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ASTM Seeks Labs for Surface Study

Thursday, June 17, 2010

ASTM International and its Committee D01.46 on Industrial Protective Coatings are seeking laboratories to participate in an inter-lab study on measurement of certain abrasive blast-cleaned surfaces.

The panel is looking for laboratories able to perform D7127, Measurement of Surface Roughness of Abrasive Blast Cleaned Metal Surfaces Using a Portable Stylus Instrument.

The study will involve obtaining five standard-defined measurements of surface roughness for five different test panels, using Taylor-Hobson Surtronic 25, Mitutoyo SJ201, and Mahr PocketSurf instruments. Each standard-defined roughness measurement is comprised of five surface traces.

“The two specific surface parameters we will be measuring are peak-to-valley surface profile and linear peak count (number of peaks per inch),” said Robert Stachnik, senior scientist with Testex Inc. and the study’s technical contact. “Our goal will be to determine the precision and bias of measurements made with this kind of instrument in this particular application.”

Each participating lab should be able to complete a full set of measurements in about six hours, Stachnik said.

Sufficient quantities of all required test specimens will be supplied free of charge to the participating laboratories. The committee hopes to start sending the materials in a few weeks, Stachnik said. The materials will remain at each participating lab for about a week before being sent to the next lab.

“We are aiming for all the materials to be returned to the originating lab in about 10 weeks and for data analysis to begin at that time,” Stachnik said.

Membership in ASTM International is not required for participation. Involvement in this study will have a direct impact on the standard, utilized by laboratories worldwide. Participating labs will be listed in the resulting ASTM research report and will receive a complimentary copy of the report, which will include coded data that cannot be identified as being from specific labs.

Interested parties should submit the lab name and a contact, telephone number and e-mail address. For more information, contact ASTM International's ILS manager, Phillip Godorov, at 610/832-9715, email ils@astm.org.