What is the difference between AISI and ASTM standards?

Answer 1

Basically, AISI is an association that deal with the busisness of making steel - including how to make steel manufacturing safer and more profitable. ASTM, on the other hand, is a body that defines "standardized" testing so that what one manufacturer calls "304 stainless" is the same material (chemically and physically) as everybody else's "304 stainless". See the "blurbs" on each below.

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The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) is an association of North American steel producers. With its predecessor organizations, is one of the oldest trade associations in the United States, dating back to 1855. It assumed its present form in 1908, with Judge Elbert H. Gary, chairman of the United States Steel Corporation, as its first president. Its development was in response to the need for a cooperative agency in the iron and steel industry for collecting and disseminating statistics and information, carrying on investigations, providing a forum for the discussion of problems and generally advancing the interests of the industry.

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ASTM International is an international voluntary standards organization that develops and produces technical standards for materials, products, systems, and services. It was formed in 1898 in the United States as the American Society for Testing and Materials by a group of scientists and engineers, led by Charles Benjamin Dudley, who wanted to address the frequent rail breaks plaguing the fast-growing railroad industry. The group developed a standard for the steel used to fabricate rails.

Today, ASTM International maintains more than 12,000 standards. The Annual Book of ASTM Standards consists of 77 volumes. Membership in the organization is open to anyone with an interest in the fields the organization services. Members represent manufacturers, users, governments, and academia from over 100 countries.

ASTM Standards compliance is voluntary but in the United States, with the 1995 passage of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act, the U.S. government is required to use privately developed standards whenever possible. As a result, ASTM Standards have been incorporated into or are referred to by many federal regulations.