The proposed standard, ASTM WK37796, Specification for General Requirements for Hot Rolled Rod Coil, is being developed by Subcommittee B02.07 on Refined Nickel and Cobalt and Their Alloys, part of ASTM International Committee B02 on Nonferrous Metals and Alloys.
According to Larry Paul, technical marketing manager, ThyssenKrupp VDM USA LLC, and a B02.07 member, no standard currently exists in North American to cover defect levels in hot rolled coil.
"Terms such as 'free of defects' are used but not defined," Paul said. One of the purposes of ASTM WK37796, according to Paul, will be to define what "defect" means in practical terms.
Producing mills, wire re-drawers and re-rolling mills will be the primary users of the proposed standard, once it has been approved.
"If as-hot-rolled defects are not acceptable, there are several options to be listed in WK37796 to treat the surface to reduce the defect depth," Paul explained. "These options include peeling, shaving, grinding and polishing. Each surface treatment will remove some amount of the surface to eliminate the surface defects. The user can then easily select the desired surface condition that is known to work in their application."