Steel Sample Size for Testing Old Steel

[plausibly_civil]

Does anyone have guidance on what is a typical size for a steel testing specimen? We have a historic structure from the early 1900's and want to perform testing to determine chemical composition (to determine weldability) and strength properties. Initially we had specified 2"x2" specimens for testing but now I'm not so sure that's large enough. The samples are being taken from the mid-depth of existing steel beams. Is there an AISC document or something similar out there for guidance?

 

[JStephen]

You might contact the lab proposed for the testing and see what they would need for different tests proposed.
I see one of the references below suggest cutting a corner off the flange of a simply-supported beam as another potential sample area.
How many samples you need- I didn't see any info on that.
Some general articles on the topic:

https://www.aisc.org/globalassets/modern-steel/steelwise/30762_steelwise_reno.pdf

https://www.structuremag.org/?p=17127

https://www.structuremag.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/C-BuildBlocks-Friedman-Sept091.pdf

 

[plausibly_civil]

Thanks for sharing those articles. I've contacted some testing agencies but haven't heard back yet so figured I'd pose the question to the forum in the meantime.

 

[WinelandV]

Not sure about testing for chemical composition. I'm on a project that just had some pull testing done to establish Fy and Fu. 2" x 10" coupons were torched out of the flanges in locations as JStephen mentions.

Please note that is a "v" (as in Violin) not a "y".