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    ASTM E74 - 13a

    Standard Practice of Calibration of Force-Measuring Instruments for Verifying the Force Indication of Testing Machines

    Active Standard ASTM E74 | Developed by Subcommittee: E28.01

    Book of Standards Volume: 03.01

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    Significance and Use

    4.1 Testing machines that apply and indicate force are in general use in many industries. Practices E4 has been written to provide a practice for the force verification of these machines. A necessary element in Practices E4 is the use of devices whose force characteristics are known to be traceable to national standards. Practice E74 describes how these devices are to be calibrated. The procedures are useful to users of testing machines, manufacturers and providers of force measuring instruments, calibration laboratories that provide the calibration of the instruments and the documents of traceability, and service organizations that use the devices to verify testing machines.

    1. Scope

    1.1 The purpose of this practice is to specify procedures for the calibration of force-measuring instruments. Procedures are included for the following types of instruments:

    1.1.1 Elastic force-measuring instruments, and

    1.1.2 Force-multiplying systems, such as balances and small platform scales.

    Note 1—Verification by deadweight loading is also an acceptable method of verifying the force indication of a testing machine. Tolerances for weights for this purpose are given in Practices E4; methods for calibration of the weights are given in NIST Technical Note 577, Methods of Calibrating Weights for Piston Gages.2

    1.2 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard. Other metric and inch-pound values are regarded as equivalent when required.

    1.3 This practice is intended for the calibration of static force measuring instruments. It is not applicable for dynamic or high speed force calibrations, nor can the results of calibrations performed in accordance with this practice be assumed valid for dynamic or high speed force measurements.

    1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.


    2. Referenced Documents (purchase separately) The documents listed below are referenced within the subject standard but are not provided as part of the standard.

    ASTM Standards

    E4 Practices for Force Verification of Testing Machines

    E29 Practice for Using Significant Digits in Test Data to Determine Conformance with Specifications

    E1012 Practice for Verification of Testing Frame and Specimen Alignment Under Tensile and Compressive Axial Force Application

    American National Standard

    B46.1 Surface Texture Available from American National Standards Institute (ANSI), 25 W. 43rd St., 4th Floor, New York, NY 10036, http://www.ansi.org.

    ICS Code

    ICS Number Code 17.100 (Measurement of force, weight and pressure)

    UNSPSC Code

    UNSPSC Code

    Referencing This Standard
    Link Here
    Link to Active (This link will always route to the current Active version of the standard.)

    DOI: 10.1520/E0074-13A

    Citation Format

    ASTM E74-13a, Standard Practice of Calibration of Force-Measuring Instruments for Verifying the Force Indication of Testing Machines, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, 2013, www.astm.org

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