The 2012 version of ISO 527

Plastics: Determination of tensile properties

Helmut Fahrenholz
October 2018

The 2012 version of ISO 527 October 2018

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Contents

History and scope Parts of ISO 527

Significance and use

New version of ISO 527

Test specimen

The tensile test

Comparable materials data

Requirements to the test equipment

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Development of ISO 527-1 and -2
ISO 527 covers plastics as filled and unfilled molding, extrusion and
cast materials, plastic film and sheets, as well as long fiber
reinforced composites.
 Part 1: General principles
 Part 2: Test conditions for molding and extrusion plastics
 Part 3: Test conditions for films and sheets
 Part 4: Test conditions for isotropic and orthotropic fiber-reinforced plastic composites
 Part 5: Test conditions for unidirectional fiber-reinforced plastic composites

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 and 5

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Contents

History and scope

Test specimen Specimen shapes and dimensions

Requirements for the cross-section shape

Measurement of thickness and width

The tensile test

Comparable materials data

Requirements to the test equipment

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Specimen shapes and dimensions
Type 1A for molded and type 1B for machined specimen are used
with ISO 527-2.
 ISO 20753 defines specimen for testing plastics in a general way
For heat ageing tests
 ISO 527-2 defines specimen to be used for tensile tests
CP
 Types 1A (A1) and 1B (A2) are standard specimen for
comparable data CW
 Types 1BA (A22) and 1BB (A25) for reduced-scale
specimen (only informative annex) Only to be used if the

Machined
standard specimen
 Types 5A and 5B which are proportional to ISO 37, types 2 types cannot be used.

Molded
and 3 (only informative annex)
 Types CW and CP (identical to types 2 and 4 from ISO
8256) as small tensile specimen for heat ageing tests
 ISO 293 and 294 define conditions for compression
molding and injection molding of specimen.

1BB
 Specific conditions and specimen shapes may occur in national or
international materials specification standards.

1B

1 BA

5A

5B
1A
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New extensometer gage length
The preferred gage length for specimen type 1A is now increased to
75 mm
 Improved accuracy for modulus measurements
 No influence on yield-point determination
 No significant influence on break-point
determination

L0 = 50 mm
L0 = 75 mm


Machined
Better use of the parallel portion of the 1A

Molded
specimen which is 80 mm long

 But, no change for specimen type 1B !

 Gage length of 50 mm is still allowed, but not
preferred for type 1A
1B
1A
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Dimension measurement
Accurate dimension measurement is needed to obtain accurate
results. ISO 16012 applies for plastics, ISO 23529 for rubber.
 Plastic specimen width can be measured either by a caliper, by a
micrometer or a cross-section measurement station.
 Plastic specimen thickness can be measured by a micrometer or
a cross-section measurement station.
 The contact force is between 5 an 15 N, the measuring face and
anvil is circular flat and typically 6.35 mm (6.5 mm) in diameter.
But other shapes and dimensions are possible.
 The measurement has to be taken in the middle of the specimen Zwick cross-section measurement
station (CSM)
and within the gage length. Injection molded specimen are
measured within 5 mm around the center of the gage length.
 An error of 0.1 mm in
thickness measurement
corresponds to an error
of 2.5 % !
Requirements of ISO 16012 Standard micrometer with ratchet

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Contents

History and scope

Test specimen

Preparation of the tensile machine

The tensile test
Alignment

Pre-stresses, Preload

Test speeds

Tensile modulus
Comparable materials data
Yield point and break point

Requirements to the test equipment Nominal strain

Poisson’s ratio
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Preparation of the tensile machine
Set the machine into a known configuration before starting the test !

 Set the grip-to-grip separation to 115 mm

 Set the force measurement system to zero
before the specimen is gripped at both ends !

115 mm
Forces occurring during the clamping process
in fact are really present on the specimen !
Zwick testing machine

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Alignment
Specimen alignment errors cause problems for the measurement of
tensile modulus
 Misalignment creates bending within the specimen
 For a PBT sample, the modulus changed about 4% for
only 2 mm axial misalignment.

2640

2620

2600
Modulus in MPa

2580

2560

2540

2520

2500
0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5
Misalignment in mm

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Pre-stresses
Pre-stresses that may for example occur during the clamping process shall
be avoided, i.e. by using the force constant hold function of testXpert II.

 Compression stresses during

clamping may change the tensile
modulus by more than 3 %
 testXpert II offers a “force – zero”
control of the testing machine
during clamping that can avoid this
problem.
9550

9500 Example of
9450 variation of
tensile modulus,
Tensile modulus, MPa

9400

9350 Et , at different
9300 compression pre-
stress levels.
testXpert II settings to activate the function “Force constant hold
9250

during clamping”
9200

9150
(PBT GF 10%)
9100
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Compression pre-stress, MPa

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Pre-stress, pre-load
Small positive pre-stresses (σ0) are necessary to avoid a toe region
at the start of the stress/strain diagram.

 The point of pre-stress σ0 is the zero-point

of extension
 This definition ensures a repeatable
starting point of the test which is quite
independent from operator or equipment
influences.
For modulus measurement:
σ0 ≤ Et / 2000
Means that the extension that is cut-off
from the diagram is smaller than 0,05 %.

For measurement of relevant stresses:

σ0 ≤ σ / 100

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Test speeds
Parallel clamping ensures the correct deformation speed being respected.
 The speed for modulus determination shall be set in a way to achieve a strain rate of 1 %/min by
using one of the speeds from table 1 in ISO 527 part 1.
 A crosshead speed of 1 mm/min calculates to a deformation speed of 0.87 %/min. (Std. specimen)
 Self tightening grips lead to low deformation speeds, pre-stressed grips lead to speed variations

speed set point

abt. 250 N

modulus range modulus range modulus range

Self tightening wedge grips Pre-stressed self tightening Parallel clamping pneumatic grips
wedge-screw grips

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Tensile - modulus
The tensile modulus has to be calculated between two strains.

 It is the slope in the stress-strain diagram between 0.05% and 0.25% strain
 It can be calculated as a secant between 2 points or by a linear regression calculation.

Secant slope Regression slope

Easy to use for manual determination, Takes into account all measured points and
statistically sensitive to noisy signals. leads to statistically more safe results.
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Tensile - modulus
Modulus measurement requires for a highly accurate extensometer

Extension measurement for modulus determinations

Requirements to ISO 527-1, §5.1.5.1 :

Since the modulus of elasticity is normally taken on the larger
specimen types 1A or 1B, the accuracy requirement for the
extensometer is ± 1,5 µm for type 1A and ± 1,0 µm for type 1B.
The minimum requirement in terms of resolution, referencing to
ISO 9513, lies therefore at 0.5 microns.
For smaller specimens with smaller gage lengths the requirements
become higher.

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Tensile
Once the modulus determination is completed, the speed has to be
changed. Typical speeds are 5 mm/min or 50 mm/min.
 ISO 527-1 now clearly allows a speed change after modulus determination (§ 9.6)
 Tensile modulus and further tests results can be determined from one single specimen
 The speed change shall occur at strains below or equal 0,3%
 It is preferable to unload the specimen before testing at a different speed, but it is also acceptable
to change the speed without unloading.

Direct speed change Speed change with unloading

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Tensile - yield and break point
ISO and ASTM distinguish between different result determinations
according to the type of stress-strain curve obtained.

Stress-strain curve types:

Curve a: Brittle materials
a Curve b and c: Tough materials with yield point
Curve d: Tough materials without yield point
b
Results:
 Tensile-Modulus, Et
c
 Yield (εy, σy)
 maximum force , σM, εM,
d
 Break point, σB, εB, εtB
Strain results determined beyond
a yield point are measured as
“Nominal Strain”
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Tensile - curve type a
For curve type “a” all results are determined in one single point.

Results of curve type a:

 tensile modulus
 max stress
 max strain

Accuracy requirements for the Extensometers

for further results
ISO 527-1, §5.1.5.1:
“Extensometers shall comply with ISO 9513, class 1, except
for modulus determinations …”

This means that the extensometer shall basically be capable of

measuring the change of gage length with an accuracy of ± 1%
of the reading or ± 3µm, whichever is greater.
Example:
The extension at break for a specimen type 1A is measured at
4%. This corresponds to a change of gage length of 3 mm. The
accuracy requirement at this point is ± 0.030 mm or better.

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Tensile - curve type d
If higher elongations occur, it may be helpful to use a conventional
strain point.

Results of curve type d:

 Modulus
 max stress and strain
 stress and strain at break
 stress at X% strain

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Tensile - curve types b and c
Unfilled thermoplastic materials typically show a yield point
F Inhomogeneous strain distribution beyond yield
F  Below yield, the strain is quite homogenously
distributed within the parallel portion of the
specimen.
 When approaching the yield point, the strain rate
increases within a limited area while it decreases
Flow in other areas.
zones
 Beyond yield very high strain rates can be
observed within the flow zones. These local strain
rates can be more than 10 times higher than the
average strain rate.
Direct strain measurement beyond yield leads
to statistically unsafe results

Below yield Beyond yield

Film
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Nominal strain
The solution is the use of nominal strain. ISO 527-1 defines two
ways of measuring nominal strain.
Method A Method B
 Used in ISO 527 since 1993  New method in ISO 527
 Preferred for use with multipurpose specimens
(types 1A and 1B)

 Needs two graphics to show all results  All results are shown in one diagram
correctly in stress-strain diagrams  There is only one definition for strain.

Strain: ε = ΔL0 / L0 Strain at yield: εy = ΔLy / L0

Nominal Strain: εt = ΔLT / L Strain: εt = εy+ ΔLT / L
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Tensile - curve type b
The point of max. stress is now defined as the first maximum.

The definition of the first maximum avoids, that

the result σM “flickers” between the yield point
and the break point, depending upon the shape
of the curve, as it did in former versions.

Results of curve type b:

 Modulus, Et
 Yield stress, σy
 Yield strain, εy
 Max stress, σM
 Strain at max. stress, εM
 Stress at break, σB
 Nominal strain at break, εtB

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Tensile - curve type c
All strains beyond yield are presented as nominal strains.
Results of curve type c:
 Modulus, Et
 Yield stress, σy
 Yield strain, εy
 Max stress, σM
 Strain at max. stress, εM
 Stress at break, σB
 Nominal strain at break, εtB

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Contents

History and scope

Test specimen

The tensile test

Comparable materials data

Requirements to the test equipment

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Comparable materials data
The CAMPUS working group defined rules for performing more
comparable tests, that have strongly influenced the ISO standards.

Comparable Single Point Data (ISO 10350-1)

 Rheological characteristics (MVR, MFR, shrinkage)
 Mechanical characteristics (tensile, flexural, creep, impact)
 Thermal characteristics (transition temperature, deflection temp.)
 Electrical characteristics (permittivity, dielectric loss factor, ..)
 Other characteristics (water absorption, density, ...)

Comparable Multipoint Data (ISO 11403)

Comparable Design Data (ISO 17282)

See also www.campusplastics.com

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Campus members
CAMPUS members (as per June 2018):

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 Thank you for your attention

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