ASTM E4 – Force Verification of Testing Machines

ASTM E4, “Standard Practices for Force Verification of Testing Machines,” has just been updated again!  I’ve blogged about this document a couple of times, as it is well-used throughout industry.  Here’s my post on the ASTM E4 2014 Edition.  This standard practice is updated regularly and is a good candidate for subscription access.  Be sure to ask our Document Center staff about this option when you place your order.

As I’ve stated before, the ASTM E4 provides you with the protocols, calibration requirements, and reporting data for what’s called force verification.  Force verification involves the use of a standard calibration device to check on tension or compression in your testing machine.  The process described here uses standard weights, equal-arm balances and standard weights, or elastic calibration devices.  You’ll be testing to see if the indicated force on your testing machine is within a permissible variation from the actual force of the test.

Every time a new revision is released, users want to know where the changes occur.  ASTM provides you with two aids in this regards:  Information at the end of many of the ASTM specs and standards provided by the committee and Redline editions.  Document Center Inc. can help you with both.

Certainly, in this new 2016 Edition, the major updates are in Sections 3 (Terminology) and 12 (now called Methods of Verification).  Additionally Note X2.5 has been updated (in Annex X2.)  Section 3 has been revised due to the inclusion of ASTM E6 in the referenced documents clause.  Sections 13 and 14 have been incorporated into Section 12 which accounts for the name change.  There are a number of other changes throughout the document as well.

In order to correctly catch all modifications to the document, again the Redline option is your best bet.  It costs a relatively small amount more, but offers you a better view of all the areas that may contain changes.  You’ll get a clean copy of the new standard as well as the marked-up (redline) copy of the previous edition.  Of course, it is up to you to verify all revisions since the redline is only provided as a tool and not an official ASTM document per se.

Now to get yourself a copy of the new update.  Search for and order any ASTM standard with confidence at the Document Center webstore, www.document-center.com.  Here is a direct link to the order page for  ASTM E4 for your convenience.  Document Center has been an authorized ASTM distributor since the 1980’s.

Should you have further questions, or need special assistance, just get in touch with our staff.  You can reach them by phone (650-591-7600) or email (info@document-center.com).  And why would I suggest using subscription access for this standard?  Since it gets revised frequently, using subscription access provides all members of your organization with access and updates are provided at no additional charge during the life of the subscription.  Just another reason to make Document Center Inc. your Standards Experts!

New ASTM E4 2014 Edition – Force Verification

ASTM E4 has been updated again and you can purchase your copy of the new edition from Document Center Inc. in both paper format and for pdf download.  This standard provides you with the requirements for calibrating a testing machine that includes the measurement of the force of gravity (weight).  Titled “Standard Practices for Force Verification of Testing Machines,” it covers three types of verification methods.  It was last revised in June of last year.

This ASTM standard practice allows you to review and choose from verification by standard weights, by equal-arm balance and standard weights, and by elastic calibration.  It includes a table that shows you how much unit force is exerted by a unit mass in the atmosphere (air) at various latitudes.  Not only does the document provide you with the protocols for each of the three test methods, but it also gives you the requirements for calculations and for reporting.

Additionally, you’ll find an Annex A that provides you with the methodology for verifying the force measuring system outside of the machine you are testing.  And there are two (non-mandatory) appendixes that cover the determination of resolution of the force indicator and identifying and determining the measurement uncertainty components during your force verification process.

Of course, if you use the ASTM E4, you’ll be wondering what the changes are in this new release.  ASTM’s Committee E28 (which authored the standard) has identified two areas where changes were made:  Clause 4.1 was revised and Clause 21.1.5 has been added.  For a more complete way to identify these updates, consider purchasing the redline edition.  For a slight increase in the cost of the document, you’ll get two copies:  One of the new edition as published and another of the previous edition with all the changes marked for easy identification.

You’ll also be pleased to know that the ASTM E4 can be made part of your Standards Online access service from Document Center.  This means that you can have multi-user access during the annual subscription period for the employees at your company.  And any changes that are made to the document during the subscription period are included at no additional charge!

Find out more by contacting our staff by phone (650-591-7600), fax (650-591-7617) or email (info@document-center.com).  And use our webstore at www.document-center.com for all your standards purchases.  You’ll get speedy service and no-charge notification of future changes to your documents.  Make us your Standards Experts!

New ASTM E4 2013 Edition available – Force Verification of Testing Machines

Sometimes it is difficult for the layman to understand the terminology used in standards.  For example, the ASTM E4, “Standard Practices for Force Verification of Testing Machines,” has been updated.  This new 2013 Edition is used when calibrating things like scales and other measuring devices.  The meaning of Force Verification is to confirm the accurateness of the measurement of what we would call “weight” (the force of gravity on an object.)

ASTM E4:2013 allows the user to verify testing machines (i.e. scales and guages) that apply and indicate force. What kind of equipment might that be?  Materials testing machines and instruments of all types, production equipment with force or weight transducers, hardness, structural testing rigs, simulators, mechanical, electro-mechanical or hydraulic drives.  The equipment works by either tension or by compression.

These machines may be used in a production line prior to shipment or in a research lab to measure material properties.  One thing that users of all such machines must do is confirm the equipment meets NIST traceability requirements.  Use of ASTM E4, in conjunction with ASTM E74 (for calibration), ensures that the force measuring system of a testing instrument is accurate under static or quasi-static conditions.

FYI: The document is co-numbered AASHTO T67, as the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials participates in it’s maintenance.

Another standard used for this application is the ISO 7500-1, “Metallic Materials – Verification of Static Uniaxial Testing Machines – Part 1: Tension/Compression Testing Machines – Verification and Calibration of the Force-Measuring System.”  The document differs from the ASTM E4 in that it provides for several classes of accuracy (.5 to 3%).  The ASTM offers just the 1% plus or minus variance.  The ISO 376 is the calibration equivalent for the ASTM E74.

If you use ASTM Standards like this one, you may prefer to purchase the Redline Edition.  This is a handy way to review the changes, since you’ll get 2 copies of the standard.  One is the regular new edition — the other is the old edition with all the changes “marked up” clearly for you to see.

Document Center has been selling ASTM standards since the 1980’s and at our web store, www.document-center.com, since 1993.  You can also buy any item we offer by contacting us by phone (650-591-7600), fax (650-591-7617) or email (info@document-center.com).  We help thousands of customers use standards with confidence.