ISO 2233 Transport package temperature and humidity test

Information on the most widely used ASTM standards within the materials testing industry

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Mechanical testing in the transportation industry concerns the load-bearing and fatigue resistance performance of core components such as vehicles, tracks, and containers, directly ensuring transport safety and equipment durability. UnitedTest can cover mechanical testing for all types of transportation materials, complying with national and international standards, and provides customized testing solutions including tensile, fatigue, and impact tests.

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Testing of rubber and elastomers is used to assess the various properties and performance of materials under different conditions. This is crucial for ensuring the safety, functionality, and quality of rubber and elastomer products used in industries such as automotive, construction, consumer goods, and aerospace.

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Tensile test evaluates material resistance to stretching, measuring strength/elongation critical for quality control. UnitedTest offers universal tensile testers (10-600KN) compliant with ASTM/ISO standards, providing tailored solutions for metals, polymers, medical & industrial materials.

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Flexural & Bend tests evaluate material resistance to bending forces, measuring strength, stiffness and ductility for quality assurance. UnitedTest provides flexural testing machines (3-point/4-point bend) compliant with ASTM/ISO standards, offering tailored solutions for composites, plastics, metals and construction materials.

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Pressure test evaluates material/component resistance to static/dynamic pressure, critical for sealing, strength and safety validation. UnitedTest offers pressure testing machines compliant with ASTM/ISO standards, covering burst, hold-pressure tests, and tailored solutions for industrial, automotive & medical sectors.

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ISO 2233 — Packaging – Complete, Filled Transport Packages and Unit Loads – Conditioning for Testing

ISO 2233 establishes unified environmental conditioning rules for filled transport packages and unit loads. It is a mandatory pre-test procedure for nearly all packaging performance tests, aiming to stabilize the physical state of packaging materials and ensure test data is accurate, repeatable and comparable across laboratories worldwide.

Test Principle

The fundamental principle is to expose test specimens (filled transport packages or unit loads) to predefined constant temperature and relative humidity for a specified duration. This process allows packaging materials to reach moisture equilibrium with the surrounding atmosphere, eliminating the influence of ambient temperature and humidity fluctuations on material properties such as stiffness, compression resistance and flexibility. After conditioning, specimens maintain a stable physical state for subsequent mechanical tests.

Specific test methods:

ISO 2233 does not define mechanical test methods; it provides one universal conditioning procedure with multiple selectable environmental profiles to match real transport and storage scenarios:

Select a suitable temperature and relative humidity combination from 12 standardized atmospheric conditions based on the package’s actual service environment.

Place specimens inside a qualified conditioning chamber and maintain the set environment for a chosen minimum duration.

For hygroscopic materials (e.g., fibreboard, corrugated cartons) with obvious hysteresis effects, perform pre-drying treatment before formal conditioning when the target relative humidity is higher than 40%.

After conditioning is completed, transfer specimens to conduct follow-up packaging tests promptly, and keep the test environment as consistent with the conditioning environment as possible.

Test Specimens

A complete, filled transport package or unit load.

The specimen must be in its distribution-ready state — filled, closed, labeled, strapped, stretch-wrapped as appropriate.

Materials of interest: corrugated fiberboard (most sensitive to RH), solid board, plastic crates, wooden boxes/crates, drums, and assembled unit loads on pallets.

ISO 2233 Testing Equipment :

1	Temperature and humidity chamber	It is the primary device, with a defined working space that must continuously maintain the selected temperature and relative humidity within standard tolerances. The boundary of the working space must be clearly marked. Real-time continuous recording of temperature and humidity is required during the whole process.
2	Drying chamber	To pre-dry specimens below the moisture level they'd reach from conditioning — used before conditioning when approaching equilibrium from the dry sideis required.
3	Measuring & recording apparatus	Accuracy: ±0.1 °C for temperature, ±1% RH. Record deemed continuousif individual readings ≤ 5 min apart. Must respond fast enough to track ΔT = 4°C/min and ΔRH = 5%RH/min.

Temperature and humidity chamber

It is the primary device, with a defined working space that must continuously maintain the selected temperature and relative humidity within standard tolerances.

The boundary of the working space must be clearly marked. Real-time continuous recording of temperature and humidity is required during the whole process.

Drying chamber

To pre-dry specimens below the moisture level they'd reach from conditioning — used before conditioning when approaching equilibrium from the dry sideis required.

Measuring & recording apparatus

Accuracy: ±0.1 °C for temperature, ±1% RH. Record deemed continuousif individual readings ≤ 5 min apart.

Must respond fast enough to track ΔT = 4°C/min and ΔRH = 5%RH/min.

Key Test Parameters

1, Standard Atmospheric Conditions

Condition No.	Temperature (°C)	Temperature (K)	Relative Humidity (RH)
1	-55	218	Not specified
2	-35	238	Not specified
3	-18	255	Not specified
4	+5	278	85%
5	+20	293	65%
6	+20	293	90%
7	+23	296	50%
8	+30	303	85%
9	+30	303	90%
10	+40	313	Uncontrolled
11	+40	313	90%
12	+55	328	30%

2, Temperature Tolerances

Peak value tolerance: For Conditions 1, 2, 3 and 10: maximum temperature fluctuation ≤ 3 °C (based on ten measurements over 1 hour). For all other conditions: fluctuation ≤ ±2 °C.

Mean value tolerance: For all conditions, the average temperature shall deviate no more than ±2 °C from the nominal value.

3, Relative Humidity Tolerances

Peak value tolerance: For all humidity-controlled conditions, maximum RH fluctuation ≤ 5% RH over 1 hour.

Mean value tolerance: The average RH shall deviate no more than ±2% RH from the nominal value.

Test Stipulations & Standard Operating Procedures:

1, Pre-Conditioning Preparation

Confirm the actual transport and storage environment of the package, then select the matching temperature and humidity profile from Table 1.

Inspect and calibrate the conditioning chamber, drying chamber and recording devices to meet accuracy and tolerance requirements.

Prepare specimens in the normal distribution state; do not alter package structure, contents or sealing.

Decide whether pre-drying is needed: perform 24-hour pre-drying for hygroscopic materials if the target RH > 40%.

2, Formal Conditioning Steps

Place specimens in the working space of the conditioning chamber, ensuring free airflow on the top, sides and over 75% of the base.

Close the chamber and start the system to adjust to the preset temperature and humidity.

Wait 1 hour for the chamber environment to fully stabilize, then start timing the formal conditioning duration.

Keep the chamber running continuously and record temperature and humidity data at intervals no longer than 5 minutes during the whole period.

After the set duration ends, take out specimens immediately and proceed to the follow-up packaging test. Try to keep the test environment consistent with the conditioning environment.

Industry Applications

Packaging manufacturing: Corrugated cartons, wooden cases, plastic containers, metal drums and composite packaging producers use it for routine quality control and R&D testing.

Commodity manufacturing: Food & beverage, electronics, home appliances, pharmaceuticals, daily chemicals and automotive parts industries, to standardize pre-test treatment for product packaging.

Logistics and cold chain industry: Test packaging performance for high-temperature, low-temperature and high-humidity transport and storage scenarios.

Third-party testing and certification institutions: As a basic universal rule for international packaging testing, supporting cross-border commodity inspection and certification.

Packaging R&D institutions: Used to study the environmental adaptability of new packaging materials and structures.

Related Test Standard:

ASTM D642	Standard Test Method for Determining Compressive Resistance of Shipping Containers, Components, and Unit Loads
GB/T 4857.3	Packaging. Basic tests for transport packages. Part 3: Stacking test methods using a static load
ISO 2234	Static load stacking test for transport packages. All test specimens must be conditioned per ISO 2233 before testing.
ISO 12048	Packaging — Complete, Filled Transport Packages — Compression and Stacking Test Using Compression Tester; ISO 12048 does not cover edge/corner loading, swivel platen methods, or component-level testing, and has less strict equipment calibration rules
ASTM D4169	Performance testing practice for shipping containers: ASTM D642 is the referenced test method for all compression/stacking related test cycles in ASTM D4169.

Why ISO 2233 Is Important for Materials — Especially Fiberboard

Why It Matters	Explanation
Moisture = strength loss	Corrugated board's compression strength can drop 20–40%+ going from dry (30% RH) to humid (90% RH). Without a defined RH, two labs testing the same box get two different "strengths."
Repeatability between labs	The ±2°C / ±5%RH envelope ensures Lab A and Lab B are testing the same material state, so results are defensible in disputes.
Real-environment simulation	Choosing Condition lets you accelerateexposure to tropical/humid shipping (containers "sweating," high-humidity ports) before you crush or drop the box.
Hysteresis awareness	The pre-dry acknowledges that path matters: a box that was wet then dried behaves differently from one that was dry then moistened. ISO 2233 forces you to control the direction.
Audit trail	Continuous T/RH recording (readings ≤5 min apart) + defined working-space boundaries make the conditioning legally/contractually provable — critical for retailer specs, carrier claims, and liability defense.

Constant temperature and humidity test chamber Equipment for testing the performance of materials in various environments and testing various materials heat-resistant, cold-resistant, dry-resistant, moisture resistance.

Electricity hot blast drying oven is mainly used to measure the dimension change of plastic material after heating, suitable for plastic pipe, plastic sheet etc.

Q1: What is ISO 2233?

A: It is an international standard that specifies uniform environmental conditioning procedures for complete filled transport packages and unit loads. It replaces the old ISO 2233:1994 and serves as a mandatory pre-treatment step for most packaging performance tests.

Q2: What is the main purpose of ISO 2233 conditioning?

A: To expose packages to controlled temperature and humidity for a set time, letting packaging materials reach moisture and temperature equilibrium. This removes environmental interference and ensures stable, reliable test results for subsequent tests.

Q3: Why is this conditioning process important for packaging materials?

A: Most packaging materials like corrugated board, paper and wood are sensitive to temperature and humidity. Conditioning stabilizes their physical properties such as strength and rigidity. It prevents inaccurate test data, avoids wrong judgments on material quality, and makes test results comparable across different labs worldwide.

Q4: What are the test specimens for ISO 2233?

A: Complete, fully filled transport packages and unit loads that are sealed and prepared for normal distribution.

Q5: How should specimens be placed inside the conditioning chamber?

A: Support specimens to allow free airflow around the top, all sides, and at least 75% of the base. Do not block ventilation.

Q6: When is pre-drying required before formal conditioning?

A: Pre-drying for a minimum of 24 hours is required for hygroscopic materials (e.g., fibreboard, corrugated board) if the target relative humidity is above 40%. Pre-drying is not needed when RH is 40% or lower.

Q7: What are the relative humidity tolerance rules?

A: For all humidity-controlled conditions, peak RH fluctuation shall not exceed 5% RH over one hour, and the mean RH shall be within ±2% RH of the set value.

Q8: What conditioning durations can I choose?

A: Available minimum durations: 4 h, 8 h, 16 h, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks and 4 weeks.

Q9: When does the official conditioning time start?

A: The timing begins 1 hour after the chamber fully returns to the preset temperature and humidity after placing specimens.

Q10: Does the chamber need continuous data recording?

A: Yes. The chamber must continuously record temperature and humidity throughout the whole conditioning period.

Operating Procedures

Q11: How to select the proper temperature and humidity condition?

A: Choose the combination that best matches the actual temperature and humidity of the package’s real transport and storage environment.

Q12: What should be done right after conditioning finishes?

A: Take out the specimens immediately and start the follow-up packaging test. Keep the test environment as consistent with the conditioning environment as possible.

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