Searching ASTM International Standards
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ASTM Compass
Welcome to the American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM) Standards
This guide will give you some ideas for places to start gathering information about ASTM Standards.
- Link to the UMass Amherst subscription to ASTM Compass:
- ASTM Compass: Your Portal for Standards, Testing Learning, & More This link opens in a new window
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Standards and technical engineering information. Covers all engineering disciplines, including aerospace, biomedical, chemical, civil, environmental, geological, health and safety, industrial, materials science, mechanical, nuclear, petroleum, soil science, and solar engineering.
- View a listing of the subject areas covered by ASTM Standards
- Read about the history and print edtions of ASTM standards in the box below.
Historical ASTM Standards
Organized in 1898, ASTM International ... one of the largest voluntary standards development systems in the world ... provides a forum ... to write standards for materials, products, systems, and services ... excerpt from foreword
ASTM International publishes the Annual Book of ASTM Standards, which in 2008 consisted of 81 volumes divided among 16 sections. These volumes contain full-text of standards approved in 2008.
ASTM standards, published in the multi-volume Annual Book of ASTM Standards, cover testing procedures, specifications and standard practices for a range of materials and topics. Their numbers indicate the broad area of the standard and the year they were published; for example, B160-61,"Specification for nickel rod and bar" is in section B (non-ferrous metals) and was published in 1961. Standards are regularly updated (and given new year designations), but not every ASTM standard is updated every year. As topics change, standards are sometimes withdrawn or given new titles/numbers.
For current and recently withdrawn ASTM standards, search ASTM Compass. Standards are available in HTML and pdf versions.
We also have ASTM standards in print until 2008. The 2008 edition is shelved in the Reference Collection in the Science and Engineering Library at call number: SCI REF TA 401 A653, with earlier editions (1999,1994) in the Five College Depository. The 2004, 1999, and 1994 Subject Index, Alphanumeric Lists (Section 00 Vol. 00.01) are shelved in the Science and Engineering Library Reference Collection. A brief overview of ASTM International is included in the forward of the set .
