Information on the most widely used ASTM standards within the materials testing industry
ISO 13968 Ring Flexibility Tester for Thermoplastic Pipes | UnitedTest
UnitedTest manufactures ISO 13968 ring flexibility testing machine for circular thermoplastics pipes. This test evaluates pipe resistance to diametric deflection and structural integrity under radial compression for plastic piping and ducting systems.
ISO 13968 Plastics piping and ducting systems — Thermoplastics pipes — Determination of ring flexibility. ISO 13968 specifies a laboratory compression test to measure ring flexibility of thermoplastics pipe with circular cross-section, assessing the pipe’s capability to withstand diametric ring deflection without cracking, buckling or loss of structural integrity. The test records compression force and deflection behaviour, widely used for quality control and material validation of solid-wall and structured-wall plastic drainage and sewer pipes.
Test Principle
A ring section cut from the pipe is compressed diametrically at a constant speed. Force and deflection are recorded continuously until at least the specified deflection is reached, or the test piece fractures first.
Every test piece is monitored during the test and inspected afterwards for several specific, named types of mechanical failure. The two measured variables are:
change in inside diameter or outside diameter (either is acceptable), and
the corresponding compressive force.
The essential idea: ring flexibility is not "how much load can it carry" (that's ring stiffness) — it is "how far can it be squeezed before it is damaged."
Ring flexibility vs. ring stiffness — why you need both
Ring stiffness (ISO 9969) is measured at only 3 % deflection and is reported as an SN class (SN4, SN8, SN16) in kN/m². It tells you the pipe is stiff enough.
Ring flexibility (EN 1446 / ISO 13968) pushes the pipe to 30 % — ten times further — and tells you the pipe is damage tolerant enough. This matters because modern lightweight, structured-wall, foam-core and spirally wound pipes get their stiffness from geometry, and geometry can fail by local buckling or delamination long before the polymer itself reaches its limit. Both failure modes are completely invisible at 3 % deflection.
That is why EN 1446 is standard practice for buried non-pressure drainage and sewerage, trenchless and ploughed conduit installation, and every multi-layer or lined pipe construction where the liner or bond line is the weak link.
Test Machine Required of ISO 13968 Plastics pipe ring flexibility test
| Ring Stiffness Compression Testing Machine | Complies with requirements from ISO 9969. It must deliver the required constant test speed and achieve the full specified diametric deflection of the specimen. In practice this means a universal/compression testing machine fitted with two parallel flat compression plates; a calibrated load cell, and a deflection transducer (or crosshead displacement) with adequate range — because a standard ring-stiffness test normally stops at ~3 % deflection, whereas ring flexibility runs to 30 %.
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| Dimensional‑ and force‑measuring devices | Conforming to ISO 9969, but capable of measuring diametric deflections up to at least the specified deflection and the corresponding compressive forces. |
Test Specimen Information
Quantity: three test pieces.
Source: all three from a single pipe (so the result characterises that pipe, not a batch).
Geometry: prepared as specified in ISO 9969 (cut ring with ends square/parallel to the axis).
Length override: the referring standard may specify longer test pieces than ISO 9969 defines. (Longer pieces are common for structured-wall pipes so that a representative number of ribs/corrugations is included.)
Key Test Parameters
Default target diametric deflection: 30 % of pipe outside diameter, unless modified by the referenced product standard.
Compression speed: follows speed values defined in ISO 9969 (depends on pipe diameter).
Test temperature: documented in the final test report, governed by referenced standards.
Measured outputs: compression force, inside‑ or outside‑diameter deflection, force‑deflection curve, failure mode and deflection‑force values at damage onset.
ISO 13968 Plastics pipe ring flexibility Test Procedures:
Prepare three ring specimens from one pipe, assign identifiers a, b, c; apply conditioning as ISO 9969 specifies.
Mount specimen on compression tester. Perform compression following ISO 9969 procedure, keep compressing and record diameter change (inner or outer diameter) continuously.
Stop compression when reaching specified deflection OR mechanical failure occurs first. Further compression may be performed optionally.
Generate force‑deflection graph for every specimen. Inspect each specimen and record failure type, failure location, plus corresponding force and deflection values at each damage event.
Compile complete test report covering pipe identification, specimen length, test temperature, force‑deflection plots, failure data, maximum‑point force‑deflection, influencing factors and test date.
Related Test Standard:
| ASTM D2412 | Standard Test Method for Determination of External Loading Characteristics of Plastic Pipe by Parallel-Plate Loading |
| ISO 9969 | Thermoplastics pipes — Determination of ring stiffness |
| ISO 9967 | Thermoplastics pipes - Determination of creep ratio |
| GB/T 9647 | China standard: Thermoplastics pipes—Determination of ring stiffness |
| ISO 13967 | Thermoplastics fittings - Determination of ring stiffness |
| ISO 13268 | Thermoplastics piping systems for non-pressure underground drainage and sewerage — Thermoplastics shafts or risers for inspection chambers and manholes — Determination of ring stiffness |
| GB/T 39385 | Plastics piping and ducting systems—Thermoplastics pipes—Determination of ring flexibility |
ASTM F2433 | Standard Test Method for Determining Thermoplastic Pipe Wall Stiffness |
| ISO 13968 | Plastics piping and ducting systems. Thermoplastics pipes. Determination of ring flexibility |
| DIN 16961 | Thermoplastics pipes and fittings with profiled wall and smooth pipe inside |
| ISO 7685 | Glass-reinforced thermosetting plastics (GRP) pipes — Determination of initial ring stiffness |
| EN 1446 | Plastics piping and ducting systems - Thermoplastics pipes - Determination of ring flexibility |
| EN 1228 | Ring stiffness for glass-reinforced (GRP) pipes — same test geometry, different material family. |
| AS/NZS 1462.22 | Methods of test for plastics pipes and fittings Method 22: Thermoplastics pipes – Determination of ring stiffness |
Industry Applications
Ring flexibility is a required characteristic mainly in non-pressure, buried thermoplastics piping, where the pipe must survive installation and ground movement rather than internal pressure:
| Municipal drainage & sewerage | Structured-wall (corrugated, spirally wound, ribbed) PVC-U, PP, PE pipes |
| Stormwater / surface water | Large-diameter PE/PP structured-wall pipes, retention/detention systems |
| Buried cable & ducting | Telecom/power ducts, conduits |
| Land & agricultural drainage | Corrugated PE/PP drainage pipe |
| Trenchless installation | Pipe used in horizontal directional drilling, pipe bursting, slip-lining |
| Building & industrial | Non-pressure soil/waste piping, chemical-resistant drainage (where the material is compatible) |
| Certification & QC labs, procurement | Type testing, batch acceptance, third-party certification, material/formulation comparison |
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Related products and device
Related Standard
ASTM D2412: Standard Test Method for Determination of External Loading Characteristics of Plastic Pipe by Parallel-Plate Loading
ASTM D2412 test method covers the determination of load-deflection characteristics of plastic pipe under parallel-plate loading. It covers thermoplastic resin pipe, reinforced thermosetting resin pipe (RTRP), and reinforced polymer mortar pipe (RPMP). Pipes tested under ASTM D2412 must be smaller than the envelope of the two compression platens by at least a half an inch. Square or circular platens can be used, with most customers choosing a square platen. Care must be taken to account for the mid-section of the pipe which will expand slightly as the pipe is compressed.
The characteristics determined by ASTM D2412 test method are pipe stiffness, stiffness factor, and load at specific deflections.
ISO 9969 specifies a test method for determining the ring stiffness of thermoplastics pipes having a circular cross section.
ISO 9969 requires that at least three samples are taken from the same pipe and labeled A, B and C. These samples are then compressed to at least 3% of the Inner Diameter and ring stiffness calculated for each sample. The ring stiffness is calculated as an average of these calculations.
The initial ring stiffness or ring stiffness to ISO 9969 or ASTM D2412 characterizes the resistance of a pipe section to radial compressive forces. The measurement occurs at low deformations of 3%.
ISO 9967:2016 Thermoplastics pipes — Determination of creep ratio
This standard specifies a method for determining the creep ratio of thermoplastics pipes having a circular cross-section.
The ISO 9967 test procedure begins by preparing a ring-shaped specimen from a thermoplastic pipe. The ring is typically cut to a length equal to the pipe's outer diameter and must be free of visible defects. Before testing, the sample is conditioned, usually at 23°C for at least 24 hours. During the test, the specimen is placed vertically between two flat, parallel plates in a compression testing machine. A constant external force is applied to the ring to compress it until a deformation equal to 3% of its mean diameter is reached. This loading should occur gradually, typically within one minute. The test apparatus must maintain this compressive load over an extended period, most commonly 10,000 hours, under controlled environmental conditions. The deformation of the ring is measured at defined intervals during the test using a precise displacement measurement device. Initial and long-term measurements are used to calculate the creep ratio. This ratio quantifies how much the ring deforms over time under constant load, which indicates the material's long-term behavior and suitability for buried, non-pressure pipe applications. Accurate time tracking and temperature control are critical throughout the process to ensure valid results. The test concludes by comparing the deformation at 30 minutes and at the final time point to calculate the creep ratio according to the formula provided in the ISO 9967 standard.
ISO 7685 Glass-reinforced thermosetting plastics (GRP) pipes — Determination of initial ring stiffness.
ISO 7685 defines two standardized compression test methods to measure initial ring stiffness (S₀) for circular glass-reinforced thermosetting plastic (GRP/FRP) pipes, evaluating radial deformation resistance under short-term vertical external loads.
EN 1446 Plastics piping and ducting systems — Thermoplastics pipes — Determination of ring flexibility.
EN 1446 defines a laboratory compression test for circular‑cross‑section thermoplastic pipes, measuring force‑deflection behaviour and identifying mechanical damage under large diametric compression (up to 30 % outer‑diameter deflection).
Frequently Asked Questions (Q&A) for ISO 13968 Plastics pipe ring flexibility test
Q1. What is ISO 13968?
ISO 13968 is an International Standard titled "Plastics piping and ducting systems — Thermoplastics pipes — Determination of ring flexibility." The current version is ISO 13968:2008 (2nd edition, published 15 October 2008), which cancelled and technically revised the 1997 edition. It was prepared by ISO/TC 138/SC 5 and was last reviewed and confirmed in 2023, so the 2008 version remains current. It is only 4 pages long and is a test-method standard, not a product standard.
Q2. What does "ring flexibility" actually mean?
Clause 3.1 defines it as "the ability of a pipe to resist ring diametric deflection without loss of structural integrity" (definition sourced from EN 13476-1:2007). In plain language: how far a pipe can be squeezed oval before it is damaged.
Q3. What does the test determine?
Two things, measured together: (a) the deflection and (b) the force at which physical damage — if any — occurs, within a specified diametric deflection. For each specimen you also get a full force/deflection curve.
Q4. Why this test matters for the material?
Ring flexibility is the complement to ring stiffness, and the two answer opposite questions:
Ring stiffness (ISO 9969): "How much load does it take to deform it a little (3 %)?" → resistance to deformation.
Ring flexibility (ISO 13968): "How far can it be deformed before it is damaged?" → tolerance of deformation, i.e. ductility and structural integrity at large strain.
Concretely, the test matters because:
Installation survivability. Pipes are stacked, dragged, lifted, bedded and backfilled. Point loads, poor haunching or careless compaction impose large local diametric deflection. A pipe with good ring flexibility absorbs it; a brittle or poorly fused one cracks.
Ground movement tolerance. Flexible thermoplastic pipes are designed to deflect and share load with the surrounding soil. Differential settlement, soft soils, seismic zones and reclaimed/coastal land all demand a pipe that can ovalise substantially without cracking or buckling — this is the core advantage of plastics over rigid materials.
Structured-wall integrity. For corrugated, spirally wound or multi-layer/foam-core walls, the failure modes that matter are delamination between layers, cracking at rib roots, and permanent buckling of the profile — none of which are revealed by a 3 %-deflection stiffness test. ISO 13968 targets exactly these modes.
A sensitive indicator of material and process quality. Failure at 30 % deflection usually signals something fixable upstream: wrong or degraded raw material, bad formulation, excessive filler/regrind, poor melt homogenisation, incomplete welding of the spiral seam, or high residual stress from cooling. That makes the test a practical "process barometer" on the production line.
Design and specification basis. Engineers specifying pipe for difficult geology, deep burial with poor compaction, or trenchless methods need evidence of flexibility, not just an SN class. Because ISO 13968 produces a force/deflection curve plus the exact force and deflection at each damage event, it gives designers quantitative data on the damage threshold, not a simple pass/fail.
Objective, comparable, certifiable. Because the method fixes specimen count (3 from one pipe), speed, endpoint (30 % unless overridden), observation categories and the exclusion of whitening, results are reproducible across laboratories and can be used for certification, acceptance and supplier comparison.
Q5. Can one machine do both ISO 9969 (ring stiffness) and ISO 13968 (ring flexibility)?
Yes — and this is the normal configuration. ISO 13968 was written to run on ISO 9969 equipment; the only extra requirements are greater platen travel / deflection range and software that keeps recording past 3% deflection out to 30% (or more), with curve plotting and event marking.
Q6. Is the 30% deflection always the requirement?
No — 30% is only the default ("unless otherwise specified in the referring standard"). Product standards do vary; for example some EN 13476 applications cite an alternative 20% class (RF20). Always read the referring standard first.
Q7. What counts as failure?
For each specimen you inspect and record the type, position, force and deflection of:
(a) non-compliance of the force/deflection graph with the referring standard;
(b) cracking or crazing anywhere in the wall structure;
(c) wall delamination (layer separation — critical for structured/multi-layer walls);
(d) permanent buckling anywhere in the wall structure;
(e) any other observation required by the referring standard.
Q8. Is stress whitening a failure?
No — and this is explicitly stated in the standard. "Whitening of the pipe shall not be considered as an indication of one of the above-mentioned mechanical failures." This prevents false rejections, especially with PP and PE, where whitening is a common optical effect at high strain.
Q9. Why does it matter in real installations?
Pipes are stacked, dragged, lifted, bedded and backfilled. Point loads, poor haunching, over-compaction or rock inclusions impose large local diametric deflection. Good ring flexibility lets the pipe absorb this. In service, flexible thermoplastic pipes are designed to ovalise and share load with the surrounding soil — so differential settlement, soft soils, seismic activity, coastal/reclaimed land and trenchless installation (HDD, pipe bursting, slip-lining) all depend on the pipe surviving large deflection without cracking, delaminating or buckling.
Q10. Why is it especially important for structured-wall pipes?
For corrugated, spirally wound, ribbed or foam-core/multi-layer walls, the dominant failure modes — delamination between layers, cracking at rib roots, permanent buckling of the profile, weld/seam separation — simply do not appear at the 3% deflection used in a stiffness test. They only show up at large deflection. That is precisely the region ISO 13968 covers. (Pipelines made from PE structured-wall pipe are known to find 30% deflection without irreversible deformation the hardest requirement to meet, because of PE's low modulus and tall ribs.)
Q11. What does a failure tell the manufacturer?
Failure at the specified deflection is usually a process or material signal: wrong or degraded raw material, bad formulation, excessive filler or regrind, poor melt homogenisation, incomplete welding of the spiral seam, or high residual stress from cooling. Because of this, routinely running the test is a practical "production barometer," not just a compliance checkbox.
Q12. Which industries and products use it?
Non-pressure buried thermoplastics piping: municipal drainage and sewerage, stormwater / surface water and retention systems, buried cable and telecom ducting, land/agricultural drainage, non-pressure soil & waste piping, and trenchless installation. Users are pipe manufacturers (R&D, QC, production verification), independent testing and certification laboratories, design engineers and specifiers, and procurement/regulatory bodies.
Q13. Who needs to buy or use a ring flexibility testing machine?
Pipe manufacturers running type tests, batch acceptance and process control
Third-party testing, inspection and certification laboratories
Quality-control departments of construction/material groups
Universities and research institutes working on pipe materials and structures
Q14. Why choose ISO 13968 Ring Flexibility Testing Machine from UnitedTest?
UnitedTest supplies ISO 13968 ring‑flexibility testing machines for thermoplastic structured‑wall drainage pipes. Combined ISO 9969 ring‑stiffness & ISO 13968 ring‑flexibility test solution for PVC‑U, PP, HDPE corrugated sewer pipes. High‑accuracy force‑deflection recording, factory calibration & global support.
UnitedTest is a professional manufacturer for plastic pipe mechanical testing equipment. Our ISO 13968 ring‑flexibility tester is designed fully complying with ISO 13968:2008 standard for thermoplastics piping and ducting systems, widely used for quality‑control labs, plastic pipe factories, third‑party inspection institutions and municipal‑engineering research institutes worldwide.
This integrated test platform supports ISO 13968 ring‑flexibility test and ISO 9969 ring‑stiffness test on one single machine. It applies parallel‑plate diametric compression to ring‑shaped pipe specimens, precisely controls compression speed, continuously captures compression force and diametric deflection, and auto‑generates force‑deflection curves for each specimen.
✅ Key machine capabilities for ISO 13968 compliance
Sufficient large displacement travel to realize default 30 % outer‑diameter deflection for ring‑flexibility assessment
High‑precision load cell and displacement sensor, meets measurement requirements defined in ISO 13968 & ISO 9969
Software preset ISO 13968 test workflow: stop condition set for target deflection or specimen mechanical failure
Supports observation & record for cracking, crazing, delamination, permanent buckling and other failure modes
Complete test‑report output covering all mandatory fields required by ISO 13968 clause 9
Compatible with structured‑wall pipes: double‑wall corrugated pipe, spiral wound pipe, PVC‑U, PP, PE non‑pressure sewer & drainage pipes
✅ Why choose UnitedTest ISO 13968 ring‑flexibility tester
Dual‑standard solution: run ring‑stiffness (ISO 9969) and ring‑flexibility (ISO 13968) without purchasing separate machines.
Customizable: adjust test frame size, platen dimension, load capacity for small‑to‑large‑diameter pipe samples.
Factory calibration before shipment, ensures test traceability for lab accreditation.
Full‑package service: equipment delivery, installation guidance, standard‑method training, 1‑year hardware warranty, lifetime free software upgrade, remote technical support for global customers.
If you are looking for reliable ISO 13968 ring‑flexibility test equipment for your plastic‑pipe QC laboratory, contact UnitedTest for detailed quotation and technical proposal.
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