ISO 6383-2 Plastic film Elmendorf tear test, UnitedTest ISO 6383-2 Elmendorf tear tester

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Mechanical testing in the consumer goods industry determines product durability and safety, such as impact resistance for toys and fatigue resistance for home appliances, making it core to compliance and quality. UnitedTest can cover mechanical tests for all categories of consumer goods, including tensile, impact, and hardness tests, compatible with national and international standards, and offers customized testing solutions.

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Material strength is a course that most engineering fields are required to study in university education. This interesting course is very practical and makes use of testing equipment in the materials laboratory.

Mechanical testing of industrial products and components is essential to ensure their load-bearing, fatigue resistance, and impact resistance, directly preventing production accidents and ensuring stable operation of equipment. UnitedTest can cover a full range of tests including tensile, hardness, and fatigue, complying with national and international standards, and provides customized industrial mechanical testing solutions.

Mechanical testing in the plastic pipe industry determines ring stiffness, impact resistance, and tensile performance, directly preventing pipe bursts and deformation risks. UnitedTest can cover full-dimensional mechanical testing of pipes, complies with ISO,ASTM,EN et.c, international standards, and provides customized testing solutions.

In the construction engineering and building materials industry, mechanical testing determines the compressive and tensile properties of materials such as concrete and steel, which is core to ensuring the safety and durability of buildings. UnitedTest can cover the full range of building material mechanical tests, complies with ISO, ASTM international standards, and provides customized testing solutions for compressive, tensile, and other properties.

Mechanical testing in the food and beverage industry involves the compressive and tensile performance of packaging and the safety of food texture, directly ensuring storage, transportation safety, and the eating experience. UnitedTest can cover all-dimensional mechanical testing for packaging and food texture, comply with national and international standards, and provide customized testing solutions.

Mechanical testing in the packaging industry determines the packaging's resistance to compression, impact, and tension, directly ensuring the safety of contents during storage and transportation. UnitedTest can cover comprehensive mechanical testing for packaging, complying with ISO, ASTM Standards, and provides customized testing solutions for compression, drop, tear, and more.

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.

Metallurgical testing examines the properties of metallic materials to determine if a particular metal is appropriate for its intended use.

Testing of polymer materials covers mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties, verifying strength, heat resistance, composition, and ensuring product quality and compliance.

UnitedTest offer world-class testing solution in testing for polymeric materials, including elastomers, thermoplastics, composites, coatings, and structural adhesives in a variety of industries.

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.

Conduct adhesive testing using various testing methods to determine their performance and characteristics in applications across multiple industries such as aerospace, automotive, construction, packaging, industrial, medical, and energy, thereby supporting application development and quality assurance.

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UnitedTest testing system is trusted by leading medical device manufacturers, universities, and medical research laboratories worldwide. Whether testing tissues or bioresorbable materials, stents, or sutures, UnitedTest offers a variety of single-actuator and dual-actuator systems to meet your biomedical testing needs.

Mechanical testing in the textile fabric industry determines core properties such as fabric tensile strength, tear resistance, and wear resistance, directly affecting product durability and safety. UnitedTest can cover comprehensive mechanical tests for textiles, complying with national standards / ISO standards, and provides customized testing solutions including tensile, tear, and puncture tests.

The mechanical testing of industrial components directly determines the load-bearing, fatigue resistance, and wear resistance of the parts, helping to avoid equipment failure risks. UnitedTest can cover a full range of tests including tensile, hardness, and fatigue, is compatible with ISO/ASTM/GB standards, and provides customized mechanical testing solutions for industrial components.

Mechanical testing in the glass-ceramics industry determines core properties such as flexural strength, hardness, and fracture toughness, directly helping to avoid brittleness and failure risks. UnitedTest can cover comprehensive testing for flexural strength, hardness, and fracture toughness, compatible with national and ISO/ASTM standards, and provides customized testing solutions.

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.

Compression test assesses material resistance to compressive loads, measuring strength/deformation critical for quality validation. UnitedTest offers compression testing machines compliant with ASTM/ISO standards, providing tailored solutions for concrete, plastics, metals and industrial components.

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.

Torsion Test evaluates material resistance to rotational forces, measuring torsional strength/ductility critical for fasteners, insulators, shafts. UnitedTest offers torsion testers compliant with ASTM A938/ISO 16047, providing tailored solutions for automotive, aerospace, fastener industries.

Fatigue Test assesses material durability under cyclic loading, critical for predicting service life of industrial components. UnitedTest offers fatigue testing systems (axial/bending/torsion) compliant with ASTM E466/ISO 12106, providing tailored solutions for automotive, aerospace and manufacturing sectors.

Peel Test measures material adhesion strength by evaluating resistance to peeling forces, critical for adhesives, films, packaging. UnitedTest offers peel testers compliant with ASTM D903/ISO 8510, covering 90°/180° peel tests, and tailored solutions for packaging, automotive, textile industries.

Impact Test evaluates material resistance to sudden shock loads, critical for assessing toughness and fracture risk. UnitedTest offers impact testers (Charpy/Izod/fall weight) compliant with ASTM E23/ISO 148, providing tailored solutions for metals, plastics, glass and industrial components.

Tear & Shear Test evaluates material resistance to tearing and shearing forces, measuring critical strength parameters for quality control. Tear tests (Elmendorf/trouser/trapezoidal) assess resistance to crack propagation in films/fabrics, while shear tests measure resistance to parallel forces in joints/bolts. UnitedTest provides universal testing machines (10KN-600KN) with specialized fixtures for both tests, compliant with ASTM D624/D3164 and ISO standards, serving automotive, packaging and construction industries.

Hardness test measures material's resistance to permanent indentation, critical for quality control. UnitedTest offers universal hardness testers (Rockwell/Brinell/Vickers) compliant with ASTM/ISO standards, plus tailored hardness testing solutions for diverse industrial needs.

Biaxial/triaxial tests evaluate material performance under multi-axis loads, critical for biomaterials, metals and composites. UnitedTest provides compliant testing machines (ASTM/ISO) for planar biaxial, static/fatigue triaxial tests, with tailored solutions for industrial & biomedical needs.

Friction and wear tests assess material resistance to friction, abrasion and wear, critical for industrial material performance validation. UnitedTest offers tribometers compliant with ASTM G99/ISO standards, covering pin-on-disk, four-ball tests, and tailored friction & wear testing solutions for diverse industries.

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.

Fire test assesses material flammability, heat resistance and fire-retardant performance, critical for safety compliance across industries. UnitedTest offers fire testing equipment compliant with ASTM/ISO/UL standards, providing tailored fire test solutions for building materials, plastics and industrial components.

Non-destructive Test (NDT) evaluates material/component integrity without damage, critical for safety & quality across industries. UnitedTest offers ultrasonic/X-ray/magnetic particle NDT equipment compliant with ASTM/ISO standards, plus tailored NDT solutions for aerospace, automotive & manufacturing sectors.

ISO 6383-2 Standard | Elmendorf Pendulum Tear Resistance Test Machine for Plastic Film & Sheeting | UnitedTest

UnitedTest is a professional manufacturer specializing in ISO 6383-2 compliant Elmendorf tear testing machines for flexible packaging, plastic film and sheet production labs globally.

ISO 6383-2 Plastics — Film and sheeting — Determination of tear resistance — Part 2: Elmendorf method is the internationally recognized standard governing the Elmendorf pendulum tear test. This standard establishes uniform laboratory procedures to quantify the average force needed to fully propagate a pre-cut slit through thin, flexible plastic film and sheeting under calibrated, standardized pendulum loading conditions.

Our UnitedTest Elmendorf tear tester precisely follows all pendulum weight calibration, specimen cutting, clamping and measurement requirements defined in ISO 6383-2. It delivers repeatable tear resistance data for material quality control, new polymer formulation R&D and export compliance verification for plastic film, shrink film, composite packaging sheets and other flexible plastic substrates.

Core Test Principle

The test follows the energy conservation principle of a weighted pendulum:

A sector-shaped pendulum is lifted to a fixed starting position to store potential energy.

A pre-slit specimen is clamped between stationary and pendulum-mounted movable jaws.

The pendulum is released and swings freely, pulling the specimen to extend the pre-made slit over a fixed tearing distance of 43.0 ± 0.5 mm.

The energy consumed to tear the specimen is calculated from the pendulum’s residual swing angle, converted to tear resistance force in Newtons (N).

Definition: Tear resistance = the force (N) needed to propagate a tear per the standard procedure.

ISO 6383-2 Plastic film Elmendorf tear test

Test Specimen Specifications

Two specimen designs are defined; the constant-radius specimen is the preferred referee sample for better result reproducibility.

Constant-radius specimen

Curved tear zone with 43 mm tearing radius; eliminates excessive oblique tearing bias.

ISO 6383-2 Plastic film Elmendorf tear test

Rectangular specimen

Full width 63 mm flat rectangle; tear deviation >10 mm from the slit line invalidates the test result.

ISO 6383-2 Plastic film Elmendorf tear test

Total specimen length: 75 mm; vertical midpoint split at 37.5 mm

Pre-cut slit length: 20 mm, no nicks or rough edges (critical for repeatability)

Separate testing for Machine Direction (MD, longitudinal) and Transverse Direction (TD) tear resistance.

Minimum 5 specimens per direction; low-tear-strength films may stack multiple specimens at once (avoid opposite oblique tearing which causes false high readings).

ISO 6383-2 Stipulated Test Equipment (Elmendorf Tear Tester for plastic film):

Elmendorf tear tester

Pendulum locking & shock-free release mechanism

Calibrated circumferential scale + pointer (accuracy within 1% after friction/windage correction)

Interchangeable incremental masses: expand the tester’s maximum tearing force capacity.

ISO 6383-2 Plastic film Elmendorf tear test

Fixed jaw + pendulum movable jaw assembly

Horizontal jaw clamping width ≥25 mm, vertical clamping height ≥15 mm; jaw thickness 9–13 mm.

Jaw separation at pendulum rest position: 2.8 ± 0.3 mm.

Pendulum suspension axis to jaw top edge distance: 104 ± 2 mm, with a 27.5° ± 30’ angle relative to the specimen plane.

Test Parameters

Pendulum energy utilization	20–80 % of total pendulum energy per test (adjust with added masses or grouped specimens)
Tearing length	43.0 ± 0.5 mm
Rejection criteria	• Constant‑radius: tear deviates outside constant‑radius section → reject • Rectangular: tear deviates >10 mm from slit line → reject (unless following embossed pattern) If deviation persists → switch to constant‑radius specimen

Test Procedures of ISO 6383-2 Plastic film Elmendorf tear test:

Thickness Measurement: Measure specimen thickness via ISO 4591 gravimetric or ISO 4593 mechanical scanning method (mechanical scanning invalid for embossed films).

Instrument Pre-Check: Level the tester, lift pendulum, reset pointer to zero; release pendulum empty to verify zero alignment, adjust if needed.

Range Trial Test: Run preliminary tests to select appropriate pendulum weights or single/multi-specimen stacking to meet the 20–80% energy absorption rule; re-zero after weight changes.

Specimen Mounting: Clamp single/stacked specimens tightly, centre the pre-cut slit between fixed and movable jaws; use the integrated knife to cut the slit if the machine is equipped.

Tear Execution: Lock the pendulum, reset pointer, release pendulum smoothly, record the scale reading after tearing completes.

Rejection & Retest: Remove invalid specimens per deviation rules, supplement new samples to reach the required 5 valid replicates per direction.

Calculation: Convert scale readings to individual tear resistance (N) accounting for stacked specimens and added pendulum masses; compute arithmetic mean and standard deviation (if requested) for MD and TD separately.

Industrial Application Fields

Flexible Packaging Industry: Food pouches, stretch wrap, lidding films, shopping bags, shrink film – assess resistance to accidental tearing during filling, shipping, consumer opening.

Agricultural Films: Mulch film, greenhouse sheeting – evaluate durability against sharp crop debris, wind abrasion.

Flexible PVC & Polyolefin Converting: Waterproof thin sheets, protective surface films for electronics.

Quality Control & Material Acceptance: In-line production monitoring, incoming raw material qualification, finished product compliance verification against material specifications.

R&D Material Development: Compare tear performance of modified polymer blends, additive formulations, and multi-layer coextruded films.

Related Standard:

ISO 6383-2	Plastics; Film and sheeting; Determination of tear resistance; Part 2 : Elmendorf method
ASTM D1922	Standard Test Method for Propagation Tear Resistance of Plastic Film and Thin Sheeting by Pendulum Method
JIS K 7128-2	Plastics -- Film and sheeting -- Determination of tear resistance -- Part 2: Elmendorf tear method
GB/T 16578.2	Plastics - Film and sheeting - Determination of tear resistance - Part 2: Elmendorf method
BS 2782-3:METHOD 360A	Methods of testing plastics. Mechanical properties. Determination of tear resistance of plastics film and sheeting by the Elmendorf method
ISO 6383-1	Trouser tear: Slow constant-rate tensile test on trouser-shaped specimens, suitable for thicker flexible/rigid sheets, measures steady-state tear force under slow pulling.

Importance of ISO 6383-2 Tear Testing for Plastic Materials

Predict Real-World Service Failure: The test quantifies a material’s ability to stop small slits/punctures from spreading into full rupture – a common failure mode for thin films during handling, transport, and daily use. Tensile strength only measures initial breakage, while tear resistance evaluates damage propagation behaviour.

Directional Material Performance Insight: Plastic films have anisotropic mechanical properties (different MD vs TD tear strength from extrusion stretching). The test quantifies both directions to avoid one-directional weak points in finished products.

Standardized Comparability: Uniform specimen geometry, conditioning, instrument calibration, and calculation rules enable consistent, repeatable lab-to-lab data for raw material selection, batch production QC, and supplier acceptance testing.

Product Performance Balancing: Enables formulation optimization: too low tear resistance causes easy rupture; excessively high tear strength creates consumer inconvenience (hard-to-open packaging).

Regulatory & Contract Compliance: Test results per ISO 6383-2 serve as objective technical evidence for product specifications, industrial tender contracts, and cross-border packaging material certification.

Risk Reduction for End Users: Identifies underperforming film lots before mass production, cutting waste, product damage claims, and safety risks (e.g., broken agricultural film, leaking food packaging).

Keywords: UnitedTest ISO 6383-2 Elmendorf tear tester, ISO 6383-2 plastic film tear resistance test machine, Elmendorf pendulum tear testing equipment for plastic sheeting, Elmendorf pendulum method tear strength measurement, pre-cut slit tear propagation force test, flexible plastic film tear resistance analyzer, ISO 6383-2 packaging material tear test bench

Elmendorf Tearing Tester is designed for the tearing test of films, sheets, flexible PVC, PVDC, waterproof films, woven materials, polypropylene, polyester, paper, cardboard, textiles and nonwovens.

A single column tensile tester is a sophisticated material testing instrument designed for measuring mechanical properties of various materials under tension, compression, bending, shear, and other loading conditions. As the name suggests, it features a single vertical column supporting a moving crosshead that applies force to test specimens.

Q1: What is the core difference between ISO 6383-1 and ISO 6383-2?

A: ISO 6383 is split into two complementary tear test standards:

ISO 6383-1: Trouser tear method, a slow tensile test with constant pulling speed, designed for thicker flexible or semi-rigid plastic sheets. It measures steady tear force under gradual load.

ISO 6383-2: Elmendorf pendulum method, an impact-style rapid tear test for thin flexible plastic films. It simulates sudden, sharp tearing stress and measures energy consumed to propagate a pre-cut slit.

They cannot be used interchangeably for result comparison.

Q2: Why is ISO 6383-2 tear resistance test more important than tensile strength test for plastic films?

A: Tensile strength only measures the force needed to create a brand-new crack and break intact film. In real usage, plastic films almost always fail from small existing nicks, slits or punctures (e.g., sharp corners during shipping, tiny cuts from packaging machinery). ISO 6383-2 directly evaluates how easily these minor defects spread into full rupture, which reflects actual service failure risk. Besides, film has anisotropic tear performance (machine vs transverse direction) that tensile tests cannot fully characterize.

Q3: Which materials are NOT suitable for ISO 6383-2 testing?

A: The standard explicitly states poor reproducibility or invalid results for:

Rigid plastics: Rigid PVC, nylon, polyester thick films; their stiffness disrupts pendulum tearing geometry.

Highly stretchable extensible films: Severe oblique tearing and uneven elongation cause inconsistent scale readings.

The standard is only recommended for flexible PVC, polyolefin thin films (PE packaging film, stretch wrap, agricultural mulch film).

Q4: Why is the constant-radius specimen the referee specimen instead of the rectangular one?

A: Rectangular specimens allow the tear path to drift sideways easily; if deviation exceeds 10 mm, the test data is discarded. The constant-radius curved edge restricts the tear to a fixed 43 mm radius path, minimises oblique tearing bias, and delivers far better repeatability between laboratories, batches and operators. It is mandatory for dispute or third-party referee testing.

Q5: What causes invalid test results and how to fix it?

A: Two main invalid scenarios:

Rectangular specimen tear deviates >10 mm from slit centreline: Switch to constant-radius test specimens.

Constant-radius specimen tear drifts outside the curved radius section: Discard the data, re-cut new specimens with clean, burr-free 20 ±0.5 mm slits (rough slit edges skew tear direction).

Additional failure source: Stacked multi-specimen samples tear in opposite oblique directions, leading to falsely high tear force values – test single thin specimens instead.

Q6: What is the 20%–80% pendulum energy rule, and why is it enforced?

A: The energy absorbed by tearing the specimen must sit between 20% and 80% of the pendulum’s total stored energy.

Below 20%: The pendulum barely slows down, tiny reading errors cause massive relative deviation.

Above 80%: The pendulum loses most energy to tearing, friction and windage losses dominate the result.

To meet this range, technicians add incremental pendulum masses or test multiple stacked specimens at once. The tester must be re-zeroed every time weights are added or removed.

Q7: How many specimens need to be tested, and why separate machine direction (MD) and transverse direction (TD)?

A: Minimum 5 valid specimens for each principal direction (MD / TD), sampled evenly across the full width of the film roll.

During film extrusion, polymer chains stretch along the machine direction, creating anisotropic mechanical properties: tear strength in MD and TD often differs drastically. Testing both directions identifies weak orientation that could cause product rupture during winding, printing or end-use handling.

Q8. Why is the Elmendorf tear test so important for packaging?

A: In the real world, film failures rarely start without a pre-existing flaw (like a nick from a staple, a sharp corner, or a puncture during transit). This test simulates how a small rip spreads. If a film has low Elmendorf tear strength, a tiny defect can quickly turn into a catastrophic failure, leading to product loss or contamination. It is a critical Quality Control (QC) metric for ensuring the durability of shopping bags, shrink wrap, and food packaging

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