PolymerTesting3 (1983)235-238

REVIEW

ISO 4632. R U B B E R , V U L C A N I Z E D - - C L A S S I F I C A T I O N

If drafts nearing completion are included, well over 50 international standards

on the physical testing of vulcanized rubber have now been prepared by
Technical Committee 45 (Rubber and R u b b e r Products). Several of these will
find their way into the material clauses of product specifications, mainly for
quality control purposes but also for some aspects of performance. However,
on few occasions will more than a handful of test methods be found together,
and in most cases they will represent the old laboratory faithfuls of hardness,
tensile stress/strain, accelerated ageing, compression set, and resistance to oils,
ozone and low temperatures.
What then is the fate of I S O 4 6 6 3 , the determination of low-frequency
dynamic behaviour by a torsion pendulum method, or of ISO 6505, the
assessment of corrosion to metal caused by contact with rubber? No doubt
more specific test methods such as these will be usefully employed for develop-
ment and design purposes, and certainly corrosion of metals is an important
consideration in defence requirements. Yet on an international front the
immediate future would seem to be a reference in ISO 4632. This standard is
the ISO equivalent of one of the best-known national specifications, A S T M
D2000 (Classification system for elastomeric materials for automotive applica-
tions), and in Part I t just published, use is made of nearly 40 of the test
method standards. There is room for more as and when these are required or
become available.
Like A S T M D2000 (and its British counterpart BS 5176), ISO 4632 serves a
dual function. The first objective (described in Part 1) is to classify materials in
terms of physical properties determined by standard laboratory tests. T o
simplify matters these properties and the test methods being used are desig-
nated by a series of letters and digits in order that the material may be
described in a shorthand code better known as, a 'line call-out' specification.
The second objective is to use the classification scheme to list the test
requirements of materials which it is hoped will cater for the majority of
industrial needs.
The primary classification is based on heat resistance (using ISO 188), oil

? ISO 4632/1. Rubber, Vulcanized--Classification--Part l~Description of the Classification Sys-

tem. 1st edition, 1982.

235
Polymer Testing (3) ( 1 9 8 3 ) - © Applied Science Publishers Ltd, England, 1983.
Printed in Northern Ireland
236 REVIEW

resistance (using ISO 1817 and Standard Oil No. 3), and low-temperature
resistance (using the brittleness temperature test described in ISO/R812). The
latter is not used in the ASTM D2000 system and arguments over its value and
the best test method to employ for low-temperature resistance have been just
one of the reasons why ISO 4632 has taken some 30 years to prepare. The
three criteria are used to establish a characteristic three letter material designa-
tion, the first two letters (for heat and oil resistance) having the same meanings
as they have in A S T M D2000. The designation is followed by a four digit
numerical code representing the 'basic physical properties' of initial hardness,
tensile strength, elongation at break, and compression s e t - - t h e last of these
being determined at the temperature established for heat resistance. The final
part of the line call-out is a list of suffix letters and numbers summarizing
additional test requirements. The property specified is indicated by a letter and
the test method and test temperature by two numbers. Take 'C12' for
example. In this, 'C' signifies the property of ozone resistance measured under
static conditions, '1' signifies the standard ISO 1431/1 and a test concentration
of 50 pphm ozone, while '2' signifies a test temperature of 40 °C. In the case of
A27, 'A' represents air oven ageing, '2' represents ISO 188 and an ageing time
of seven days, and '7' represents an oven temperature of 175 °C. Test condi-
tions are normally those recommended for general use in the individual testing
standards (and indeed it is often for the purposes of classification that a
particular option is favoured in test methods). Also, in the interests of standar-
dization, test times for properties such as ageing, compression set and resis-
tance to liquids have been taken from a preferred list (22h, 70h, seven days
and multiples of seven days).
The actual test limits (e.g. the minimum threshold strain in the instance of
C12) are not reported in the line call-out but are indicated by a grade number
given immediately after the numerical code for basic physical properties. For
full details of the requirements the second part of ISO 4632 will need to be
used. At present this is in the form of an ISO Technical Report T R 4 6 3 2 / 2 t
(awaiting publication) and consists of physical property specifications submitted
by three member countries of ISO/TC45---Czechoslovakia, Sweden and the
USA. In all, there are some 550 materials and 153 grades spread over 41
material designations. If every requirement for a particular grade is to be met
(and it is not necessary to do so as long as this is reported in the line call-out)
anything up to 10 tests additional to those for the basic classification may have
to be carried o u t - - t h e average is four to five.
I S O / T R 4632/2 is to be considered for full standard status in not more than
three years after publication. By then it is hoped other member bodies will
have submitted commonly used material specifications and that provision will

t ISO/TR 4632/2. Rubber, Vulcanized--Classification--Part 2--Rubber Materials.

 REVIEW 237

be made for the product standards being prepared by other committees within
ISO/TC45. It is also essential that unnecessary regional variations be elimi-
nated since full standardization does mean the various materials and specifica-
tions are international rather than national. At the moment the tables in the
technical report do little more than highlight differences among countries. For
understandable reasons, Sweden places heavy emphasis on low-temperature
resistance. Although brittleness temperature is part of the basic classification,
all the Swedish materials are required to undergo a temperature-retraction
(TR) test in accordance with ISO 2921, and most are subjected to an additional
ISO/R812 test. Two-thirds also have to meet an ozone-resistance requirement
conducted at 50 or 200 pphm ozone. In contrast, the U S A sees a need for
more stringent compression set requirements, an additional test for this prop-
erly featuring in three-quarters of the ASTM submissions. Only in two grades
out of over 40 do ozone resistance and the T R test appear. Rubber-to-metal
adhesion is also favoured by the U S A although no actual test limits are
included. The specifications from Czechoslovakia show less of a pattern and
appear to be related to particular applications. The properties specified include
resilience, temperature rise in a flexometer, electrical resistivity, D e Mattia flex
life, abrasion resistance and even resistance to dilute sulphuric acid and sodium
hydroxide. None of these is actually used in A S T M D2000. Czechoslovakia also
opts for angle tear whereas Sweden and the USA prefer the crescent test piece.
In all, I S O / T R 4632/2 employs just over half of the testing standards listed
in ISO 4632/1. Outside the basic classification, the most popular measurements
are: heat ageing for 70h and compression set after 22h at the appropriate
temperature; ozone resistance at 50 pphm ozone and 40 °C; brittleness temper-
ature (at temperatures falling between two material designations); temperature
retraction, T R 10 and T R 30; and resistance to water, Standards Oils 1 and 3
(usually together), and hydrocarbon liquids A, B and C (usually either A and B
or B and C together).
One other feature of I S O / T R 4632 deserves mention. As far as possible the
test limits or property values have been brought into line with the list of
preferred gradations given in ISO 1433t (at present at the stage of draft). For
example, the specified maximum percentage decrease in tensile strength after
heat ageing must be selected from the list: 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60%. In
the case of tear strength (angle and crescent test pieces), the permitted values
are 5, 10, 15, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 kN m -~. The aim is to avoid unnecessary
variations in requirements.
Apart from in automotive applications, classification schemes have not
enjoyed the greatest success. Many users find the methods of codification
cumbersome, ambiguous, prone to error and difficult to commit to memory.
t ISO/DIS 1433. Rubber, Vulcanized Solid--List of Properties, their Preferred Gradations and
ISO Test Methods.
238 REVIEW

The detailed grade requirements are often regarded as little more than a
catalogue of test d a t a - - a n d test data of limited value since there is no mention
of composition or of the type of application for which the original rubber or
specification was intended. This is why material specifications based on particu-
lar rubber types (e.g. BS 1154 for natural rubber or BS 2752 for chloroprene
rubber) are considered better starting points. It is simply not enough to know
that vulcanizates meeting the various grade requirements can be prepared.
Furthermore, there are those who feel, with some justification, that standards
like A S T M D2000 overplay the value of small-scale laboratory tests. Another
familiar criticism is that there are too many grades and variations. For example,
listed in BS 5176 under the material designation (MAA) most suited to natural
rubber and styrene-butadiene rubber compounds are six grades and 33 combi-
nations of hardness and tensile strength to which at least three of the grades
apply. This makes a grand total of nearly 150 variations, and M A A is just one
of 20 designations.
On this evidence, the immediate outlook for ISO 4632 would appear to be
bleak. Whilst some (mainly those in colder climes) will welcome the promotion
of low-temperature resistance as a basic classification criterion, others are
bound to see it as an unnecessary complication which merely adds to the
number of material designations (and there are already twice as many in
I S O / T R 4 6 3 2 / 2 as there are in A S T M D2000 or BS5176). Basic property
codes which cannot be understood without reference to a table will also be
criticized. In the ASTM/BS scheme they are shorter and easier to interpret.
Just being different from ASTM D2000 and what has gone before will no
doubt be enough for some to reject the standard.
Yet ISO 4632 does deserve some serious attention for it attempts, or is
intended, to reconcile national and regional differences. The underlying aim is
after all a worthy one: to seek ways of eradicating uncalled-for variations
between specifications and so help to reduce the number of rubber formula-
tions the manufacturers need to have on their shelves. That number can reach
several hundred even in a moderately sized factory. Rationalization is an
important aspect of standardization and is sadly often neglected in product and
material specifications. In its present form, ISO 4632 may not succeed although
only time will tell--it does, however, focus attention on the need.

P. M. LEWIS