W. CONSHOHOCKEN, PA - Subcommittees under ASTM International Committee D01 on Paint and Related Coatings, Materials and Applications and ASTM International Committee G03 on Weathering and Durability have released new standards applicable to the coatings industry.

A new ASTM guide standardizes a useful, fast and easy technique for collecting infrared spectra of non-aqueous liquid paints right out of the can. The new standard, ASTM D 7588, Guide for FT-IR Fingerprinting of a Non-Aqueous Liquid Paint as Supplied in the Manufacturer’s Container, is under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee D01.21 on Chemical Analysis of Paints and Paint Materials, which is part of ASTM International Committee D01 on Paint and Related Coatings, Materials and Applications.

“The most practical application of ASTM D 7588 is its ability to be used to collect good-quality reproducible spectra of liquid paint samples straight out of the can without the need for time-consuming separation of components,” said Steve Liebhart and John Kloepper, Laboratory Department Managers of Carboline Co., and members of ASTM Committees D01 and D33 on Protective Coating and Lining Work for Power Generation Facilities.

In addition, the new standard should be useful for quality control, formula control, process control, failure analysis, chemical identification, compositional comparisons and raw material comparisons. Coating manufacturers and engineers, quality control personnel, transportation departments, and testing and analytical laboratories will be among the users of ASTM D 7588.

Manufacturers of solar radiometers and testing laboratories for solar energy, materials and durability testing will be among the primary users of a new ASTM International standard that outlines procedures using indoor test methods to calibrate radiometers with dissimilar detectors. The new standard, ASTM G 207, Test Method for Indoor Transfer of Calibration from Reference to Field Pyranometers, was developed by Subcommittee G03.09 on Radiometry, part of ASTM International Committee G03 on Weathering and Durability. ASTM G 207 facilitates calibration of solar sensors used in accelerated testing under simulated sunlight and outdoor weathering tests as well as performance monitoring of solar energy conversion systems.

Daryl Myers, a Senior Scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Chairman of G03.09, said that the most important practical implication of ASTM G 207 is that transfer between an expensive, well-calibrated thermopile instrument and much cheaper solid-state devices can be accomplished indoors, when properly conducted, with computable uncertainty.

“Calibration becomes independent of weather and outdoor conditions,” said Myers. “The process permits calibration of a large number of inexpensive sensors with respect to a single expensive reference radiometer more quickly.”