National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN ISO 9073‑3:2023. It is identical to ISO 9073‑3:2023. It supersedes BS EN 29073‑3:1992, which is withdrawn.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee TCI/100, Co-ordination of activities in textiles and clothing.

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.

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 38, Textiles,in collaboration with the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) Technical Committee CEN/TC 248, Textiles and textile products,in accordance with the Agreement on technical cooperation between ISO and CEN (Vienna Agreement).

This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO 9073‑3:1989), which has been technically revised.

The main changes are as follows:

the title has been changed from "Textiles — Test methods for nonwovens — Part 3: Determination of tensile strength and elongation" to "Nonwovens — Test methods — Part 3 Determination of tensile strength and elongation at break using the strip method";
the mandatory Terms and definitions clause (Clause 3) has been added and subsequent clauses have been renumbered;
8.2 has been revised.

A list of all parts in the ISO 9073 series can be found on the ISO website.

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.

This corrected version of ISO 9073‑3:2023 incorporates the following corrections:

in Clause 15, list items q) and r) have been corrected.

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 27 May 2023.

This European Standard was corrected and reissued by the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre on 14 May 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, 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 United Kingdom.

European foreword

This document (EN ISO 9073‑3:2023) has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 38 "Textiles" in collaboration with Technical Committee CEN/TC 248 “Textiles and textile products” the secretariat of which is held by BSI.

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 December 2023, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by December 2023.

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 29073‑3:1992.

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 9073‑3:2023, Corrected version 2025-05 has been approved by CEN as EN ISO 9073‑3:2023 without any modification.

1 Scope

This document specifies a test method for the determination of the breaking force and elongation of nonwovens using a strip method in conditioned or wet state. This test method describes two procedures, Option A (width of test specimen: 25 mm) and Option B (width of test specimen: 50 mm).

This document specifies methods using constant rate of specimen extension (CRE) tensile testers. Constant rate of loading (CRL) instruments is covered, for information, in ISO 2062:2009, Annex A, in recognition of the fact that these instruments are still in use and can be used by agreement.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Principle

5 Reagents and materials

5.1

5.2

5.3

6 Apparatus

6.1 Tensile testing machine (CRE or CRL)

6.2 Clamps and jaw faces

6.3 Container

7 Conditioning

8 Sampling

8.1 General

8.2 Laboratory sample

8.3 Test specimens

9 Preparation of specimens

9.1 General

9.2 Dimensions

9.3 Wet test specimens

10 Preparation, calibration and verification of apparatus

10.1 Tensile testing machine

10.2 Clamping system

10.3 Verification of the total operating system of the apparatus

11 Procedure

11.1 Gauge length

11.2 Rate of extension

11.3 Mounting of test specimens

11.4 Operation

11.5 Slippage

11.6 Jaw breaks

12 Calculation

12.1 Breaking force

12.2 Measurement of apparent elongation

12.3 For each testing situation

13 Expression of results

14 Precision

15 Test report

Bibliography

BS EN ISO 9073-3:2023

Nonwovens. Test methods - Determination of tensile strength and elongation at break using the strip method

Current

Published:

30 Jun 2025