Plastics Tensile Testing for ASTM D638

Intertek laboratories provide ASTM D-638 Plastics Tensile Testing data generation services including tensile strength, tensile modulus and elongation.

Tensile tests measure the force required to break a plastic sample specimen and the extent to which the specimen stretches or elongates to that breaking point.

ASTM D-638 tensile test procedure:
Specimens are placed in the grips of the universal tester at a specified grip separation and pulled until failure. For ASTM D 638 the test speed is determined by the material specification. An extensometer is used to determine elongation and tensile modulus.

Elevated or Reduced temperature test procedure:
A thermal chamber is installed on the universal test machine. The chamber is designed to allow the test mounts from the base and crosshead of the universal tester to pass through the top and bottom of the chamber. Standard test fixtures are installed inside the chamber, and testing is conducted inside the controlled thermal environment the same as it would be at ambient temperature. The chamber has internal electric heaters for elevated temperatures and uses external carbon dioxide gas as a coolant for reduced temperatures. The size of the chamber places a limitation on the maximum elongation that can be reached, and extensometers are generally limited to no more than 200° C.

Specimen size: The most common specimen for ASTM D-638 is a Type I tensile bar.  

The following calculations can be made from tensile test results:

  • Tensile strength (at yield and at break)
  • Tensile modulus
  • Strain
  • Elongation and percent elongation at yield
  • Elongation and percent elongation at break
 
Need help or have a question? +1 413 499 0983
 

Need help or have a question?

+1 413 499 0983
Wilton UK:
+44 1642 435 788
Benelux:
+31 88 126 8888
APAC:
+65 6805 4800
Germany:
0800 5855888
+49 711 27311 152
Switzerland:
+41 61 686 4800
Mexico:
01 800 5468 3783
+52 55 5091 2150
Brazil:
+55 11 2322 8033
Australia:
+61 1300 046 837
India:
+91 22 4245 0207
 
 
 
 
 
5756
171
6951/7521/7526/7539/7722/
2869
34359739972
51645,51640
19616,22744,956