Optimum safety and reliability is achieved by a comparison among different
laboratories - coordinated by the Kunststoff-Institut.
By participating in the so-called proficiency test, laboratories are testing
themselves and each other in order to verify their own test procedures as well
as their comparability. The procedure is very simple yet highly efficient: equivalent
samples are sent to the laboratories where they are then analyzed according to
previously defined parameters. The results are then sent to the Kunststoff-Institut
for evaluation. "As long as they are within a certain tolerance range, everything
is OK. If one of the laboratories produces individual values that drastically
deviate from the others, something went wrong with the test". Proficiency
testing will be carried out once a year.
A large number of different laboratories is taking part each year, a total
number of 114 institutes and companies from 11 countries (such as the USA,
Malaysia, Spain, Denmark, etc.) took part in the proficiency test series
2009, with roughly 500 registrations for 50 procedures. Participants ranged
from the automotive industry and raw material producers to engineering consultants.
This is an indicator of the high quality of the procedure. By the way, the complete
results will later be made anonymous and sent out to the participants. Only the
corresponding laboratories will receive their own results, so they can react
appropriately. This is of particular importance to accredited and/or certified
laboratories, which are subject to increased quality demands. "The proficiency
test is an important and well functioning corrective."
The participation
in the proficiency test will enable you to see if the mechanical testing or
analyses results are comparable to those achieved in other laboratories. They
are, therefore, an important instrument of external quality control for laboratories
and are used to determine and/or verify the accuracy of measuring methods,
in which they document the performance of your own laboratory.
Participation
in the proficiency tests is recommended, in particular, for test centres and
laboratories certified per an ISO 9000 QA system or accredited per EN ISO/IEC
17025.
The performance of single requires a minimum of five participants. Participation
in individual test procedures is possible. Samples and materials will be supplied
by the Kunststoff-Institut Lüdenscheid. For each test method two materials
or samples are provided.
Timing for the Proficiency Test 2010:
| Deadline for Registration: |
Middle of February 2010 |
| Distribution of samples: |
End of March 2010 |
| Submit the results: |
June 2010 |
| Final report (evaluation): |
August 2010 |
The following test and analysis methods are offered in 2010:
Exposure to sunlight and evaluation with greyscale and Colorimetry:
- Light
fastness acc. to VDA 75202 – 3 A4 NEW !!!
- Sun light
simulation acc. to DIN 75220 D-IN1-T NEW !!!
The evaluation is performed by the participant with greyscale and at the Kunststoff-Institut
with greyscale and Colorimetry.
Mechanical properties of plastics:
- Tensile test acc. to ISO 527 (Determination of the Yield modulus)
- Tensile test acc. to ISO 527 (Determination of the tensile strength and
elongation)
- Tensile test at higher temperature acc. to ISO 527 (Determination of the
yield modulus, tensile strength, elongation at break (1 material)
- Tensile test at lower temperature acc. to ISO 527 (Determination of the
yield modulus, tensile strength, elongation at break (1 material)
- Flexural modulus acc. to ISO 178
- 3.5 % flexural stress acc. to ISO 178
- Flexural strength and elongation at flexural strength acc. to ISO 178
- Charpy flexural impact acc. to ISO 179
- Charpy flexural impact at -30°C acc. to ISO 179
- Izod flexural impact acc. to ISO 180
- Dynstat (notch-) flexural impact test acc. to DIN 53435
- 3.5 % flexural stress / Dynstat acc. to DIN 53435
- Instrumented impact test acc. to ISO 6603-2 NEW !!!
Specimen injection moulding and mechanical properties:
- Specimen injection moulding (1A) and tensile test acc. to ISO 527 (Yield
modulus and tensile strength)
- Specimen injection moulding (1A) and flexural test acc. to ISO 178 (Flexural
modulus and Flexural strength)
- Specimen injection moulding (1A) and Charpy flexural impact acc. to ISO
179
Manufacturing of specimen (cutting) and mechanical properties:
- Manufacturing
of specimen (1A) and tensile test acc. to ISO 527 (Yield modulus and tensile
strength) NEW !!!
Thermal properties of plastics:
- Determination of the melting point and the enthalpy with DSC-Analysis acc.
to ISO 11357-3
- Determination of the glass transition temperature with DSC-Analysis acc.
to ISO 11357-2
- Determination of the Oxidation Induction Time (OIT) with DSC-Analysis acc.
to ISO 11357-6
- Determination of the glass fibres and talcum content with thermogravimetry-analysis
(TGA) acc. to ISO 1135
- Vicat softening point acc. to ISO 306
- Heat deflection temperature acc. to ISO 75
- Coefficient of linear thermal expansion acc. to DIN 53752
Rheological properties of plastics:
- Melt flow/volume index MFR/MVR acc. to ISO 1133
- Determination of the fluidity of plastics using capillary rheometers acc.
to ISO 11443
- Determination of dynamic mechanical properties / Complex shear viscosity
using a parallel-plate acc. to ISO 6721-10
Chemical and physical properties of plastics:
- Density acc. to ISO 1183 part 1
- Determination of the viscosity number (concentrated sulphuric acid) acc.
to ISO 307
- Determination of the viscosity number (m-kresol) acc. to ISO 307
- Determination of the viscosity number on PBT (phenol/1.2-dichlorbenzol)
acc. to ISO 1628-5
- Ash content acc. to 1172
Hardness of plastics:
- Shore-D-Hardness acc. to ISO 868
- Ball intention hardness acc. to ISO 2039 part 1
Burning behaviour of plastics:
- Burning rate acc. to FMVSS 302 (DIN 75200)
- Burning rate acc. to UL 94 HB
Emission properties of plastics:
- Odourtest acc .to VDA 270
- Formaldehyde emission acc. to 275
- Total carbon emission acc. to VDA 277
- Fogging / Method A (reflectometric fogging) acc. to DIN 75201
- Fogging / Method B (gravimetric fogging) acc. to DIN 75201
Optical properties of plastics:
- Determination of the gloss grade with reflectometer 60° acc. to ISO
2813 (DIN 67530)
- Determination of the colour (8°/d) ΔL Δa Δb ΔE
acc. to ISO 7724 (DIN 53236-A)
- Determination of the colour (45/0) ΔL Δa Δb ΔE
acc. to DIN 53236-B NEW !!!
Electrical properties of plastics:
- Surface resistivity acc. to IEC 60093
- Volume resistivity acc. to IEC 60093
Properties of rubber and TPE:
- Tensile test acc. to ISO 37 (elongation at break and tensile strength)
- Tensile test at higher temperature acc. to ISO 37 NEW !!!
- Compression set at ambient acc. to ISO 815 on rubber
- Tear strength of rubber / trouser test piece acc. to ISO 34-1
- Tear strength of rubber / angle test piece acc. to ISO 34-1
- Shore-A-Hardness acc. to ISO 868
- IRHD-Hardness on rubber / TPE acc. to ISO 48 (method M)
- Determination of the solvent extract acc. to ISO 1407 NEW !!!
- Determination of the rebound resilience acc. to DIN 53512 (ISO 4662)
- Abrasion resistance on rubber acc. to ISO 4649
Properties of plastic films:
- Tensile test on plastic films acc. to ISO 527-3
- Tear strength of plastic films acc. to DIN 53356
- Tear test on plastic films - trouser tear method acc. to ISO 6383-1
- Tear resistance Elmendorf method acc. to ISO 6383-2
- T-Peel test acc. to ISO 11339
- Determination of stiffness in bending - Method according to Cantilever
acc. to DIN 53362
- Film thickness acc. to ISO 4593
- Determination of the coefficients of friction (static friction and kinetic
friction) acc. to ISO 8295
Test methods and numbers of participants of the individual years:
Downloadable information