Concerns regarding low temperature behavior may range from the need for basic specification compliance tests to actual service demands for performance in very cold, harsh environments.

Our plastic and rubber testing laboratories are uniquely equipped to conduct low temperature properties testing for:
  • Brittleness: This test determines either the lowest temperature at which materials do not exhibit brittle failure or the temperature where 50% of test pieces fail under specified conditions.
  • Crystallization: This test determines either the increase in hardness after a specified storage time or the time required for a specified increase in hardness to occur. We can test to sub-ambient temperatures down to -55°C. 
  • Retraction: The low temperature retraction procedure (known as the TR test), measures the retraction as a function of temperature of pre-strained, sufficiently cooled test pieces. Our lowest achievable temperature is approximately -73°C. The technique yields the temperatures which correspond to 10, 30, 50, and 70 retraction, which are designated TR10, TR30, TR50, and TR70 respectively.
  • Torsion / Stiffening: The low temperature stiffening procedure (known as the Gehman test), measures the torsional stiffness of test pieces as a function of temperature. We can start from a low temperature of approximately -70°C. The technique yields torsional and relative modulus values as well as an apparent torsional modulus of rigidity value.
We can also determine the glass transition temperature (Tg) of a material. This is the temperature range in which a hard, rigid thermosetting polymer changes to a more elastic, "rubberized" form. 

Common Standards for Low Temperature Properties Testing

  • ASTM 1329— Standard Test Method for Evaluating Rubber Property—Retraction at Lower Temperatures (TR Test)
  • ASTM D2137— Standard Test Methods for Rubber Property—Brittleness Point of Flexible Polymers and Coated Fabrics
  • BS ISO 2921— Rubber, vulcanized -- Determination of low-temperature retraction (TR test)
  • ISO 1432— Rubber, vulcanized or thermoplastic -- Determination of low-temperature stiffening (Gehman test)
  • ISO 3387— Rubber -- Determination of crystallization effects by hardness measurements
  • ISO 812— Rubber, vulcanized or thermoplastic -- Determination of low-temperature brittleness
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