Shrinkage of a sealant, after application in a building joint, is caused by loss of volatile components from the sealant. This loss results in a decrease in volume and, hence, a change in the sealant's shape. This change in shape, in some applications, should be taken into consideration for acceptable joint appearance and geometry.

The shrinkage value obtained by this test method helps predict the appearance and geometry of the cured sealant in a building joint and is helpful in determining the amount and type of tooling to be done during installation of the sealant.

Latex sealants cure primarily through water evaporation. They may also contain small amounts of other volatile components. However, in this test method all volatiles are treated as water. This assumption still provides a meaningful shrinkage value since the small quantities of other volatiles and their differences in density from that of water do not significantly affect the usefulness of the result obtained.

1.1 This test method covers a laboratory procedure for determining volume shrinkage, which occurs during cure, of a latex sealant.

1.2 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard. The values given in parentheses are provided for information only.

1.3 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—A related ISO standard is ISO 10563. The user should compare to determine how it differs from this test method.