ASTM D3953-15(2022)

This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the
Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.
Designation:D3953 −15 (Reapproved 2022)
Standard Specification for
Strapping, Flat Steel and Seals
This standard is issued under the fixed designation D3953; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision.Anumber in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval.A
superscript epsilon (´) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.
This standard has been approved for use by agencies of the U.S. Department of Defense.
1. Scope 2. Referenced Documents
2.1 ASTM Standards:
1.1 This specification covers flat steel strapping and seals
A90/A90MTest Method for Weight [Mass] of Coating on
intended for use in closing, reinforcing, bundling articles for
Iron and Steel Articles with Zinc or Zinc-Alloy Coatings
shipment, unitizing, palletizing, and bracing for carloading,
A109/A109MSpecification for Steel, Strip, Carbon (0.25
truckloading, lifting, and lashing.
Maximum Percent), Cold-Rolled
1.2 This specification includes strapping and seals made
A239Practice for Locating the Thinnest Spot in a Zinc
from carbon steel and applies only to the types and sizes as
(Galvanized) Coating on Iron or Steel Articles
cataloged by strapping suppliers to be a standard, commer-
B504Test Method for Measurement of Thickness of Metal-
cially available product. It does not include “specialty”-type
lic Coatings by the Coulometric Method
strapping as developed for special applications or strapping
D996Terminology of Packaging and Distribution Environ-
produced from alloy metals.
ments
D3951Practice for Commercial Packaging
1.3 The values stated in inch-pound units are to be regarded
D4332Practice for Conditioning Containers, Packages, or
as standard.
Packaging Components for Testing
D4675Guide for Selection and Use of Flat Strapping Ma-
1.4 Performance characteristics may be negatively affected
terials
by extremes of temperatures, such as occur during the anneal-
D6039/D6039MSpecification for Open and Covered Wood
ing of steel.
Crates
1.5 The following safety hazards caveat applies only to the
D6880Specification for Wood Boxes
test method portion, Sections 11, 12, and 13, of this specifica-
E177Practice for Use of the Terms Precision and Bias in
tion: This standard does not purport to address all of the safety
ASTM Test Methods
concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility
E691Practice for Conducting an Interlaboratory Study to
of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety,
Determine the Precision of a Test Method
health, and environmental practices and determine the appli-
2.2 Military Standard:
cability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
MIL-STD-105Sampling Procedures and Tables for Inspec-
1.6 This international standard was developed in accor-
tion by Attributes
dance with internationally recognized principles on standard-
2.3 AAR Rules:
ization established in the Decision on Principles for the
AAROpen Top Loading Rules Manual, Section No. 1,
Development of International Standards, Guides and Recom-
General Rules for LoadingAll Commodities, Part 2, Rule
mendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical
17andSectionNo.7,RulesforLoadingAllCommodities
Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.
on Open Top Trailers and Containers for Rail Transport,
Part 2, Rule 117
For referenced ASTM standards, visit the ASTM website, www.astm.org, or
contact ASTM Customer Service at service@astm.org. For Annual Book of ASTM
This specification is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee D10 on Standards volume information, refer to the standard’s Document Summary page on
Packaging and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee D10.25 on Palletizing the ASTM website.
and Unitizing of Loads. AvailablefromStandardizationDocumentsOrderDesk,Bldg.4SectionD,700
Current edition approved Oct. 1, 2022. PublishedOctober 2022. Originally Robbins Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19111-5094, Attn: NPODS.
approved in 1983. Last previous edition approved in 2015 as D3953–15. DOI: Available from the Association of American Railroads (AAR), Safety and
10.1520/D3953-15R22. Operations, 50 F St., NW, Washington, DC 20001–1564.
Copyright © ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959. United States
D3953−15 (2022)
3. Terminology Grade 3—Manufacturer’s standard commercial practice
Finish C—Organic Painted Metallic Filled (Aluminum or
3.1 General definitions for packaging and distribution envi-
Zinc)
ronments are found in Terminology D996.
Finish D—Uncoated
5.1.3 Seal Styles:
4. Strapping Classifications
I—Snap-on or open
4.1 Strapping shall be of the following types, finish and
II—Thread-on or closed
sizes:
III—Push-type or overlap
Type 1, Flat Strapping: Power Machine and Hand Applica-
IV—Magazine-feed
tion:
V—Intersectional or cross-tie
Regular-duty
5.2 Seal Sizes—Seals shall have widths in accordance with
Regular-duty high-strength
strapping width shown in Table 1, Table 2, Table 3, and Table
Heavy-duty
4.
USLM (Unit Strap Lifting Method) (See Note 1.)
NOTE 1—For USLM applications, refer to manufacturer’s standard
6. Ordering Information
practice.
6.1 The inquiry and order shall indicate the following:
Type 2: Nail-On
6.1.1 Strapping type, duty, finish, grade, lubrication (when
4.1.1 Strapping Finish, Lubricated or Dry (see 8.3):
applicable), dimension required, and quantity of each size (see
4.1.1.1 Finish A—Organic (Pigmented or Unpigmented
Section 4).
Paint)
6.1.2 Coil of strapping dimensions, weight and feet per
4.1.1.2 Finish B—Galvanized (Hot Dipped or Electro-
pound, oscillated, ribbon wound, or cut-to-length (see Section
Deposit Galvanized) (see 8.10):
9, Table 5 and Table 6, and Fig. 1 and Fig. 2).
Grade 1—Heavy Coating
6.1.3 Seals (see Section 5) class, finish, grade (when
Grade 2—Moderate Coating
applicable), type, style, and quantity by width (or nomencla-
Grade 3—Commercial Coating
ture).
4.1.1.3 Finish C—Organic Painted Metallic Filled (Alumi-
6.1.4 Make or model of strapping equipment that the
num or Zinc)
strapping and seals must work in, if applicable.
4.1.1.4 Finish D—Uncoated
6.1.5 Title, designation, and date of this specification.
4.1.2 Strapping Sizes— Strapping shall have the widths and
6.1.6 For Department of Defense, indicate selection of
thicknessesinaccordancewithsizesshowninTable1,Table2,
preservation, packing, marking, and palletization, if applicable
Table 3, and Table 4.
(see Section 16).
5. Seal Classifications
6.2 Sizes or physical properties, or both, other than those
covered by this specification shall be as specified in the
5.1 Seals shall be of the following classes, finishes, types,
contract or order.
and styles:
5.1.1 Seal Classes:
7. Materials and Manufacture
R—Regular duty
H—Heavy duty 7.1 Materials shall be cold-rolled carbon steel of the quality
5.1.2 Seal Finishes: normally used for this purpose in commercial practice, and the
Finish A—Organic (painted) physical mechanical property requirements, as determined by
Finish B—Galvanized (hot dipped or electro-deposit galva- tests, shall be within the allowable limits.
nized) 7.1.1 Type 1 Regular-Duty Strapping—Regular-duty strap-
Grade 1—Heavy coating ping in Table 1 shall be low-carbon cold-rolled steel (see
Grade 2—Moderate coating 6.1.1).
TABLE 1 Type 1 Regular-Duty Strapping Widths, Thickness, and Breaking Strengths
Width, in.
0.015 (0.38) 0.018 (0.46) 0.020 (0.51) 0.023 (0.58) 0.028 (0.71) 0.035 (0.89)
(mm)
⁄8 450 540 600 690
(9.52) (2000) (2400) (2670) (3070)
⁄2 600 720 800 920
(12.70) (2670) (3200) (3560) (4090)
⁄8 750 900 1000 1150
(15.87) (3335) (4000) (4450) (5115)
⁄4 900 1200 1380 1680 2100
(19.05) (4000) (5340) (6140) (7470) (9340)
D3953−15 (2022)
TABLE 2 Type 1 Regular Duty High-Strength Strapping Widths, Thickness and Break Strengths
Thickness, in. (mm)
Width, in.
0.016 (0.41) 0.017 (0.43) 0.018 (0.46) 0.020 (0.51) 0.023 (0.58) 0.025 (0.64) 0.031 (0.79) 0.035 (0.89)
(mm)
Breaking Strength, min, lbf (N)
⁄8 640 750
(9.52) (2849) (3366)
⁄2 800 850 900 1000 1150
(12.70) (3559) (3781) (4003) (4448) (5115)
⁄8 1000 1050 1125 1250 1440
(15.87) (4448) (4671) (5004) (5560) (6405)
⁄4 1200 1275 1350 1500 1725 1875 2325
(19.05) (5339) (5671) (6005) (6672) (7673) (8340) (10342)
1 ⁄4 3125 3875 4375
(31.75) (13901) (17237) (19461)
TABLE 3 Type 1 Heavy-Duty Strapping Widths, Thickness, and Breaking Strengths
Thickness, in. (mm)
Width,
0.020 (0.51) 0.022 (0.56) 0.023 (0.58) 0.025 (0.64) 0.028 (0.71) 0.029 (0.75) 0.031 (0.79) 0.035 (0.89) 0.040 (1.02) 0.044 (1.12) 0.050 (1.27)
in. (mm)
Breaking Strength, min, lbf (N)
⁄2 1 280 1 470 1 950
(12.70) (5 690) (6 540) (8 675)
⁄8 1 600 1 840
(15.87) (7 120) (8 185)
⁄4 2 000 2 280 2 280 2 280 2 280 2 850 2 850 2 850 4 050
(19.05) (8 896) (10 140) (10140) (10 140) (10 140) (12 675) (12 675) (12 675) (18 015)
1 3 700 3 700
(25.4) (16 455) (16 455)
A
1 ⁄4 3 200 3 680 4 750 4 750 4 750 6 135 6 750 6 750
(31.75) (14 240) (16 370) (21 130) (21 130) (21 130) (27.295) (30 025) (30 025)
2 10 600 10 600
(50.80) (47 150) (47 150)
A
Heavy-duty, or heavy-duty/high elongation.
TABLE 4 Type 1 Extra-Heavy-Duty (USLM) Strapping Widths,
fromType 1 regular-duty, regular-duty high-strength orType 1
Thickness, Breaking Strengths, and Minimum Seal Joint
heavy-duty strapping, available in sizes ⁄8 in. (15.87 mm) in
Strengths
width or greater with punched nail holes. Hole diameters and
Width, Thickness, Min. Break Min. Seal Joint
hole spacing can vary depending upon strap size and duty,
in. (mm) in. (mm) Strength, lb (N) Strength, lb (N)
1 which shall be in accordance with manufacturer’s standard
1 ⁄4 (31.75) 0.044 (1.12) 8500 (37 800) 7650 (34 000)
1 ⁄4 (31.75) 0.050 (1.27) 9700 (43 150) 8730 (38 800)
practice. However, nail holes shall be spaced at intervals no
1 ⁄4 (31.75) 0.057 (1.45) 11 000 (48 430) 9900 (44 000)
more than 3 in. (76 mm) apart.
7.1.6 Seals for Type 1 Strapping—Unless otherwise
specified, seals for Type 1 strapping shall be made of steel in
7.1.2 Type 1 Regular-Duty High-Strength Strapping—
accordance with the manufacturer’s commercial practice.
Regular-duty high strength strapping in Table 2 shall be low to
8. Physical and Mechanical Properties
medium carbon cold-rolled steel.
7.1.3 Type 1 Heavy-Duty Strapping—Heavy-duty strapping
8.1 Breaking Strength and Elongation, Type 1 Regular-
in Table 3 shall be cold-rolled, high carbon, or medium carbon Duty, Regular-Duty High-Strength, Heavy-Duty, and USLM
high-manganese steel which has been fully heat-treated; for
Strapping :
example, austenitized and quenched. 8.1.1 Breaking Strength—The breaking strength of the
7.1.4 Type I USLM Strapping—USLM strapping in Table 4
strapping shall be as shown in Table 1, Table 2, Table 3, and
shall be cold-rolled, high-carbon steel that has been fully Table 4 when tested as specified in 13.3.
heat-treated, austenized, and quenched. 8.1.2 Elongation—The elongation in 6 in. (152 mm) for
7.1.5 Type 2 Nail-On Strapping—Unless otherwise Type 1 strapping, when tested as specified in 13.4, shall be as
specified, Type 2 nail-on strapping shall be strapping made follows:
D3953−15 (2022)
A
TABLE 5 Number of Feet Per Pound (Metres per Kilogram) of Type 1 Strapping
NOTE 1—Number of feet per pound (metres per kilogram) is based on nominal dimensions and will vary slightly with the width and thickness of the
strapping within the tolerances as described in 8.2.
Thickness, in. (mm)
0.010 0.012 0.015 0.018 0.020 0.022 0.023 0.025 0.028 0.029 0.031 0.035 0.040 0.044 0.050
Width, in.
(0.25) (0.311) (0.38) (0.46) (0.51) (0.56) (0.58) (0.64) (0.71) (0.75) (0.79) (0.89) (1.02) (1.12) (1.27)
(mm)
Length per Unit Mass, ft/lb (m/kg), approximate
⁄8 78.5 65.4 52.4 43.6 39.3 34.1
(9.52) (52.7) (43.9) (35.2) (29.3) (26.4) (22.9)
⁄2 58.9 49.1 39.3 32.7 29.4 25.6 19.0
(12.70) (39.6) (33.0) (26.4) (22.0) (19.7) (17.2) (12.7)
⁄8 47.1 39.3 31.4 26.2 23.6 20.5
(15.87) (31.6) (26.4) (21.1) (17.6) (15.8) (13.7)
⁄4 26.2 19.6 17.8 17.1 15.7 14.0 13.5 12.7 11.2
(19.05) (17.6) (13.1) (11.9) (11.5) (10.5) (9.4) (8.95) (8.5) (7.5)
1 10.1 9.5
(25.4) (6.7) (6.3)
1 ⁄4 11.8 9.4 8.1 7.6 6.6 5.9 5.3 4.7
(31.75) (7.9) (6.3) (5.5) (5.1) (4.4) (4.0) (3.5) (3.1)
2 3.3 2.9
(50.80) (2.2) (1.9)
A
Commercial tolerances apply.
TABLE 6 Size of Coils and Package
Inside Diameter, Outside
Coils Per
Size of Strapping, in (mm) Diameter, Coil Face Coil
Type Coils Package,
in. (mm) (Commercial max, Width Weight
max
Tolerance) in. (mm)
Oscillated ⁄8 by 0.015
(9.52 by 0.38)
through 16 (406) 23 ⁄2 (597) 1
⁄4 by 0.035
(19.05 by 0.89)
Ribbon ⁄4 by 0.022
(19.05 by 0.56)
through 16 (406) 27 (686) 1
⁄4 by 0.035
(19.05 by 0.89)
Ribbon 1 by 0.029
(25.4 by 0.75)
through 16 (406) 27 (686) 1
1by0.031
(25.4 by 0.79)
1 ⁄4 by 0.020
(31.75 by 0.51)
through 16 (406) 27 (686) 1
1 ⁄4 by 0.057
(31.75 by 1.45)
2by0.044
(50.80 by 1.12)
through 16 (406) 25 ⁄8 (657) 1
2by0.050
(50.80 by 1.27)
Jumbos ⁄8 by 0.015 (9.52 by 16 (406) in 1 3 in. to 16 350 lb. to
0.38) accordance in. 4000 lb.
with
through manufacturers
1 ⁄4 by 0.044 (31.75 commercial
by 1.12) practice
D3953−15 (2022)
FIG. 1 Recommended Seal Joints
8.2.1 Type 1 Strapping, Thickness—The thickness of strap-
Regular-duty (see 7.1.1) 0.5 to 4.0 %
Regular-duty high-strength (see 7.1.2) 0.5 to 8.0 %
ping sizes listed in Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3 shall not vary
Heavy-duty (see 7.1.3)
from nominal thickness by more than +0.002 in. (0.05 mm),
Thickness less than 0.031 in. (0.79 mm) 5.0 to 12 %
Thickness 0.031 in. (0.79 mm) and greater 6.5 to 12 %
–0.002 (0.05 mm) thickness, thickness of strapping sizes listed
USLM Strapping (see 7.1.4) 6.0 to 12 %
in Table 4 (USLM strapping) shall not vary by more than
8.2 Tolerances, Type 1 Strapping, Widths—The widths of
+0.004 in. (0.10 mm) and –0.000 in. (0.00 mm).
the strapping shall not vary from that shown in Table 1, Table
2, and Table 3 by more than 60.005 in. (0.13 mm) for all
cold-rolled strapping.
D3953−15 (2022)
FIG. 2 Oscillated Wound Coil
8.3 Lubrication—Unless otherwise specified, Type 1 strap- 8.5.1 The thickness and minimum breaking strength and
ping shall have a coating of wax or wax-like lubricant applied name of the manufacturer of the strap shall be marked by
to the surfaces that will render the strapping suitable for circles or circles plus the letter “M”.
application with tension tools of the f
...