ASTM Committee D01 reports of January 2007 subcommittee activities

JCT CoatingsTech, June, 2007

The group on Water in Paint by Calcium Hydride (T. Lynn, Chair) has been exploring the utility of a calcium hydride based method as an alternative to Karl Fischer for the determination of water in paint. At the previous meeting the results from the completed interlaboratory study (ILS 0148) were presented along with the statistical analysis by the E691 program. For this meeting, the precision statement was to be written. The chairman distributed copies of the relevant materials and gave an overview of his statistical analysis and his discussions with the outside statistician. The repeatability and reproducibility statements derived from the ILS data were deemed sufficient to wrap up the round-robin and proceed with the finalization of the method. The Exploratory Analytical Group (Hiro Fujimoto, Chair) reviews proposals for new test methods, identifies areas where new standards are needed, recommends formation of new task groups and addresses problems encountered by task groups. No new requests were made in the last six months to develop, evaluate or modify any new test methods under our jurisdiction. The Chair encouraged more activity in developing standard ASTM test methods for the paint industry.

D01.22, Flammability & Safety

R. Osterman, Chair

D01 standards D1310, D3934 and D3941 on flashpoint and D4206 on sustained burning will be reviewed, and submitted for reapproval. Discussion centered on the removal of the word "mercury" from all D01 standards. This proposal comes from ASTM Technical Committee Operations. The standards in D01.22 refer to barometric pressure units as millimeters of mercury. Members decided that the appropriate action would be to leave this unit of measurement in those standards since it is a unit of measurement. Use of any other barometric pressure unit would affect the accuracy and precision of the analyses. Other D01.22 standards require the use of specially manufactured (shaped) "mercury in-glass thermometers" for specific types of instruments employed to determine flammability values. "Non-hazardous liquid" thermometers for the specific instruments are not available from the manufacturers.

D01.23, Physical Properties of Applied Paint Films

P. Guevin, Chair

The Adhesion group (chaired by G. Nelson) discussed adhesion testing of coatings on wood. It was noted that three test methods used with wood had been reported on recently, namely ISO 2409, ASTM D 4541 ("Pull-Off Strength of Coatings Using Portable Adhesion Testers") and a torque (shear) adhesion test method. It was recommended that a note be added to the scope of D 3359, "Methods for Measuring Adhesion by Tape Test," regarding its use on coatings on wood.

The group on Dry Film Thickness, A. Freidenfelds, Chair, heard a report by J. Fusco and J. Fletcher on their findings on the anvil of the instrument specified in D 1005, "Test Method for Measurement of Organic Coatings Using Micrometers." They indicated the 1.5 to 3.0 mm (3/16 to 1/8 in.) presser foot micrometer is no longer available. They recommended that we ballot Test Method D 1005 for withdrawal without a replacement. D. Beamish reported on the ballot results of his revision of D 4138, "Test Method for Measurement of Dry Film Thickness of Protective Coating Systems by Destructive Means." He said that (1) it has been changed from a test method to a practice, (2) some of the figures were removed and (3) editorial changes were made throughout the standard. Since there were no negative votes, the revision goes forward.