Polymers & Rubbers Testing

Polymers & Rubbers Testing

A plastic testing lab is essential for verifying the quality and performance of plastic products. These labs conduct a range of tests to assess properties such as tensile strength, impact resistance, and chemical stability. By evaluating plastic materials under various conditions, testing labs ensure that products meet industry standards and regulatory requirements. This process helps manufacturers improve product design, enhance durability, and ensure safety. Accurate and reliable testing also supports innovation in plastic materials and contributes to the development of sustainable solutions. Overall, a plastic testing lab plays a vital role in maintaining high-quality standards and consumer trust.

Ash content:

This test helps in determining the amount of fillers in a specimen after the polymer has been burned off and suitable for the determination of the ash content of rubber compounding materials. The test methods may be used for quality control, product acceptance, or research and development.
Test Method: ASTM D2584, D5630, ISO 3451 

Bulk density:

This test helps in determining the weight per unit volume of material. The bulk density (morphology) of the rubber contributes significantly to the binder’s performance and is used as a property in the specification of the rubber.  This test method provides a measure of the crumb rubber’s bulk density.
Test Method: ASTM D1895B

Compression set under constant deflection:

This test helps in determining the ability of elastomeric material to maintain elastic properties after prolonged compressive stress. The set test is used to determine the quality of rubber compounds and their applicability to certain types of usage.
Test Method: ASTM D395 B

Compression Properties:

This test helps in determining the behavior of a material when it is subjected to a compressive load. The compressive strength of a material is the force per unit area that it can withstand in compression. This test helps us to design the rubber compound based on its application and service conditions.
Test Method: ASTM D695, ISO 604

Charpy Impact:

This test helps in determining the material resistance to impact from a swinging pendulum. This test provides comparative values for various plastics easily and quickly. In this test, as in a flexural test, a standard test bar, 80mm long and with a cross-section of 4mm × 10mm is placed on supports 62mm apart, resting on the narrower side.
Test Method: ISO 179

Carbon black in Olefin Plastic:

This test helps in determining the carbon black content in olefin materials like polyethylene or polypropylene that do not contain nonvolatile additives or filters.
Test Method: ASTM D1603

Coefficient of Friction:

This test helps in determining the kinetic and static resistance of one surface being dragged across another. This test determines the coefficient of friction of plastic films, but can also be used for paper samples. The apparatus conforms to international standards. Features: Lead screw driver mechanism, Vacuum suction bed for film or paper, Variable speed control, Temperature control option for hot slip, Digital display for force and Coefficient of Friction, Static and dynamic measurement, Adjustable cross arm stops.
Test Method: ASTM D1894

Deflection Temperature under Load (DTUL or HDT):

This test helps in determining the temperature at which a standard test bar deflects a specific distance under a load.
Test Method: ASTM D648, ISO 75

Density and Specific Gravity:

This test helps in determining the mass per unit volume of a material and the ratio of mass of a given volume of material at 23 degree C to the same volume of deionizer water.
Test Method: ASTM D792, ISO 1183

Durometer Hardness (Shore Hardness):

This test helps in determining the relative hardness of soft material, usually plastic or rubber. This test measures the penetration of a specified indentor into the material under specified conditions of force and time.
Test Method: ASTM D 2240

Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC):

This test helps in determining the material, differentiate homopolymers from copolymers or to characterize materials for their thermal performance.
Test Method: ASTM D3417 / D418 / E1356, ISO 11357

Dielectric Constant and Dissipation Factor:

This test helps in determining the ability of an insulator to store electrical energy and the reciprocal of the ration between the insulating materials capacitive reactance to its resistance at a specified frequency.
Test Method: ASTM D150, IEC 60250

Flexural Properties:

This test helps in determining the force required to bend a beam under 3 point loading conditions. The flexural strength of a material is defined as its ability to resist deformation under load.
Test Method: ASTM D790, ISO 178

Flammability:

This test helps in determining the relative rate burning of self supporting plastics. This test is mainly used for quality control, production control and material comparison.
Test Method: UL94, ASTM D635

FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry)

This test helps in determining the identification of polymers. FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) is a superb analytical tool for screening and profiling polymer samples.
Test Method: ASTM E1252

Impact Resistance of Plastic Film:

This test helps in determining the impact strength or toughness of a plastic film. This test uses a single dart configuration and a single drop height, while varying the weight of the dart. Test results can be used either as a quality control evaluation or for end use comparisons.
Test Method: ASTM D1709, ISO 7765-1

Izod Impact:

This test helps in determining a material resistance to impact from a swinging pendulum. The result of the Izod test is reported in energy lost per unit of specimen thickness (such as ft-lb/in or J/cm) at the notch (‘t’ in graphic at right).
Test Method: ASTM D256, ISO 180

Melt Flow Index (MFI):

This test helps in measure the rate of extrusion of thermoplastic through an orifice at a prescribed temperature and load. The Melt Flow Index is a measure of the ease of flow of the melt of a thermoplastic polymer. It is defined as the mass of polymer in grams flowing in 10 minutes through a capillary of specific diameter and length by a pressure applied via prescribed alternative gravimetric weights for alternative prescribed temperatures.
Test Method: ASTM D1238, D3364, ISO 1133

Oxygen Concentration to Support Candle-like Combustion of Plastics:

This test helps in determining the minimum concentration of oxygen / nitrogen mixture that will support a flaming burn in a plastic specimen.
Test Method: ASTM D2863

Peel Test:

This test helps in measure the strength required to pull apart a bonded surface. Peel testing is one way to characterize adhesive bonds. It is used extensively to evaluate the bonding strength of tape, adhesives and flexible substrates, including rubber, films, biomaterials, dental materials, medical packaging and consumables. Typical tests involve peeling two bonded flexible adherends from each other, or peeling a flexible bonded adherend from a rigid substrate.
Test Method: ASTM D903, D1876, D3167

QUV (Accelerated Weathering):

This test helps in determining the damaging effects of long term outdoor exposure of materials and coating by exposing test samples to varying conditions of the most aggressive components of weathering –ultraviolet radiation, moisture and heat.
Test Method: ASTM D4329, D4587, ISO 4892, SAE J2020

Resistance of Plastics to Chemical Reagents:

This test helps in determining the evaluation of plastic material for resistance to chemical reagents, simulating performance in potential end user environment. These procedures deal with the evaluation of all plastic materials including hot-molded, cast, laminated resinous products, cold-molded, and sheet materials for resistance to chemical reagents. These methods include provisions for reporting changes in dimensions, weight, strength and appearance properties. Standard reagents are defined to establish results on a comparable basis.
Test Method: ASTM D543

Shear Strength by Punch Tool:

 This test helps in determining the load at which a plastic or film will yield when sheared between two metal edges. Shear strength obtained by the use of punch-type tooling is one of the recognized methods of comparing materials, or obtaining data for engineering design purposes, or both.
Test Method: ASTM D732, A2LA

Surface Resistivity and Volume Resistivity:

This test helps in determining the resistance to leakage current along the surface of an insulating material. Volume resistivity is the resistance to leakage current through the body of an insulating material. The higher the surface/volume resistivity, the lower the leakage current and the less conductive the material is.
Test Method: ASTM D257, IEC60093

Tear Resistance of Plastic Film by Pendulum Method (Elmendorf Tear):

This test helps in measuring the force required to propagate an existing slit a fixed distance to the edge of the test sample. Test Method: ASTM D1922

Tensile Test of Plastics:

This test helps in measuring the force required to break a specimen and the extent to which the specimen stretches or elongates to that breaking point. The ability of a material to resist breaking under tensile stress is one of the most important and widely measured properties of materials used in structural applications. The force per unit area (MPa or psi) required to break a material in such a manner is the ultimate tensile strength or tensile strength at break.
Test Method: ASTM D638, ISO 527

Tensile Tests of Rubber:

This test helps in determining the force required to break a specimen and the extent to which the specimen stretches or elongates to that breaking point. The ability of a material to resist breaking under tensile stress is one of the most important and widely measured properties of materials used in structural applications. The force per unit area (MPa or psi) required to break a material in such a manner is the ultimate tensile strength or tensile strength at break.
Test Method: ASTM D412

Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA):

This test helps in determining the composition of the sample, including volatiles and inert filler as well as indications of thermal stability. Thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis is used for determination of endotherms, exotherms, weight loss on heating or cooling, and more. Materials analyzed by TGA include polymers, plastics, composites, laminates, adhesives, food, coatings, pharmaceuticals, organic materials, rubber, petroleum, chemicals, explosives and biological samples.
Test Method: ASTM E1131, ISO 11358

Vicat Softening Temperature:

This test helps in determining the temperature at which a flat ended needle penetrates the specimen to the depth of 1 mm under a specific load.
Test Method: ASTM D1525, ISO 306

Viscosity of Polymers:

This test helps in determining the molecular weight of polymers. This practice covers the determination of the dilute solution viscosity of polymers.
Test Method: ASTM D2857, D4603

Water Absorption:

This test helps in determining the amount of water absorbed under specified conditions. The tendency of plastics to absorb moisture simply cannot be overlooked since even the slight amount of water can significantly alter some key mechanical, electrical, or optical property. Water absorption characteristic of plastics depend largely upon the basic type and the final composition of the material.
Test Method: ASTM D570

Xenon-Arc Exposure (Weather-Ometer):

This test helps in determining the damaging effects of long term outdoor exposure of material and coating.
Test Method: ASTM D2565, D4459, G155, SAE J1885, J2527, J1960

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