IntroductionDuring the golden age of the industrial revolution, it became evident that therewas a need for more than social exchanges among engineers. By the middle ofthe nineteenth century the field of mechanical engineers had grown in size andimportance, but no institution existed to satisfy the needs of that emerging pro-fession. In the period before 1880 there were powerful motives to organize aninstitution capable of projecting a national role for mechanical engineers. Onesource of pressure grew out of the work mechanical engineers did. In some

types of industry, notablythe construction ofmachine tools, steamengines, and othermachinery, it hadbecome clear by the1850s that economicsuccess depended uponadvanced technicalknowledge and that aninstitution was needed tosystematize the flow ofinformation fromresearch and experience

to practical application. William Sellers 1863 proposal for a standardizedAmerican screw thread was one of the first efforts to extend this rationalizationof manufacturing beyond the level of regional practice.

Thus, it was no accident that from the very founding of the American Society ofMechanical Engineers (ASME*) in 1880, discussions were held on standards forshop drawing symbols, wire gauge, pulleys and line shafting, machine screws,nut bevels, keyseats, drawing boards, and mechanical dictionaries. In 1883 acommittee on standards and gauges was created, and a member unsuccessfullyargued that the society also determine a standard for rating steam-boiler capa-bility. During the annual meeting of the society in 1883, a paper was presentedto initiate discussion on the need to adopt a set of rules for conducting boilertests which would be generally accepted among engineers as a standard codeof practice. The paper emphasized that every engineer who makes a boiler test

ASME Standards Topics

Abbreviations

Accreditation

Air Cooled Heat Exchangers

Air Cylinders and Adapters

Air Heaters

Atmospheric Water CoolingEquipment

Automatically Fired Boilers

Automotive Lifting Devices

Backwater Valves

Bioprocessing Equipment

Boilers

Bolts

1

ASME establishes safety rules governing the design, fabrication, andinspection of pressure vessels. The interior of a pressure vessel plant isshown here.

* In 1994, ASME added the word International to its name to reflect the expansion of the societys activitiesbeyond the United States and North America. Thus, ASME is now also called ASME International.

makes a rule for himself, which may be varied from time to time to suit the con-venience or interests of the party for whom the test is made. This resulted inthe formation of a committee to study the subject. It is interesting to note thatthe new proposal would do exactly what the member tried to do earlier, butwhile he tried to propose a standard for boiler horsepower, the new proposalargued for the need of uniform test procedures. A test code was published in1884 and became ASMEs first standard. Shortly thereafter, the society decidedthat pipe and pipe threads should be standardized and that the standards com-

mittee should be com-posed of men repre-sentative of pipe manu-facturers and pipe users,with perhaps one repre-sentative of the sprin-kling system and cer-tainly one of the manu-facturers of taps anddies. Such an approachto balance came to typi-fy the makeup of futureASME standards com-mittees.

The involvement of ASME in developing national standards soon extended tointernational standards, and in 1885 the society appointed a committee tosearch for uniform methods of conducting tests of strength of materials whichwould review the tests made in the United States against those made on theContinent, particularly Germany.

In 1911, ASME recommended the establish-ment of an organization to coordinate thedevelopment of voluntary standards in theUnited States. Such an organization wasformed in 1918 and is currently known asthe American National Standards Institute(ANSI). ANSI is the U.S.A. member of theInternational Standards Organization forStandardization and the administrator of the United States National Committeeof the International Electrotechnical Commission. ANSI also serves as a book-

Building Services Piping

Cableways

Cargo Containers

Carriers

Castings and Forgings

Centrifugal Pumps

Charts

Chemical Plant andPetroleum RefineryEquipment

Chucks and Chuck Jaws

Cleanouts

Coal Pulverizers

Compressors

Consumable Tools

2

ASME develops standards for the design, welding, and identification ofpipes and fittings.

CSP 2(a)

ASME provides support to repre-sentatives of the public when thescope of the project addresseshealth, safety, or environmentalmatters.

seller of domestic and international standards.

ASME has consistently enacted policies of prior announcement of meetings,open meetings, public announcements and reviews, appeal mechanisms, andoverall procedural due process.

The key to ASMEs rolein developing standardsgoes beyond its willing-ness to respond torequests for help in itsfield. As professionalengineers, we try toanticipate the economicsand safety problems thatwait around the bend.When a new twist intechnology suggests animportant change in the

road map, we are there at the crossroads with the proper signs, signals, androute instructions.

Not the Last WordThe Latest WordFrom time to time, some of us nostalgically reflect upon the good old days. Wewonder about earlier eras. How blissful it would be to be living in some bygonetime when the world was less complicated.

What happens when we penetrate the misty past? You find yourself living on afarm or in a small village where the only means of transportation is the horse,where the only source of illumination is the candle or oil lamp. Communicationbeyond the borders of your community is difficult or close to impossible. Medicalknowledge is rudimentary. Occupational opportunities are severely limited. Youdream of travel to far-off places but, except for a trip to the big city many milesaway, a lifetime of dreams goes unfulfilled. And, that lifetime has a limitedexpectancy of scarcely 45 to 50 years.

When you go to the general store, little variety in clothing or household itemsexists. If your nostalgic journey lands you at the threshold of the industrial revo-

Conveyors

Coordinate MeasuringMachines

Cranes

Deaerators

Definitions and Values

Density Determination

Derricks

Dial Indicators

Diaphragm Seals

Dies

Diesel and Burner Fuels

Digital Systems

Dimensional Metrology

3

The ASME B133 series of standards covers considerations for procure-ment of gas turbines, while the ASME PTC 22 code covers conduct andreport of performance tests for gas turbines.

lution during the early nineteenth century,some of the newfangled machines breakdown easily, and you scrounge for replace-ment parts that do not fit properly. If youare affluent enough to own a new coal-burning furnace and boiler to heat water,you are apprehensive because you hearconstantly of boilers exploding.

You may spend so much time building or repairing your home, making yourclothes, growing food, and raising livestock, that leisure might as well be anexotic word in a foreign language.

You are hard at work from sunrise to sundown, falling exhausted into bed beforethe moon rises.

Ah, the good old days

A flurry of invention cat-apulted nineteenth-cen-tury society into new,uncharted areas.Spearheaded by engi-neers, a torrent of newand wonderful machinesbegan to pour into everycity, town, village, andfarm. Implements ofevery descriptionappeared for sale.But as the twentiethcentury approached, engineers saw that the avalanche of inventions they hadcreated were causing serious problems.

Lack of interchangeability was one such problem. Engineers soon realized theneed for standardizationthe need to arrive at universal agreements on how aconsumer could buy a bolt in California for a nut acquired in New Jersey, how aworn boiler connection could be easily replaced by a new one that would fit intoplace securely and safely.

Dimensioning andTolerancing

Dimensions

Drafting

Drains

Dumbwaiters

Ejectors

Elevators

Escalators

Exhausters

Fans

Fasteners

Feedwater Heaters

Fine Particulate Matter

4

CSP 5(b)

Any item that is constructed andstamped with an ASME markshall follow the standards of theapplicable section of the applica-ble ASME code, without excep-tion.

The ASME B30 series of standards serves as a guide to manufacturers,purchasers, and users of cranes, including tower cranes.

Our nation, characterized by rugged individuals, spawned aggressively inde-pendent entrepreneurs and manufacturers. In this competitive atmosphere, ittook time and circumstance as well as persuasion and common sense to estab-lish a system of voluntary standardization. To cut down chaos and high cost, theinterchangeability of parts had to be established.

Another serious problem facing engineers of that era was exploding boilers.

Heating water to produce steam and converting that steam into energy to powermachinery revolutionized production in thenineteenth century. To build up pressure,steam must be contained in some type ofvessel; and, uncontrolled, pressurizedsteam can burst even one of steel. For wantof reliably tested materials, secure fittings,and proper valves, boilers of every descrip-tion, on land and at sea, were explodingwith terrifying regularity. They would contin-ue to do so into the twentieth century.Though engineers could take pride in thegrowing superiority of American technology,they could not ignore the 50,000 dead and2 million injured annually by such acci-dents. Thus, the mechanical engineers who

tackled problems in the 1880s began by seeking reliable methods for testingsteam boilers. Establishment of universally accepted construction standardswould take many years.

In the quarter-century that followed the ASME boiler test code in 1884, mechan-ical engineers confronted a broad range of design and manufacturing tasksinvolving pipe and pipe threads, cast-iron water and gas pipe, boiler tubes, gasburners, hose couplings, bolt heads and nuts, pumping engines, marine and fac-tory engines, gas and oil motors, and many other types of equipment.

Because technology is dynamic, ASME realized that it would be necessary tocontinually update and revise most of its codes and standards to keep pace withnew materials, new designs, and new applications.

Fittings

Flanges

Floor Drains

Flue Gas Desulfurization

Fluid Flow in Pipes

Fuel Gas Piping

Gage Blanks

Gage Blocks

Gas Flow Measurement

Gas Transmission andDistribution Piping

Gas Turbine Power Plants

Gas Turbines

Gaseous Fuels

5

CSP 5(c)

ASME codes and standards pro-vide rules for the construction ofvarious items. They includerequirements for materials,design, fabrication, examination,inspection, and stamping. Itemsconstructed in accordance withall of the applicable rules of thegoverning code or standard areidentified with the official codesymbol stamp described in thegoverning sections of the code orstandard.

ASME never assumes that a code or standard is the last wordonly the latestword.

What Is a Standard?A standard can be defined as a set of technical definitions and guidelineshow to instructions for designers and manufacturers. Standards, which canrun from a few paragraphs to hundreds of pages, are written by experts who siton many committees.

Standards are considered voluntary notbecause they are created by volunteers.Rather they are considered voluntarybecause they serve as guidelines, but donot of themselves have the force of law.ASME publishes its standards; accreditsusers of standards to ensure that they arecapable of manufacturing products thatmeet those standards; and provides stampsthat accredited manufacturers may place

on their products, indicating that a product was manufactured according to astandard. ASME cannot, however, force any manufacturer, inspector, or installerto follow ASME standards. Their use is voluntary.

Why then are standards effective? Perhaps the 1991 Annual Report of theAmerican Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) said it best. Standards are avehicle of communication for producers and users. They serve as a commonlanguage, defining quality and establishing safety criteria. Costs are lower if pro-cedures are standardized; training is also simplified. And consumers acceptproducts more readily when they can be judged on intrinsic merit.

What Is a Code?A code is a standard that has been adopted by one or more governmental bod-ies and that has the force of law.

ASMEASME is a not-for-profit educational and technical organization with more than125,000 members worldwide, most of whom are practicing engineers. About25,000 members are students.

Gaskets

Gauges

Graphic Symbols

Grinding Industrial Vehicles

Hand Tools

High Lift Trucks

High Pressure Systems

Hobs

Hoists

Hooks

Hydroelectric Equipment

Incinerators

Indicated Power

6

CSP 6(a)

Where firsthand knowledge ofevents, such as accidents, fires,or earthquakes, will aid a stan-dards committee in the develop-ment of safety requirements, thecommittee may conduct siteinvestigations and developreports.

ASME has a wide variety of programs: publishing, technical conferences andexhibits, engineering education, government relations, and public education, aswell as development of codes and standardsall aimed at serving the engi-neering profession, the public, industry, and government.

The ASME Board of Governors has delegated the codes and standards activity toa 22-member Council on Codes and Standards which directs all aspects of theprogram. Under the council are 10 boards made up of ASME members and otherinterested persons. Six of those boards are supervisory boards that in turn havecommittees, each responsible for a specific area of standards development.

Committees in one form or another havedealt with standards since the first testcode in 1884. Presently there are morethan 120 consensus committees dealingwith nearly 600 standards which are underregular review and revision. Approximately3500 engineers, manufacturers, designers,and others sit on these committees andtheir subcommittees, subgroups, and work-ing groups.

After a standard has been considered and reconsidered at many meetings andthrough many drafts, it is sent to the consensus committee, representing allinterests, which votes on the standard. It is then made available for public com-ment and must be approved by the appropriate ASME supervisory board.

Once accepted, and only after having undergone these and other rigors of pro-cedural due process, the standard is printed and made available to manufactur-ers, regulatory agencies, designersanyone with an interest in its subject.

The Stamp of AuthorityThe first edition of the ASME Boiler Code, published in 1915, provided for astamp to be affixed to every product constructed in accordance with the Code.Individual state laws had required the use of similar stamps. During a congressheld in 1915, the chief inspector of the city of Detroit saw the realization of auniform boiler code, and he cited an instance of a boiler that bore four statestamps, one city stamp, and one manufacturers stamp.

Industrial Sound

Industrial Trucks andVehicles

Internal Combustion EngineGenerator Units

Ion Exchange Equipment

Jacks

Keys

Keyseats

Knurling

Letter Symbols

Lifts

Limits and Fits

Line Conventions andLettering

Linear Measurements

7

CSP 37(b)

Safety codes and standards areintended to enhance publichealth and safety. Revisionsresult from committee consider-ation of factors such as techno-logical advances, new data, andchanging environmental andindustry needs.

Today the vari-ous boiler andpressure vesselstamps are rec-ognized bymany foreigncountries asindicative ofproducts manu-factured in com-

pliance with the Code and under a quality program acceptable to the society.

But how does a manufacturer obtain permission to use one of the stamps?Through the ASME accreditation process, the manufacturers quality controlprocess is reviewed by an ASME team. If the quality control system meets ASMErequirements and the manufacturer successfully demonstrates implementationof the program, the manufacturer is accredited by ASME. The manufacturer thenmay certify the product as meeting ASME standards and apply the stamp to theproduct.

A stamp consists of a modified cloverleaf (from the shape of the ASME logo)with one or more letters in the center. The letters indicate the codes or partsthereof met by the products upon which they are placed. ASME stamps issuedare:A Field Assembly of Power BoilersE Electric BoilersH Heating Boilers, Steel Plate or Cast Iron SectionalHV Heating Boiler Safety ValvesHLW Lined Potable Water HeatersM Miniature BoilersN Nuclear Power Plant ComponentsNPT Nuclear Power Plant Component Partials NA Nuclear Power Plant Installation/AssemblyNV Nuclear Power Plant Safety ValvesPP Pressure PipingRP Reinforced Plastic Pressure VesselsRTP Reinforced Thermoset Plastic Corrosion Resistant EquipmentS Power BoilersU, U2, U3 Pressure Vessels

Liquid TransportationSystems

Low Lift Trucks

Machine Guarding

Machine Tools

Manlifts

Measurement

Mechanical PowerTransmission Apparatus

Mechanical Springs

Metric System

Milling Machines

Model Testing

Monorails

Moving Walks

8

Companies that are accredited by ASME use code symbol stamps to identifyproducts constructed in accordance with the societys standards.

UD Rupture Disc DevicesUM Miniature Pressure VesselsUV Pressure Vessel Safety ValvesUV3 High Pressure Vessel Safety ValvesV Boiler Safety Valves

ASME has accreditation programs fornuclear power plant materials, fasteners,and organizations that certify elevatorinspectors. ASME also is accredited to cer-tify a companys quality management sys-tem to ISO 9000 standards.

Since 1992, ASME has certified individualsto recognize that they have met the qualifi-cation criteria specified in ASME standards.Current programs include certification of

operators of resource recovery facilities (municipal waste combusters), fossilfuel fired plants, medical waste incinerators, and hazardous waste incinerators;and certification of geometric dimensioning and tolerancing professionals.

Making the ConnectionAmong the elements of modern life that we take for granted are fasteners. Everyhousehold has its complement of extra screws, bolts, and nuts, as well as othertypes of fasteners that are used to hold things together. We may wonder how ascrew or bolt is designed and standardized, or how length, thread gage, anddiameter are set. But we are unlikely to imagine the enormous amount of engi-neering that goes into those useful objects. Instruments such as thread ringgages and roll thread comparatorstools that had to be invented just to providereliable measuring techniquesare too remote for most of us to consider.Perhaps equally removed from our day-to-day concerns are the deliberationsthat require many minds, working many hours, to arrive at manufacturing stan-dards acceptable to industry and to you, the user.

ASME seeks to narrow the distance between users and designers through itsfish bowl approach. All activities surrounding the development of codes andstandards, shared by ASME with related professional societies, are totally opento public scrutiny and participation.

Nuclear Power Facilities andTechnology

Nuts

Oil Systems

Optical Parts

Pallets

Performance Test Codes

Pins

Pipe Dimensions

Pipe Threads

Piping

Pliers

Plumbing

Pressure Transducers

9

CSP 20(a)(2)

The standard shall contain suffi-ciently specific and well definedcriteria to enable both manufac-turers and users to understandthe requirements and to be ableto distinguish products and ser-vices which comply with thestandard from those which donot.

The voluntary standards system is based onthe premise that professionals representingvarious categories of interest will providethe most reliable inputs from their respec-tive technical, industrial, and educationalbackgrounds. Interaction among these vol-unteers and consumers produces docu-ments that fulfill the ASME mission of

enhancing public health, safety, and welfare, and in turn lessen the burdens ofgovernment.

When specifications formaterials, fit, safety, per-formance, or dimensionsare set, manufacturersuse such standardsbecause to do so is goodbusiness. Their usemakes mass productionpossible, lowers the costof research and develop-ment, and speeds upmanufacturing. Thus,standards reduce prod-

uct costs and improve competition. At the end of the line standards add up toeconomy, confidence, and safety for you, the consumer.

The A17 StorySafety Codes forElevators and EscalatorsThe A17 story has to do with moving peopleup, down, at an angle, or horizon-tally. It dramatizes the extraordinary success of this countrys voluntary codesand standards system. Elevators, escalators, and moving walks are pervasivefeatures of modern mobility and paragons of safety.

In 1915, ASME assembled a committee of engineers who were knowledgeableabout elevators and charged them with developing a set of standards for eleva-tor manufacturers, architects, consulting engineers, insurance inspectors, andbuilding owners. The committee recognized the harmful influence of wear, rough

Pressure Vessels

Pumps

Quality Assurance

Reamers

Refrigeration Piping

Resource Recovery FacilityOperators

Retaining Rings

Rivets

Safety and Relief Valves

Screw Threads

Screws

Slings

Slip Sheets

10

CSP 29(a)

Meetings for the consideration ofproposed revisions, reaffirma-tions, withdrawals, and new stan-dards shall be open to the inter-ested public.

Fasteners include an assortment of bolts of different shapes and sizes.

usage, and atmosphericconditions under whichelevator apparatus mustoperateparticularly ondoor locks, interlocks,and electrical contacts.

Thus, the first elevatorcode was developed in1921. Among otherthings, the historic docu-ment makes reference tosuch quaint components

as steam, belts, and hand ropes.

The committee assigned to the continualupdating of the A17 code includes a hard-working roster of subcommittees number-ing over 200 members. The subjects theytackle and report for consideration by theconsensus committee include automatictransfer devices, fire safety, earthquakeprotection, passenger evacuation, inspec-tion, solid-state controls, and many others.

The A17 code has earned wide acceptanceas a national consensus standard. This isdue in no small measure to the ASME prin-ciple of balanced membership. Manyorganizations and groups are concerned

with the scope and provisions of the A17 code and are encouraged to activelyparticipate in its development.

The Pursuit of Happiness!There are 168 hours in a week. When you subtract work time, sleep time, andtravel time, the average American has 50 to 60 hours a week for personal activi-ty. It is called leisure time.

Spray Cooling Systems

Stainless Steel Pipe

Stands

Steam-Generating Units

Steel Stacks

Storage/Retrieval Machines

Storage Tanks

Surface Texture

Temperature Measurement

Thermometers

Tools

Transmission Apparatus

Transmission Chains

11

CSP 36

ASME codes and standards com-mittees that recognize a possibleneed to interpret a specific edi-tion of a code or standard devel-oped by the committee shall havea statement included in the fore-word or on the copyright page ofthe code or standard informingthe user that the particular edi-tion of the document may beinterpreted and that all writteninterpretations are included as asubscription service of this edi-tion of the code or standard.

The ASME A17 code is an American National Standard for elevators andescalators.

The industrial revolution, sometimes referred to as the machine age, has givenus precious time for travel, cultural enrichment, entertainment, and play.

The same system of voluntary codes and standards that has brought stability tonecessities of modern living has also infused recreational activity with unprece-dented freedom and safety.

ASME is one of a number of professional and technical organizations which,together, work to secure the fabric of the modern world. The fact that you aregenerally unaware of their work is the best tribute to their achievement.

When you go to a movie, the projector in use is designed with standardizedparts that fit together and are easily replaced. At a concert, you listen to musicalinstruments designed to universally accepted standards. Your radio, television,VCR, telephone, computer, hand tools, and sports equipmentvirtually all mod-ern devices of personalimprovement andamusementinvolveone or more engineeringstandards.

Invariably, those stan-dards are scrupulouslywritten and codified. Andthey are being rewrittenand improved by engi-neers and fellow profes-sionalsall the time.

Turbines

Valves

Washers

Waste Facility Operators

Water Hammer Arresters

Weighing Scales

Welded Aluminum-AlloyStorage Tanks

Wheel Dollies

Wheelchair Lifts

Whirlpool BathtubAppliances

Wind Turbines

Window Cleaning

Wrenches

12

The ASME PTC 42 code specifies methods for testing and reporting theperformance of wind turbines.