IS 13360 : Part 6 : Sec 14 : 2004 Plastics - Methods of Testing - Part 6 : Thermal Properties - Section 14 : Standard Test Method for Coefficient of Linear Thermal Expansion of Plastics between -30° C and 30° C with a Vitreous Silica Dilatometer

1. Scope

1.1 This standard (Part 6/See 14) describes a method for determination of the coefficient of linear thermal expansion for plastic materials having coefficients of expansion greater than 1 x 10-6°C by use of a vitreous silica dilatometer.

NOTE - At the test temperatures and under the stresses imposed, the plastic materials shall have a negligible creep or elastic strain rate or both, in so far as these properties would significantly affect the accuracy of the measurements.

1.2 This test method shall not be used for measurements on materials having a very low coefficient of expansion (less than 1 x 10-6°C).

NOTES

1 For materials having very low coefficient of expansion, interferometer or capacitance techniques are recommended.

2 The thermal expansion of a plastic is composed of a reversible component on which are superimposed changes in length due to changes in moisture content, curing, loss of plasticizer or solvents, release of stresses, phase changes and other factors. This test method is intended for determining the coefficient oflinear thermal expansion under the exclusion of these factors as far as possible. In gerreral, it will not be possible to exclude the effect of these factors completely. For this reason, the test method can be expected to give only an approximation to the true thermal expansion.