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Does AMS or SAE Control the Specs?

Who is the controlling body for specs like SAE AMS2700C. Is it the AMS or the SAE group?

James Wood
Product designer Government Arena - Panama City, Florida
March 20, 2009

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March 24, 2009

Hello James!

At the end of each of the Aerospace Materials Specifications you read, you'll see a Committee listed as having jurisdiction. For example, for AMS2700 you'll see that it says "Prepared by AMS Committee B". That refers to Committee B on Finishes, Processes, and Fluids, which is a subset of the Aerospace Materials Division of the Society of Automotive Engineers.

After the new or revised specification in question is balloted to the committee membership (we've currently got 29 voting members, and a lot more who review and comment on the specifications), and all the kinks are worked out, and we reach a consensus, the final document is then sent to Aerospace Council. That serves as a final check, since that group is composed of voting members are who are representatives of major aerospace Primes. Should they approve (they usually do, but not always) the document is published.

So the question is kind of moot, since the AMS Committees of the AMD are a part of SAE. The Society of Automotive Engineers is heavily involved in aerospace as well as automotive concerns.

You might be thinking of the J specs that are written by the Automotive side. Those are written by the automotive committees, and we on the aerospace side generally don't participate. Less clear is the relationship, or rather lack of relationship, that NADCAP and PRI and those folks who write the AS and AC documents dealing with NADCAP audits have with us: they are an ENTIRELY SEPARATE group from the AMS committees. There are a few people who are involved in both groups, as representatives of their companies to those committees, but only a few. (So don't blame most of us for the NADCAP checklists!)

The next Committee B meeting is March 30, 2009 in Portland, OR. If you've something to say, we'd welcome your input! Go to the SAE website, and contact us through there. Or give me a yell- I'm not that hard to find.

Lee Gearhart
metallurgist - E. Aurora, New York