ASTM Standards

Approaches to Sustainability and

Links to Design Methodologies

Richard S. Szecsy, PhD, PE President

Texas Aggregates and Concrete Association

Doha, Qatar

October 1, 2011

Sustainability from Two Perspectives

SUSTAINABILITY IN CONCRETE

PRODUCT PROCESS

• Raw materials

• Composite materials

• Recycled content

• Design decisions

• Materials storage

• Manufacturing

• Transportation

• Waste management

Overview

• ASTM

– Organizational Structure

– Important Documents

• Approaches to Sustainability

ASTM Primary Objective

…is to be the foremost developer and provider

of consensus standards, related technical

information, and services having globally

recognized quality and market relevance

ASTM International

• Founded in 1898

• Developing voluntary, consensus standards for

materials, products, systems & services

• Published more than 12,000 standards

• ASTM Standards reflect the most current

technology because they are continually

reviewed and updated

• Over 35,000 members from 145 countries

Introduction to ASTM International

• Previously known as - American Society for

Testing & Materials, name changed in 2001

• ASTM International is a non-profit organization

headquartered in West Conshohocken, PA

• ASTM International is one of the largest

voluntary standards development organizations

(SDO) in the world

• ASTM sustains is operations through the sales

of its intellectual property

Introduction to ASTM International

• Opportunity for stakeholders to participate

in the standards development process

• Every member has equal say

• Consensus based procedures

• Stakeholders on ASTM Committees:

– Product Manufacturers

– Regulatory Agencies

– End Users

– Professional Societies

– Academia

Introduction to ASTM International

Example Committees:

• A01 on Steel, Stainless Steel and Related Alloys

• C09 on Concrete and Aggregates

• C16 on Thermal Insulation

• E50 on Environmental Assessment

• D01 on Paint

• D02 on Petroleum Products and Lubricants

• D20 on Plastics

• E60 on Sustainability

• F04 on Medical and Surgical Materials and Devices

• F24 on Amusement Rides and Devices

• F37 on Light Sport Aircraft

• ASTM Standards are voluntary consensus standards

• Cited in a contracts

• Government agencies reference them in codes,

certification, regulations, laws (US: P.L. 104-113), and

international laws

How are Standards Used?

Technical Committee Operations

• Staff manager for each committee

– ASTM Staff’s role is to manage & support the technical committees

• Staff editor for each committee

• Draft templates for new standards

• Web conferencing

• Electronic balloting

• Web access to committee information

• Technical

Committees form to

address specific

industry needs

• Subcommittees are

established to

address subsets of

specialized subject

matter

• Subcommittees

organize their

expertise into Task

Groups to write

standards

Technical Committee Organization

Main

Committee

C09

C09.20

Aggregates

C09.40

Ready-Mix Concrete

C09.40.01 C09.40.02

• Documents are drafted

and revised in the task

group

• New standards are

required to be balloted at

the subcommittee level

at least once

• After subcommittee

approval, the main

committee.

Balloting

Committee on

Standards

Society and Main

Committee

Subcommittee

Task

Group

Technical Committee Balance

• Technical committees are “classified” and

“balanced”

• Committee Members are “classified” as one of the

following:

– Producer, User, General Interest, or Consumer

• Only one official vote is assigned per company.

• Every member receives ballots and should vote

ASTM Basic Documents

• Standard Specifications

– An explicit set of requirements to be satisfied by a material,

product, system, or service

• Test Methods

– A definitive procedure that produces a test result

• Standard Practices

– A set of instructions for performing one or more specific

operations that does not produce a test result

• PCR

– More on this tomorrow…

ASTM Documents

• ASTM C33

– Standard Specification for Concrete Aggregates

• ASTM C94

– Standard Specification for Ready Mixed Concrete

• ASTM C125

– Standard Terminology Relating to Concrete and Concrete

Aggregates

• ASTM C1157

– Standard Performance Specification for Hydraulic Cement

• ASTM C1602 (water)

– Standard Specification for Mixing Water Used in the

Production of Hydraulic Cement Concrete

ASTM C33 (Aggregates)

3.2 recycled, adj - diverted, separated, or removed from

the solid waste stream, processed and returned to use in

the form of raw materials or products.

A In the case of manufactured or recycled sand, if the

material finer than the 75-μm (No. 200) sieve consists of

the dust of fracture, essentially free of clay or shale,

these limits are permitted to be increased to 5 and 7 %,

respectively.

ASTM C33 (Aggregates)

5.1 Fine aggregate shall consist of natural sand,

manufactured sand, recycled sand, or a combination

thereof.

9.1 Coarse aggregate shall consist of gravel, crushed

gravel, crushed stone, air-cooled blast furnace slag,

recycled aggregate, including crushed hydraulic-cement

concrete (see Note 6), or a combination thereof,

conforming to the requirements of this specification.

Rationale via ISO 14021 Definitions

Recycled (content): The proportion, by mass, of

recycled material in a product or packaging. Only

pre-consumer and post-consumer materials shall

be considered as recycled content, consistent with

the following usage of the term(s):

Pre-consumer material: Material diverted from the

waste stream during a manufacturing process.

Excluded is reutilization of materials such as

rework, regrind or scrap generated in a process

and capable of being reclaimed within the same

process that generated it.

ASTM C94 (ready mixed concrete)

• Top Loaded Concrete

• 90 min/300 drum revolutions

• Performance basis of standard

Top Loaded Concrete (The dirty little secret!)

• ASTM C94 Section 3.2.5

– concrete, returned, n – unused concrete left in a ready-mix

truck and returned to the manufacturer.

• ASTM C94 Section 3.2.6

– concrete, top-loaded, n –a combination of returned concrete

with fresh new concrete (central mixed or shrink mixed)

batched on top; or a combination of returned concrete and

additional concrete constituent materials batched on top;

that is then combined by mixing in a truck mixer to form a

mix that is a composite of the returned concrete and the

newly batched materials.

90 Min and 300 Drum revolutions

• ASTM C94 Section 12.7:

– “Discharge of the concrete shall be completed within 11/2 h,

or before the drum has revolved 300 revolutions…”

• User's Guide to ASTM Specification C941

– The 300 revolution limit was developed many years ago

(circa 1935) when mixers were powered by separate mixer

engines and had only one basic drum speed, about 6 rpm.

The limit on revolutions tended to control delivery time.

– Except for a very few soft aggregates, the 300 revolution,

limit is of no practical consequence.

90 Min and 300 Drum Revolutions

0

15

30

45

60

75

90

105

120

135

150

2500

2750

3000

3250

3500

3750

4000

4250

4500

4750

5000

200 250 300 350 400

Tim

e (

min

)

Co

mp

ress

ive

str

en

gth

(p

si)

Revolutions

7 day strength

28 day strength

Time

What does a sack/bag of cement weigh?

• ASTM C94 Note 9:

– “In the United States the standard mass of a bag of portland

cement is 94 lb [42.6 kg].”

• ASTM C150 Note 6:

– “With the change to SI units, it is desirable to establish a

standard SI package for portland cements. To that end 42 kg

(92.6 lb) provides a convenient, even-numbered mass

reasonably similar to the traditional 94-lb (42.6-kg) package.”

Prescriptive vs. Performance Ordering Options

• ASTM C94 Section 6

– 6.2 Option A: When the Purchaser requires the Manufacturer

to assume full responsibility for the selection of the

proportions for the concrete mixture.

– 6.3 Option B: When the Purchaser assumes responsibility

for the proportioning of the concrete mixture.

– 6.4 Option C: When the Purchaser requires the Manufacturer

to assume responsibility for the selection of the proportions

for the concrete mixture with the minimum allowable cement

content specified.

Current Ordering Performance Accountability

Current Responsibility for Mixture Proportions

Prescriptive and Performance Ordering Options

Prescriptive and Performance Ordering Options

Comparison

Other Documents

• ASTM C125

– Standard Terminology Relating to Concrete and

Concrete Aggregates

• ASTM C1157

– Standard Performance Specification for Hydraulic

Cement

• ASTM C1602 (water)

– Standard Specification for Mixing Water Used in the

Production of Hydraulic Cement Concrete

Questions

Richard S. Szecsy, PhD, PE President

Texas Aggregates and Concrete Assoc.

900 Congress

Austin, Texas 78701

214-202-1379 cell

512-451-5100 ofc

rich.szecsy@tx-taca.org

www.tx-taca.org