BS ISO 16770:2019

What is ISO 16770 - Determine the ESC of polyethylene about?

ISO 16770 discusses plastics. ISO 16770 specifies a method for determining the environmental stress cracking (ESC) resistance of polyethylene (PE) materials in a defined test environment. The test is carried out on notched test specimens machined from moulded sheets/specimens or finished products.  The test specimen is subjected to a static tensile load when immersed into an environment such as a surfactant solution held at a specified temperature.

The time to failure is measured. The method has been specifically developed for polyethylene materials but can be used to evaluate PE products, such as pipes, fusion welds/fittings and blow-moulded PE containers to study the effect of aggressive environments, i.e. dangerous goods and chemicals.

The method is suitable for use with test specimens moulded to chosen dimensions or machined

from compression moulded sheets or injection moulded specimens, or from finished products, such as mouldings and pipes.

Who is ISO 16770 - Determine the ESC of polyethylene for?

ISO 16770 on the Determine the ESC of polyethylene is useful for:

• Plastic manufactures
• Polyethylene manufacturers
• Quality control personnel
• Polyethylene testing laboratories

Why should you use ISO 16770 - Determine the ESC of polyethylene?

Since mid-2000, the full-notch creep test (FNCT) has been widely used as one of the tests characterizing the environmental stress cracking (ESC) of polyethylene (PE) materials used in demanding applications. Among current ESC tests, the FNCT is relatively simple, easy to perform and still a sensitive laboratory-scale test method to characterize ESC resistance of PE materials. The advantage of FNCT is that it enables the evaluation of the whole PE product range by variation of test conditions (test specimen geometry, temperature, medium and load conditions).

ISO 16770 provides you with the terminology and definitions related to polyethylene materials and guides you with the apparatus. ISO 16770 provides you guidance with test specimens, test environment, test procedure and expression of results. ISO 16770 helps you in improving the quality of polyethylene materials. 

What’s changed since the last update?

BS ISO 16770:2019 supersedes BS ISO 16770:2004 which has been withdrawn. BS ISO 16770:2019 includes some technical changes with respect to BS ISO 16770:2004. These include:

• The test conditions for bimodal PE materials with substantially increased crack resistance have been extended on an alternative more aggressive detergent
• The compression moulding conditions for 10 mm × 10 mm test specimen (Type A) have been modified
• The specimen types have been updated, with injection moulded test specimens being included
• Precision data (repeatability) from interlaboratory testing have been included for Type A test specimen