National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN ISO 306:2022. It is identical to ISO 306:2022. It supersedes BS EN ISO 306:2013, which is withdrawn.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee PRI/21, Testing of plastics.

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 28 February 2023.

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 documents 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).

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).

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 TC 61, Plastics, Subcommittee SC 2, Mechanical behavior, 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 sixth edition cancels and replaces the fifth edition (ISO 306:2013), which has been technically revised.

The main changes are as follows.

The document has been updated to allow for the use of commercial universal equipment (i.e. covering both ISO 75 and ISO 306) and modern testing practices.

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 European Standard was approved by CEN on 20 October 2022.

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 306:2022) has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 61 "Plastics" in collaboration with Technical Committee CEN/TC 249 “Plastics” the secretariat of which is held by NBN.

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 May 2023, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by May 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 ISO 306:2013.

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 306:2022 has been approved by CEN as EN ISO 306:2022 without any modification.

1 Scope

1.1

This document specifies four methods for the determination of the Vicat softening temperature (VST) of thermoplastic materials:

Method A50 using a force of 10 N and a heating rate of 50 °C/h;
Method B50 using a force of 50 N and a heating rate of 50 °C/h;
Method A120 using a force of 10 N and a heating rate of 120 °C/h;
Method B120 using a force of 50 N and a heating rate of 120 °C/h.

1.2

The methods specified are applicable only to thermoplastics, for which they give a measure of the temperature at which the thermoplastics start to soften rapidly.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Principle

5 Apparatus

5.1 Means of producing penetration

5.2 Indenter

5.3 Heating equipment

5.4 Weights

5.5 Temperature-measuring device

5.6 Penetration-measuring device

5.7 Micrometers and gauges

6 Test specimens

6.1

6.2

6.3

6.4

7 Conditioning

8 Procedure

8.1

8.2

8.3

8.4

8.5

8.6

9 Precision

10 Test report

Bibliography

BS EN ISO 306:2022

Plastics. Thermoplastic materials. Determination of Vicat softening temperature (VST)

Current

Published:

28 Feb 2023