An American National Standard

Designation: D 4495 – 00

Standard Test Method for

Impact Resistance of Poly(Vinyl Chloride) (PVC) Rigid
Profiles by Means of a Falling Weight1
This standard is issued under the fixed designation D 4495; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A
superscript epsilon (e) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.

1. Scope * 3.2 Definitions of Terms Specific to This Standard:

1.1 This test method covers the determination of the energy 3.2.1 failure— the presence of a brittle failure readily
required to crack or break rigid poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) visible by the naked eye, including a sharp crack, split, or
profile under specified conditions of impact by means of a shatter in any part of the profile as a result of the impact of the
falling weight. falling weight. Failure does not include ductile tears (where the
1.2 This test method is able to be used by itself or in surfaces at the tip of the crack have a greater than 0° angle), or
conjunction with other methods of measuring PVC product ductile breaks (hinged breaks where the cracked part remains
toughness. joined to the unbroken part throughout the length of the
1.3 Because of the wide variety of profile sizes and shapes cracked part or section), (Fig. 1).
and the wide variety of manufacturing procedures and field 3.2.2 mean failure height—the height from which the
abuse, this test method does not correlate universally with all falling weight will cause 50 % of the specimens to fail.
types of abuse. Therefore, correlations must be established as 3.2.3 mean failure energy—energy required to produce
needed. 50 % failures. The product of the weight and mean failure
1.4 The text of this standard references notes and footnotes height.
which provide explanatory material. These notes and footnotes 3.2.4 outlier—an observation that appears to deviate mark-
(excluding those in tables and figures) shall not be considered edly from other members of the sample in which it occurs.
as requirements of this standard. 4. Summary of Test Method
1.5 The values stated in inch-pound units are to be regarded
as the standard. 4.1 The profile is cut into lengths of at least 6 in. The test
method establishes the height from which a standard falling
NOTE 1—There is no equivalent or similar ISO standard. weight will cause 50 % of the specimens to fail.
1.6 This standard does not purport to address all of the
safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the 5. Significance and Use
responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro- 5.1 The impact strength of PVC profiles relates to suitability
priate safety and health practices and determine the applica- for service and to quality of processing. Impact tests are used
bility of regulatory limitations prior to use. for quality-control purposes and as an indication that products
can withstand handling during assembling, installation, or in
2. Referenced Documents service.
2.1 ASTM Standards: 5.2 Results obtained by use of this test method can be used
D 618 Practice for Conditioning Plastics and Electrical in two ways:
Insulating Materials for Testing2 5.2.1 As the basis for establishing impact-test requirements
D 883 Terminology Relating to Plastics2 in product standards, and
E 178 Practice for Dealing with Outlying Observations3 5.2.2 To measure the effect of changes in materials or
processing.
3. Terminology
3.1 Definitions—Definitions are in accordance with Termi- 6. Apparatus
nology D 883, unless otherwise indicated. 6.1 General—One type of impact tester is illustrated in Fig.
2.
1
6.2 Falling Weight, shall be cylindrical and 2 1⁄2 in. in
This test method is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee D20 on Plastics
and is the direct responsibility of Subcommitte D20.24 on Plastic Building Products. diameter, with a flat-bottom surface that strikes the test
Current edition approved July 10, 2000. Published September 2000. Originally specimen.
published as D 4495 – 85. Last previous edition D 4495 – 98.
2
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 08.01. NOTE 2—It is suggested that the striking portion of the weight be made
3
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 10.03. of scratch-resistant steel to reduce damage to the striking surface. Badly

*A Summary of Changes section appears at the end of this standard.

Copyright © ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, United States.

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 D 4495

FIG. 1 Types of Breaks

scarred surfaces may affect test results. dropped at steps of 2 in. (50 mm) for a distance of 2 to 10 ft
6.2.1 The mass of the falling weight shall be 10 6 0.5 lb. (600 mm to 3 m) above the flat-plate holder, to release the
6.3 Drop Tube, shall be of sufficient length (approximately weight in a reproducible manner, and to allow the weight to fall
12 ft (4 m)) to provide for a fall of at least 10 ft (3 m) and shall freely.
be mounted so that the lengthwise direction is vertical, as 6.4 Specimen Holder—The flat plate shall be used as a
measured with a plumb bob or a spirit level at least 2 ft (600 specimen holder.
mm) in length. 6.4.1 The rigid steel flat-plate holder shall consist of a plate
6.3.1 Care must be taken to ensure that the weight falls approximately 8 by 12 by 1 in. (200 by 300 by 25 mm). The
freely; it must not “chatter” down the tube. specimen holder shall be fastened to a concrete slab (floor).
Means shall be provided to center the specimens under the drop
NOTE 3—No particular material for the drop tube is specified. However, tube.
a cold-drawn seamless steel tubing with an inside diameter of 2 5⁄8 to 2
3⁄4in. (67 to 70 mm) has been found to be satisfactory. It may also be
7. Test Specimens
necessary to provide a protective barrier around the specimen, particularly
for larger sizes of profile, to protect the operator from flying broken 7.1 The profile shall be not less than 6 in. (150 mm) in
pieces. length.
NOTE 4—The dropped weight may not fall freely if the clearance 7.2 When the approximate mean-failure height for a given
between the weight and tube is too large or too small, or if it is restrained sample is known, 20 specimens usually yield sufficiently
by a partial vacuum above the weight, such as can be caused by the hold precise results. If the mean failure height is not able to be
and release device. approximated, six or more specimens shall be used to deter-
6.3.2 Means shall be provided to hold the weight to be mine the appropriate starting point of the test.

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 D 4495
9.3 After raising the weight, place the specimen on the
specimen holder between two pair of snug-fitting right-angle-
slotted brackets in such a way that it rests in the most stable
position and is centered under the weight. The brackets are
used to prevent any lateral movement of the profile and any
sliding out during impact.
NOTE 6—During the round robin, it was found that choice of the side of
the profile impacted made no difference on impact resistance. Even then,
the position was defined so that it is likely that all would hit the same side.
9.4 Raise the weight in the tube to the approximate failure
height value for the specific sample and release it so that it
drops on the specimen.
NOTE 7—Height is determined as the distance between the top surface
of the profile and which is under impact, and the bottom surface of the
falling weight.
9.5 Remove the specimen and examine it to determine
whether or not it has failed.
9.6 If the first impact of the specimen results in failure,
decrease the drop height one increment. If the first impact of
the specimen does not cause failure, increase the drop height
one increment. Then test a second specimen.
9.7 In this manner, select the impact height for each
successive test from the results observed with the specimen just
previously tested. Do not test the same target point on a
specimen more than once.
9.8 Keep a running plot of the data. See Appendix X1. Use
one symbol, such as “X” to indicate a failure and a different
symbol such as “O” to indicate a non-failure at each height
level.
9.9 For any specimen that gives a break behavior that
appears to be an outlier, the conditions of that impact shall be
examined. The specimen is discarded only if a unique cause for
the anomaly can be found, such as an internal flaw visible in
the broken specimen. Note that break behavior varies widely
within a set of specimens. Data from specimens that show
FIG. 2 Testing Apparatus
atypical behavior shall not be discarded simply on the basis of
such behavior. Refer to Practice E 178 for detailed information
NOTE 5—As few as five specimens often yield sufficiently reliable on how outliers shall be handled.
estimates of the mean failure height. However, in such cases, the estimated
standard deviation will be relatively large.4 10. Calculation
8. Conditioning 10.1 Mean Failure Height (Procedure A)— Calculate the
8.1 Unless otherwise specified, condition the test specimens mean failure height from the test data obtained as follows:
at 73.4 6 3.6°F (23 6 2°C) and 50 6 5 % relative humidity for h 5 ho 1 dh ~A/ N 6 0.5!
not less than 24 h prior to test in accordance with Procedure A
of Methods D 618. In cases of disagreement, the tolerance shall where:
be 61.8°F (61°C) and 62 % relative humidity. h = mean failure height, in. (cm),
dh = increment of weight height, in. (cm),
8.2 Quality-Control Tests—Condition the test specimens at
N = total number of failures or non-failures, whichever is
73.4 6 3.6°F (23 6 2°C) for 4 h in air.
smaller. For ease of notation, call whichever are used
9. Procedure “events”,
ho = lowest height at which an event occurred, in. (cm),
9.1 Cut the profile into samples 6 in. (152 mm) long. A = k
9.2 Choose a specimen at random from the sample. ( ini, i50
i = 0, 1, 2 . . . k (counting index, starts at ho),
4
ni = number of events which occurred at hi, and
Brownless, K. A., Hodges, J. L., Jr., and Rosenblatt, Murray, “The Up-and-
Down Method With Small Samples”, American Statistical Association Journal, hi = ho+ idh.
JSTNA, Vol 48, 1953, pp. 262–277. In calculating h, the negative sign is used when the events

3
 D 4495
are failures. The positive sign is used when the events are 11.1.4 Mean failure energy.
non-failures. 11.1.5 Estimated standard deviation.
10.2 Mean Failure Energy (Procedure A)— Compute the 11.1.6 Any departures from the specified test procedures.
mean failure energy as follows:
12. Precision and Bias
MFE 5 h 3 w
12.1 Precision—An interlaboratory study with five labora-
where: tories was conducted in which various rigid poly(vinyl chlo-
MFE = mean failure energy, in./lb (J), ride) (PVC) extruded profiles were tested by means of a falling
h = mean failure height, in. (cm), and weight.
w = weight. 12.1.1 The average within-laboratory and between-
10.3 Estimated Standard Deviation—Calculate the esti- laboratory coefficients of variation were as follows:
mated standard deviation from the test data as follows: Average V

FF
s 5 1.620 d
~NB 2 A 2 !
N 2 G 1 0.029 G Within Laboratory
13.6
Between Laboratory
23.5
k
B5 ( i 2 ni where:
i50 V = 100 S
MFE average
11. Report
11.1 The report shall include the following: 12.2 Bias—No statement of bias is provided because of the
11.1.1 Complete identification of the sample tested, manu- lack of a referee method for impact behavior of plastics which
facturer’s code, form, and previous history. can provide a “true” or reference value.
11.1.2 Weight being used.
11.1.3 Number of test specimens (target points) employed 13. Keywords
to determine the mean failure height. 13.1 impact resistance; profile toughness; PVC rigid profiles

APPENDIX

(Nonmandatory Information)

X1. SAMPLE CALCULATIONS

Height in. Outcome of

X—Failure 0—Non-Failure
40
38
36
34
32
30 X X X X
28 X O X O O X O
26 O O O O
24 O
22 X O
20 O O

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 D 4495

Height in. Nx No i Ni iNi i2Ni

30 4 0 4 4 16 64
28 3 4 3 3 9 27
26 0 4 2 0 0 0
24 0 1 1 0 0 0
22 1 1 0 1 0 0
20 0 2
Totals 8 12 8 25 91
(Nx) (No) (N) (A) (B)

ho 5 22, N 5 Nx 5 7 d 5 2 in.
A
S
h 5 ho 1 d N 2 0.5 D
S 5 1.620 d S NB2A 2
N2
1 0.029 D
h
25
S
5 22 1 2 8 2 0.5 D S 5 1.620~2! S 7282625
64 1 0.29 D
S 5 5.3 in.
h 5 27.2 in.

SUMMARY OF CHANGES

Committee D 20 has identified the location of the following (2) Added reference to Practice E 178 in 2.1.
changes to this standard since the last issue (D 4495-95) that (3) Defined outlier in 3.2.
may impact on the use of this standard. (4) Detailed outlier handling instructions in 9.9.
(1) Clarified notes and footnotes in 1.4. (5) Removal of permissive language in document.

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