Sample Mass Loss Rate Testing: Principles, Standards, and Applications

Sample mass loss rate testing quantifies the percentage of mass a material loses after exposure to defined thermal, abrasive, chemical, or ignition conditions, providing a direct indicator of durability, thermal stability, and formulation consistency. This guide explains the testing principle, calculation method, applicable international standards such as IEC 60811, ISO 188, and ASTM D573, and typical industrial applications of mass loss rate measurement.

Technical Overview

Sample mass loss rate testing measures the relative reduction in the mass of a material after it has been subjected to a defined treatment such as thermal aging, abrasion, chemical immersion, ignition, or artificial weathering. Results are normally expressed as a percentage of the original mass or, for cable insulation and sheathing compounds, as mass loss per unit surface area in mg/cm². Because mass loss reflects plasticizer migration, volatile release, thermal degradation, and surface wear, the test is widely used to verify long-term stability and batch-to-batch formulation consistency.

The basic calculation is expressed as: mass loss rate (%) = (m0 − m1) / m0 × 100%, where m0 is the initial conditioned mass and m1 is the mass after the specified treatment. Testing is typically performed in accredited third-party laboratories using forced-ventilation aging ovens, analytical balances with 0.1 mg readability, calibrated abrasion testers, muffle furnaces, and thermogravimetric analyzers, in accordance with recognized IEC, ISO, ASTM, EN, and GB standards.

Testing Samples

Cable Insulation and Sheathing Materials

PVC and other polymeric insulation and sheath compounds taken from finished wires and cables. Specimens are usually short lengths of insulation or sheath, or dumb-bell strips, evaluated per IEC 60811-3-2 and the current IEC 60811-401 numbering, EN 60811-3-2, and GB/T 2951.31, with results reported in mg/cm².

Rubber and Elastomer Products

Vulcanized rubber sheets, slabs, or dumb-bell specimens cut from hoses, seals, gaskets, belts, and tires, tested for mass change after accelerated heat aging per ISO 188, ASTM D573, and GB/T 3512.

Plastic Materials and Products

Thermoplastic and thermoset moldings, films, sheets, pipes, fittings, and granules, evaluated for volatile matter, plasticizer loss (for example by the activated-carbon method of ISO 176), and overall thermal stability.

Coatings, Paints, and Films

Free paint films, coated metal or plastic panels, and functional films, tested for wear-induced mass loss using rotating abrasive-wheel methods such as ASTM D4060, and for non-volatile content per ISO 3251 and ASTM D2369.

Foam and Thermal Insulation Materials

Rigid and flexible polymeric foams and mineral insulation products, assessed for mass change after heat exposure to evaluate binder degradation, outgassing, and structural stability.

Powders, Fibers, and Inorganic Materials

Fillers, glass fibers, combustion residues, soils, and ceramic raw materials, tested for loss on ignition per ASTM D7348, ASTM D2974, and ISO 1887 to determine organic, moisture, and carbonate content.

Testing Items

Typical mass loss rate test items include:

• Mass loss on thermal aging (air-oven aging of rubber, plastics, and cable compounds)
• Loss of mass of cable insulation and sheathing, reported in mg/cm²
• Abrasion mass loss using rotating-wheel wear testers
• Volatile matter and non-volatile content of coatings and polymers
• Loss on ignition (LOI) of powders, fibers, and inorganic materials
• Mass change after chemical or fluid immersion
• Mass loss after artificial weathering by xenon-arc or fluorescent UV exposure
• Thermogravimetric mass-loss profiles and decomposition onset temperature

Testing Methods

Thermal Aging Mass Loss Method

Specimens are first conditioned to equilibrium, for example at 23 °C and 50% relative humidity per ISO 291 for plastics or ISO 23529 for rubber, then weighed to 0.1 mg to obtain m0. They are placed in a forced-ventilation air oven for a specified temperature and duration: a typical regime for PVC cable compounds is 80 °C ± 2 °C for 168 hours per IEC 60811-3-2 and GB/T 2951.31, while rubber compounds are commonly aged at 70 °C to 100 °C for 70 h to 1000 h per ISO 188 and ASTM D573. After aging, specimens are cooled in a desiccator and reweighed to obtain m1, and the mass loss rate is calculated; for cable materials, the absolute loss is divided by the specimen surface area.

Abrasion Mass Loss Method

Coated panels or material coupons are weighed, abraded with calibrated abrasive wheels under a defined load for a set number of cycles per ASTM D4060 or ISO 5470-1, cleaned of loose debris, and reweighed. Results are reported as mass loss in milligrams, often normalized to a standard cycle count such as 1000 cycles, and are used to rank wear resistance between formulations.

Loss on Ignition Method

Dried specimens are ignited in a muffle furnace at a material-specific temperature, commonly 550 °C to 950 °C, until constant mass is reached per ASTM D7348, ASTM D2974, or ISO 1887. The percentage mass loss quantifies combustible organic matter, moisture of crystallization, or carbonate content.

Thermogravimetric Analysis

A thermogravimetric analyzer records mass continuously while the specimen is heated at a controlled rate under nitrogen or air per ISO 11358 and ASTM E1131. The method yields the decomposition onset temperature, stepwise mass losses corresponding to moisture, volatiles, polymer, and filler, and the derivative mass-loss rate curve.

Chemical Immersion and Weathering Mass Loss

Specimens immersed in reference liquids per ISO 175, or exposed to xenon-arc or fluorescent-UV light sources, are dried under defined conditions and reweighed. Combined with mechanical and visual assessment, the mass change data indicate resistance to fluids and to light-driven degradation.

Applications

• Wire and cable type testing and certification, verifying loss-of-mass limits for PVC insulation and sheaths in low- and medium-voltage cable systems
• Quality control of rubber goods such as hoses, seals, gaskets, and vibration isolators
• Material qualification of engineering plastics for electrical, automotive, and appliance components
• Wear resistance ranking of industrial coatings, powder coatings, and decorative finishes
• Building product assessment, including insulation boards, foams, and polymer roofing membranes
• Research and development, optimizing plasticizer and stabilizer levels, benchmarking formulations, and supporting failure analysis
• Incoming inspection of raw materials such as fillers, fibers, and masterbatches

FAQ

What is sample mass loss rate?

It is the relative decrease in the mass of a test specimen after a defined treatment—thermal aging, abrasion, ignition, immersion, or weathering—expressed as a percentage of the original mass or, for cable compounds, as mg/cm² of surface area.

How is mass loss rate calculated?

Mass loss rate (%) = (m0 − m1) / m0 × 100%, where m0 is the conditioned initial mass and m1 is the post-treatment mass. For cable materials, the absolute mass loss is divided by the exposed surface area to give mg/cm².

Which standards apply to mass loss rate testing?

Common references include IEC 60811-3-2 and IEC 60811-401 for loss of mass on thermal aging of cable compounds, ISO 188 and ASTM D573 for rubber heat aging, ASTM D4060 for coating abrasion, ISO 3251 and ASTM D2369 for non-volatile content, ASTM D7348 for loss on ignition, ISO 11358 and ASTM E1131 for thermogravimetry, and the corresponding GB/T standards such as GB/T 2951.31 and GB/T 3512.

What are typical test conditions for PVC cable materials?

A widely used condition is 80 °C ± 2 °C for 168 hours in a forced-air oven, with product standards limiting the result to values commonly around 2.0 mg/cm² depending on the compound class.

What factors influence result accuracy?

Key factors include specimen conditioning, balance readability and calibration, oven temperature uniformity and air-change rate, accurate measurement of specimen surface area, prevention of contamination during handling, and sufficient cooling in a desiccator before reweighing.

How long does a mass loss rate test take?

Abrasion, loss on ignition, and thermogravimetric tests typically finish within one working day. Thermal aging tests depend on the specified duration—most commonly 168 hours—plus conditioning and weighing, so a standard turnaround is roughly one to two weeks.