ASTM_E_1009_-_95_2006.pdf

Designation:E 1009 95(Reapproved 2006)Standard Practice forEvaluating an Optical Emission Vacuum Spectrometer toAnalyze Carbon and Low-Alloy Steel1This standard is issued under the fixed designation E 1009;the number immediately following the designation indicates the year oforiginal adoption or,in the case of revision,the year of last revision.A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval.Asuperscript epsilon(e)indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.1.Scope1.1 This practice covers evaluation of an optical emissionvacuum spectrometer to analyze carbon and low-alloy steels.Itcovers instruments used for the analysis of solid samples takenfrom molten metal for production control or from products toconfirm the composition.Both pre-installation and post-installation precision and accuracy are included in the evalua-tion.1.2 While Tables 1-3 are specific for plain carbon andlow-alloy steel,they could be supplemented by similar tablesfor other materials.1.3 This standard does not purport to address all of thesafety concerns,if any,associated with its use.It is theresponsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro-priate safety and health practices and determine the applica-bility of regulatory limitations prior to use.2.Referenced Documents2.1 ASTM Standards:2E 135 Terminology Relating to Analytical Chemistry forMetals,Ores,and Related MaterialsE 305 Practice for Establishing and Controlling Spectro-chemical Analytical Curves3E 406 Practice for Using Controlled Atmospheres in Spec-trochemical AnalysisE 528 Practices for Grounding Basic Optical EmissionSpectrochemical Equipment3E 876 Practice for Use of Statistics in the Evaluation ofSpectrometric Data33.Terminology3.1 DefinitionsFor definitions of terms used in this prac-tice,refer to Terminology E 135 and Practice E 876.3.2 Definitions of Terms Specific to This Standard:3.2.1 accuracythe closeness of a spectrochemical deter-mination to an accepted reference;it is affected by imprecisionand bias.3.2.2 standard error(SE)although primarily a calculationthat measures how well a calibration has been defined,standarderror(SE)is used in this practice as an indicator of accuracy.It is CRM-dependent and instrument-operator dependent.Some expected maximum SE values are listed,but compari-sons between instrument calibrations can strictly be done onlywhen identical suites of calibrants are used.4.Summary of Practice4.1 After the spectrometer is calibrated,use this practice toevaluate the instrument and its calibration.Certified referencematerials are run as unknowns and precision is compared toTable 1.Before comparing standard errors to those in Table 2,ascertain that the calibration does not include unrealisticinflections.Values equal to or less than those in Tables 1 and 2indicate that the instrument is acceptable.5.Significance and Use5.1 Periodically throughout the useful life of an opticalemission spectrometer it becomes necessary to evaluate itsperformance.This is especially true at manufacture and duringinstallation.The objective at this time is to establish whetherthe instrument meets design specifications and performs tocustomer specifications.A manufacturers objective may be tocompare production line instruments.With data on manyinstruments,such an evaluation procedure would be a valuablecontribution to the manufacturers quality control plan.5.2 Use of this procedure at installation can tell the manu-facturer or user whether there has been a significant change inperformance due to faulty shipping or handling of the instru-ment.At this time,the procedure could be the beginning of aquality control plan for the user.Once established,the datafrom the procedure provide a base for comparison of futureruns,enabling operators to detect changes in performance.5.3 Data produced by this practice make possible a com-parison of different instruments,for example,X-ray and opticalemission or optical emission and atomic absorption.While the1This practice is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee E01 on AnalyticalChemistry for Metals,Ores and Related Materials and is the direct responsibility ofSubcommittee E01.01 on Iron,Steel,and Ferroalloys.Current edition approved June 1,2006.Published June 2006.Originallyapproved in 1990.Last previous edition approved in 2000 as E 1009 95(2000).2For referenced ASTM standards,visit the ASTM website,www.astm.org,orcontact ASTM Customer Service at serviceastm.org.For Annual Book of ASTMStandards volume information,refer to the standards Document Summary page onthe ASTM website.3Withdrawn.1Copyright ASTM International,100 Barr Harbor Drive,PO Box C700,West Conshohocken,PA 19428-2959,United States.data in the Tables 1-3 are valid for optical emission spectrom-eters,other instruments may produce better or worse perfor-mance values.In this manner,the data could be used bymanagement to determine the suitability of a given instrumentto perform a given determination with an acceptable precisiona