Astm Testing

During the early days of the railroad boom in the United States, frequent breaks in the rails were the cause of many derailments and accidents. In an effort to reduce this problem a group of respected scientists and engineers got to together and created a standard by which the steel for the rails was to be made. They called their group the American Society for Testing and Materials or ASTM for short. ASTM testing of the rails led to a major reduction in rail breakage, making the railways much safer for the public. As the industrial age continued to boom across the country the ASTM testing process was applied to many of the products. This testing process not only made products safer but because they could now be made to a specific standard it made them less expensive to make. By knowing what standard a product had to be made to meet, manufacturers were able to adjust their manufacturing process before having to replace entire runs of a product because it did not perform.

Rails were only the beginning for ASTM testing processes as the engineering society took note of what was happening they began to apply the process to many other steel products such as bridges supports and girders. The smelting industry fought against these standards for many years as they each had their own formula for making steel. In the end when the Pennsylvania Railroad insisted on these standards for their rails the steel mills relented and agreed to the standards being set. The next building material to gain attention from the ASTM was cement, while it had been patented in the 1870s there had never been a standard mix ratio established which caused major conflicts between buyers and those who manufactured it. Once the ASTM testing process was applied to the products the industry adopted a set of standards that allowed the buyers to specify the type of cement mix that they wanted for a specific project, thus ending defective construction work due to the wrong mix of cement being supplied.

As the industrial age has continued to blossom the use of ASTM testing procedures has ensured that new products are thoroughly tested to ensure that materials are manufactured uniformly to provide the best quality and serviceability possible. The ASTM not only works with manufacturers in the United States but now works with manufacturers around the globe and consults experts in over 120 countries to work together making sure that every product used in construction is made to the same set of standards. In the field of glass and other fenestration products QED labs is one of the most respected ASTM testing facilities in the country. With over 30 years experience they can test your fenestration products in the field or in their independent laboratories. Using accredited procedures to test your materials and assemblies testing how well they stand up to the effects of the elements over a period of time as well as the effects of human intervention they can help you decide if modifications are necessary. This guarantees that your products will be safe for the project you are working on before your install them.