This document describes three methods for the measurement of the change of stress in a test piece at a given elongation for the purpose of determining the ageing characteristics of a rubber.
— Method A is intended for measurement under continuous strain conditions.
— Method B is the preferred method for measurement under intermittent strain conditions.
— Method C is an alternative to method B for measurement under intermittent strain conditions in which the test piece is removed from the ageing environment for measurement of the stress at standard laboratory temperature.
Measurements at a single elevated ageing temperature can be used for quality control purposes as a measure of heat-ageing resistance. Measurements at a number of temperatures can be used for research and development purposes to estimate long-term ageing characteristics in accordance with the procedures described in ISO 11346.
Tests under continuous and intermittent strain conditions measure the results of different processes, and hence do not give the same results. The results of the intermittent methods B and C also cannot be expected to be the same as they use different test conditions.