated its Centennial in 1998 with an examination of the group's mission and discussion about their relevence in today's global environment.

Standards

The standards produced by ASTM International fall into six categories:

• the Standard Specification, that defines the requirements to be satisfied by subject of the standard. A technical standard is an established norm or requirement It is usually a formal document that establishes uniform engineering or technical criteria methods processes and practices
• the Standard Test Method, that defines the way a test is performed. A test method is a definitive procedure that produces a test result The result of the test may be used to assess compliance with a Specification.
• the Standard Practice, that defines a sequence of operations that, unlike a test, does not produce a result.
• the Standard Guide, that provides an organized collection of information or series of options that does not recommend a specific course of action.
• the Standard Classification, that provides an arrangement or division of materials, products, systems, or services into groups based on similar characteristics such as origin, composition, properties, or use.
• the Terminology Standard, that provides agreed definitions of terms used in the other standards.

The quality of the standards is such that they are frequently used world-wide.

The Annual Book of ASTM Standards covers 15 sections of interest plus a master index:

1. Iron and Steel Products
2. Nonferrous Metal Products
3. Metals Test Methods and Analytical Procedures
4. Construction
5. Petroleum Products, Lubricants, and Fossil Fuels
6. Paints, Related Coatings, and Aromatics
7. Textiles
8. Plastics
9. Rubber
10. Electrical Insulation and Electronics
11. Water and Environmental Technology
12. Nuclear, Solar, and Geothermal Energy
13. Medical Devices and Services
14. General Methods and Instrumentation
15. General Products, Chemical Specialties, and End Use Products
16. Index to all sections and volumes

Membership and organization

Membership in the organization is open to anyone with an interest in its activities^[1]. 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, not by appointment nor by invitation. A volunteer is someone who works for a community or for the benefit of environment primarily because they choose to do so Members are classified as users, producers, consumers,and "general interest". The latter include 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 antitrust laws, producers must constitute less than 50% of every committee or subcommittee, and votes are limited to one per producer company. Because of these restrictions, there can be a substantial waiting-list of producers seeking organizational memberships on the more popular committees. Members can, however, participate without a formal vote and their input will be fully considered.

As of 2007, more than 30,000 members, including over 1100 organizational members^[2], from more than 120 countries, including 120 members in China as of 2005. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National ^[3]

ASTM International is recognized by the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The 501(c is a provision of the United States Internal Revenue Code ( listing 28 types of Non-profit organizations exempt from some federal

Mandatory use of voluntary standards

ASTM International has no role in requiring or enforcing compliance with its standards. The standards, however, 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 United States of America —commonly referred to as the The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act, passed in 1995, requires the federal government to use privately developed consensus standards whenever possible. The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act, or NTTAA, United States Public Law 104-113 was signed into law March 7 1995 Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 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 ^[4]
• Corporations doing international business may choose to reference an ASTM standard.

References

1. ^ Open membership in ASTM
2. ^ ASTM Organizational Membership Directory
3. ^ ASTM Standardization News, August 2005 Feature by Zhang Li Hon, Standards: The New Focus in China’s Exchange with the World"
4. ^ Transport Canada use of ASTM

See also

• Materials property
• Standards organizations
• Standards
• International standards
• ASTM D6751: Production of biodiesel in the USA and Canada
• ASTM D975: Production of petrodiesel in USA and Canada

External links

• ASTM International

A Materials property is an intensive, often Quantitative property of a material usually with a unit that may be used as a metric A standards organization, standards body, standards development organization or SDO is any entity whose primary activities are developing coordinating A technical standard is an established norm or requirement It is usually a formal document that establishes uniform engineering or technical criteria methods processes and practices International standards are Standards developed by international Standards organisations International standards are available for consideration and use worldwide ASTM D6751 details specifications for Biodiesels blended with middle Distillate fuels Biodiesel refers to a non-petroleum-based Diesel fuel consisting of short chain Alkyl ( Methyl or ethyl) Esters made by Diesel or Diesel fuel (ˈdiːzəl in general is any Fuel used in Diesel engines The most common is a specific fractional distillate of petroleum

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