Plastics, Fibre & Fibreglass

Testing for polymer compounders, film and pipe extruders, moulders and GRP fabricators — melt flow, tensile, impact, thermal and glass content.

Melt flow index is the number quoted on every enquiry and the one most often quoted meaninglessly. ASTM D1238 and ISO 1133 give comparable results only when the temperature and the load are the same, and 190 °C/2.16 kg, 190 °C/5 kg and 230 °C/2.16 kg are all casually called "MFI" — an MFI without its condition is not a specification, it is a rumour. The same discipline runs down the rest of the bench: intrinsic viscosity on PET is determined in a phenol / tetrachloroethane mixture, glass content in a GRP laminate is a loss-on-ignition determination, and both are decided by the reagent and the furnace rather than by the instrument. We quote the condition and the reagent alongside the apparatus.

Tests run here

  • Melt flow index at stated temperature and load
  • Tensile strength, elongation and modulus
  • Flexural strength and modulus
  • Izod and Charpy notched impact
  • Heat deflection temperature and Vicat softening point
  • Density, ash and carbon black content
  • Intrinsic viscosity of PET
  • Glass content by loss on ignition and Barcol hardness on GRP laminates

Governed by

  • ASTM D638 tensile, ASTM D790 flexural and ASTM D256 impact
  • ASTM D1238 and ISO 1133 — melt flow rate
  • ISO 527 tensile, ISO 306 Vicat softening and ASTM D648 heat deflection
  • IS 4984 for polyethylene pipes, IS 4985 for uPVC pipes and IS 15748 for PET
  • ISO 1172 and ASTM D2584 — glass content of reinforced plastics
  • BIS certification (ISI mark) under the Quality Control Orders now covering polymer resins and plastic pipes
  • plastics-and-rubber
  • physical-properties

What this sector draws on

Send us your test schedule for this laboratory.

We will map it to grades, pack sizes and instrument specifications, and flag anything that is over-specified for what you are actually measuring.