ASTM D413 Rubber Property-Adhesion to Flexible Substrate

ASTM D413 determines the adhesion strength required to separate a rubber layer from a flexible substrate such as a fabric, fiber, or sheet metal. Our universal testing machines can be used to perform the method described in this standard.

In an adhesion test, a layer is stripped off a test specimen using an applied tensile force - this results in tearing at the bonded surfaces. The value of interest is the Adhesion Strength - defined as the average force divided by the width of the specimen.

The standard defines three types of specimens: Type A - 180º peel, Type B - 90º peel, and Ring specimens. For testing specimens Type A and Type B, we recommend using pneumatic side action grips for ease of use, productivity, and repeatability. Screw side action grips can also provide an adequate and affordable solution for this test. Either of these grips can be used with different types of jaw faces. Serrated jaw faces are typically used for metal or rigid materials and smooth or rubber coated jaw faces are used for softer materials. For a 90º peel test using Type B or ring specimens, we engineered a 90º peel fixture that holds and moves the substrate at the same time as the strip is peeled off by an upper grip.

In peel tests, the data acquisition rate is critical for repeatable and accurate results. High, uniform data acquisition rates coupled with a proper bandwidth provide the best results. High data rates allow the capturing of crital, fast changes in the material behavior. Some systems claim to offer high data rates but have a limited data buffer which limits the test time. An improper bandwidth can either introduce system noise or filter out actual test data points - all of which can lead to inaccurate test results.