Sep 23, 2009

A new terminology standard is the result of a joint effort between the two major organizations that develop corrosion standards, ASTM International and NACE International. The new standard, NACE/ASTM G193, Terminology and Acronyms Relating to Corrosion, was developed by Subcommittee J01.02, Working Group on Terminology, under the jurisdiction of J01, Joint ASTM/NACE Committee on Corrosion.

“The new NACE/ASTM joint terminology standard will be used by not only ASTM and NACE, but also by other corrosion organizations worldwide to prevent confusion in corrosion testing and in the interpretation of corrosion standards,” says Harvey Hack, senior advisory engineer, Northrop Grumman Corp., Undersea Systems, and chair of J01.02.

Hack says that Committee J01 was formed as a pilot program for the two organizations to develop joint standards. “The idea behind this was to prevent duplication of effort by having a single balloting process based on a joint committee membership that included individuals from both organizations,” Hack says. “In this way, synergy would replace competition, with the result being better standards in the marketplace.”

NACE/ASTM G193 was developed by first compiling all terms that were defined in both of the original NACE and ASTM corrosion terminology standards. The best definition for each of these terms was selected, or aspects of both the NACE and ASTM definitions were combined to create a new definition. Following this, terms that were defined in only one of the original terminology documents were added to the new standard. NACE/ASTM G193 contains more than 400 terms, along with a list of acronyms.

“This new joint standard will be distributed and used by both organizations from now on and is a fine example of how such interorganization cooperation can lead to success for all participants,” says Hack.

NACE/ASTM G193 has potential for wide usage by researchers in government, industry and academia, by standards writers and by anyone who uses corrosion standards. 

The development of joint standards by Committee J01 is ongoing, with a proposed standard on laboratory testing currently under development. Interested parties, particularly those from the coatings and plastics industries, are invited to participate in the standardization activities of J01.

ASTM International welcomes and encourages participation in the development of its standards. ASTM’s open consensus process, using advance Internet-based standards development tools, ensures worldwide access for all interested individuals. For more information on becoming an ASTM member, please contact Kevin Shanahan, ASTM International (phone: 610-832-9737; kshanaha@astm.org).