Standards a Thermoplastic Elastomer Industry Must Pass

A thermoplastic elastomer is one of the widely used plastic materials in the market and in several industries. They belong to a category of rubber-like materials that provide both the characteristics of rubber & plastic. They are recyclable like rubbers and deliver the processing advantages of plastics. This is the reason they are in broad use in many verticals.  They are most used by verticals like automotive, medical devices, construction, electronic devices, electrical appliances, plastic and flexible packaging and industrial markets. In addition to that new uses of Thermoplastic elastomers are developed all the time in many new industries.

When any material holds this huge demand in the market, the government bodies set some rules and regulations on them which are also termed as standards which that material must pass or clear for being approved to be used by any particular vertical. These standards are very crucial and must be achieved to survive the race.

What standards does a thermoplastic elastomer must comply with?

ASTM D 1238 is the most-renowned standard or regularization which the thermoplastic elastomer industry must know about. This standard testing procedure is conducted to evaluate the Melt Flow Rates of Thermoplastics through an Extrusion Plastometer (tester).

This test procedure helps examine and evaluate the extrusion rate of molten thermoplastic elastomer resins using high-standard quality testing equipment. In this procedure, first, the equipment is preheated for a specified time period. The sample resin to be tested is extruded through a die which is cast based on a specified length and orifice diameter. The test is always performed under defined parameters of temperature, pressure, and the position of the piston in the barrel.

As the ASTM D 1238 standard test is important to conduct, it is equally vital to conduct this test through high precision based testing equipment.

Melt Flow Index Test (MFI) is a calculative examination of the quantity of plastic sample excreted through a die of fixed dimensions at a specified temperature within 10 min of time. This set standard procedure when applied to different categories of plastic material, it helps to distinguish the quality of the materials tested. This procedure is frequently used to compare quality grades of the same or different polymer, as it indicates the molecular weight of the sample.

Melt Flow Index Tester is considered to be the most precision based equipment for conducting polymer quality testing through MFI test. The tester is regularized by ASTM D 1238 and ISO 1133 and ensures higher accuracy in test results. The machine is equipped with a highly advanced Microprocessor-based Digital Temperature Controller that delivers a Temperature Range Upto 400 degrees celsius. It comes with Accessories like Orifice, Piston, Material charger, Barrel Cleaner, Orifice cleaner, and automated Sample Cutter.