ASTM Steel Specifications Mechanical Testing, and Material Test Reports

About the Course

This two-day course is designed for the purchaser, manufacturer, fabricator, supplier, and others to learn the basics of carbon and alloy steels to improve your ability to correctly:

• read, write, and review a steel product specification and purchase order,
• based on ASTM Steel Standards,
• including the basics of preparing or reviewing their material test reports to evaluate product acceptance or rejection.

These goals are achieved by studying more than 50 Connecting-the-Standards© Examples covering more than 40 ASTM specifications, test methods, practices, and terminology standards.

This course also includes free access to the

ASTM Steel Standards Structure Virtual Training Course

Learning Outcomes

After this course you will be able to write steel product specifications and purchase orders based on ASTM standards by:

• identifying the different types of ASTM steel standards, their functions, terminology, and designation systems, including how and why they differ from other steel specifications and designations like AISI, ASME, SAE, etc.;
• identifying common ordering information required by ASTM standards, e.g., specification designation, year-date, grade, hot or cold finished, heat treatment, size, dimensions, supplementary and special requirements, test reports, etc.;
• correctly classifying and defining steels in accordance with ASTM A941 as:
  • carbon steel,
  • low-alloy steel,
  • high-strength low-alloy steel,
  • microalloyed steel, or
  • alloy steel;
• associating each ASTM product specification with its general requirements specification;
• identifying mandatory, nonmandatory or not included, and purchaser selected requirements;
• distinguishing how and why ASTM specifications differ with varying product forms, such as plate, sheet, strip, pipe, tube, shapes, forgings, etc.);
• determining the roles of chemical elements in steels, including specified, unspecified, and residual elements;
• determining how and why carbon and manganese affect the mechanical properties of steels;
• distinguishing between a heat and lot of steel, including differences between heat analysis and product analysis;
• evaluating how and why the ASTM A370 standard for mechanical testing of steel products is specified; and
• correctly specifying NDE and other QC requirements.

Who Should Attend

This course is designed for all personnel involved with steels and particularly ASTM Steel Standards, such as: engineers, inspectors, QA/QC coordinators, NDE examiners, purchasers, inventory control personnel, tradespeople, manufacturing, fabricating and repair companies, engineering procurement companies, construction companies, and others working in most industries that use steel, including: civil construction (buildings, bridges), pressure equipment, ship building, water treatment, pipelines, oil and gas industries (oilfield, upgraders, refineries, etc.), chemical plants, petroleum refining, petrochemical plants, power plants, pulp and paper plants, fertilizer plants, and many others.

Course Outline

• What are the different types and functions of ASTM standards?
• How and why are steels defined in ASTM A941 Standard Terminology as:
  • carbon steel,
  • low-alloy steel,
  • high-strength low-alloy steel,
  • microalloyed steel,
  • alloy steel; and
  • stainless steel?
• How are ASTM steel specifications used to specify steel products and write purchase orders?
• How are ASTM carbon and alloy steel product specifications and grades designated?
  • How and why do ASTM steel designations differ from “others” e.g., AISI, ASME, SAE, etc.?
• Why are the following items important when writing steel product specifications and purchase orders?
  • heat, heat analysis, heat number, product analysis,
  • lot and lot number,
• Why are the 5 common chemical elements, C, Mn, Si, S, P, included in carbon steels and how do they differ from residual elements and unspecified elements in ASTM standards?
• What are the roles of chemical elements in low-alloy, high strength low-alloy, microalloyed, and alloy steels?
• Why do some chemical elements have requirements specified as a minimum value, maximum value, or minimum-maximum range value?
• What are the steelmaking and heat treatment requirements in ASTM steel specifications?
• How and why product sizes, dimensional limits, and tolerance requirements are specified in in ASTM stainless steel standards and why do they need to be in steel product specifications and purchase orders?
• How and why is ASTM A370 Standard for Mechanical Testing of Steel Products used when writing steel product specifications and purchase orders for:
  • tension testing;
  • impact testing;
  • fixed-location and portable hardness testing; and
  • bend testing?
• How are NDE, pressure testing, and other QC testing requirements specified in ASTM steel standards used when writing a steel product specification and purchase order?
• What is the purpose of a material test report (MTR) and what is required to be included in it?
• How is an MTR used to accept or reject an ordered steel product based on an ASTM specification?
  • How is an MTR correctly reviewed based on its written specification and purchase order?
  • Why do MTRs include multiple specifications and grades?
  • How is an MTR correctly reviewed when it includes specifications and grades that are not in the written specification and purchase order?
  • What are the bases for accepting or rejecting a steel product based on the written steel specification, purchase order, and its material test report?
• How are products required to be marked and certified in accordance with ASTM steel standards, including multiple marking?

Fee Includes

• Referenced ASTM standards (available during the live course);
• digital course notebook; and
• free access to the ASTM Steel Standards Structure Virtual Training Course.

About the Instructor

John E. Bringas, P.Eng. is the President and Founder of Codes and Standards Training Institute (CASTI). He is a professional engineer who has practiced metallurgical and materials engineering, and inspection since 1975. He has also been certified as an API 510, 570, 653, 571, 577, and 580 inspector, an AWS Certified Welding Inspector, an Alberta In-Service Pressure Vessel Inspector and Welding Examiner, and CGSB certified NDE examiner in UT and RT. He is a long-time committee member of ASTM A01 Steels, A05 Coated Steels, B02 Nonferrous Alloys, E04 Metallography, E28 Mechanical Testing, F42 Additive Manufacturing, J01 ASTM/NACE Committee on Corrosion, NACE STG 31 Oil and Gas Production—Corrosion and Scale Inhibition, STG 32 Oil and Gas Production-Metallurgy, STG 34 Petroleum Refining and Gas Processing, STG 35 Pipelines, Tanks, and Well Casings, STG 39 Process Industries—Materials Applications and Experiences, and past Canadian Representative on ISO TC 17-SC 4 (Steels). He is the author of the ASTM Handbook of Comparative World Steel Standards, ASTM Handbook of Steel Data: American and European, ASTM Passport to Steel Database, and the CASTI Metals Data Books. Mr. Bringas has engineering work experience in the steel making, foundry, consulting (failure analysis), inspection, NDE, refinery, pipeline, and petrochemical industries.

How Learning Will Be Assessed

Learning will be assessed through discussions. Participants are expected to ask questions if an idea is unclear to them.