This test method is intended to be used in specifications where porosity of cellular plastics has a direct bearing on their end use. For example, for thermal insulation applications, a high percentage of closed cells is necessary to prevent escape of gases and to promote low thermal conductivity. In flotation applications, high closed-cell content generally reduces water absorption.

Before proceeding with this test method, reference shall be made to the specification of the material being tested. Any test specimen preparation, conditioning, or dimensions, or both, and testing parameters covered in the materials specification shall take precedence over those mentioned in this test method. If there are no material specifications, then the default conditions apply.

1.1 This test method covers cellular plastics, which are composed of membranes or walls of polymer separating small cavities or cells. These cells may be interconnecting (open cell), non-connecting (closed cell), or any combination of these types. This test method determines numerical values for open cells. It is a porosity determination, measuring the accessible cellular volume of a material. The remaining volume is that occupied by closed cells and cell walls. Since any conveniently sized specimen can only be obtained by some cutting operation, a fraction of the closed cells will be opened by specimen preparation and will be included as open cells, (see Note 2).

1.2 This test method provides good accuracy on predominantly highly open-celled materials. By not accounting for closed cells that were opened during specimen preparation, the accuracy decreases as the closed cell content increases and as the cell size increases.

1.3 The values as stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard. The values in parentheses are given for reference only.

1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

Note 1—This test method and ISO 4590 use the same basic principles but are significantly different in experimental detail.

Note 2—Two procedures for correcting for cells opened during specimen preparation are described in Appendix X1.1.