National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN ISO 2440:2025. It is identical to ISO 2440:2025. It supersedes BS EN ISO 2440:2019, which is withdrawn.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee PRI/70, Elastomeric seals for joints in pipework and pipelines.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 July 2025.

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 24 June 2025.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and United Kingdom.

European foreword

This document (EN ISO 2440:2025) has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 45 "Rubber and rubber products" in collaboration with Technical Committee CEN/TC 249 “Plastics” the secretariat of which is held by SIS.

This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by January 2026, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by January 2026.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

This document supersedes EN ISO 2440:2019.

Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards body/national committee. A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN website.

According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.

Endorsement notice

The text of ISO 2440:2025 has been approved by CEN as EN ISO 2440:2025 without any modification.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a) patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 45, Rubber and rubber products, Subcommittee SC 4, Products (others than hoses), in collaboration with the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) Technical Committee CEN/TC 249, Plastics, in accordance with the Agreement on technical cooperation between ISO and CEN (Vienna Agreement).

This fifth edition cancels and replaces the fourth edition (ISO 2440:2019) which has been technically revised.

The main changes are as follows:

addition of subclause 7.2;
addition of Clause 9;
addition of a method for verification in Annex A;
addition of precision data in Annex B.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

The measurement of ageing effects, either by oxidation or hydrolysis by humidity, is used to assess the long-term behaviour of cellular polymeric materials under laboratory conditions. The physical properties of interest are measured before and after the application of the specified treatments.

Test conditions are given for open cellular latex, open- and closed-cell polyurethane foams, and closed-cell polyolefin foams.

The effect of the ageing procedures on any of the physical properties of the material can be examined, but those normally tested are either the elongation and tensile properties, or the compression or indentation hardness properties.

These tests do not necessarily correlate either with service behaviour or with ageing by exposure to light.

If desired, the ageing conditions contained in this document can be applied to composite structures containing any of the above types of cellular material. This can be helpful in the investigation of possible interactions between cellular materials and other substrates. Composite constructions can be in the form of complete finished products or representative small specimens cut there-from.

1 Scope

This document specifies laboratory procedures which are intended to imitate the effects of naturally occurring reactions such as oxidation or hydrolysis by humidity for flexible and rigid cellular polymeric materials.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Apparatus

4.1 For dry heat ageing

4.2 For humidity ageing

4.3 For physical property measurements

5 Test pieces

5.1 Number, size and shape

5.2 Conditioning

6 Procedure

6.1 General

6.2 Dry heat ageing

6.3 Humidity ageing

6.4 Reconditioning

7 Calculation and expression of results

7.1 Calculation

7.2 Validity

7.3 Expression of results

8 Precision data

9 Test report

Bibliography

BS EN ISO 2440:2025

Flexible and rigid cellular polymeric materials. Accelerated ageing tests

Current

Published:

31 Jul 2025