What is oxygen index ASTM?

Oxygen index ASTM refers to the minimum oxygen concentration for plastic materials to burn in an oxygen environment, and is usually used to evaluate the combustion performance of materials. ASTM is the abbreviation of the American Society for Testing and Materials, which has developed a series of standards, including the standard for measuring the oxygen index of plastic materials, namely ASTM D2863.

ASTM D2863 is a standard test method for measuring the oxygen index of plastic materials, which requires the sample to be placed in a closed test chamber connected to a flow meter for a mixed gas of oxygen and nitrogen. During the test, by adjusting the ratio of oxygen and nitrogen, the oxygen concentration is gradually reduced until the sample stops burning or the burning cannot be self-sustained. The oxygen concentration at this time is the oxygen index of the sample.

The advantage of the ASTM D2863 test method is that the test results are accurate and reliable, and the test process is simple and easy. However, this method also has some limitations. First of all, this method is only applicable to plastic materials with a thickness less than 10mm. For materials with a larger thickness, there may be errors in the test results. Secondly, this method can only measure the oxygen index of the material, but cannot determine the actual combustion characteristics of the material, so it needs to be combined with other testing methods for comprehensive evaluation.

In addition to ASTM D2863, there are some other test methods that can also be used to measure the oxygen index of plastic materials, such as GB/T 2406.2-2009 and ISO 4589-2, etc. The basic principles of these test methods are similar, but there may be differences in the test conditions and the expression of the test results.

The oxygen index of plastic materials is an important index to evaluate its combustion performance. For some applications that require high safety, such as electrical equipment and building materials, the oxygen index has higher requirements. Therefore, it is necessary to measure and evaluate the oxygen index of plastic materials.