Overview
ISO 3375:2009 - Textile glass - Determination of stiffness of rovings specifies a standardized, repeatable test method to measure the stiffness of textile glass rovings. Published as the second edition in 2009, this ISO method defines the apparatus, specimen preparation, conditioning and measurement procedure and the way results are reported so that stiffness data are comparable between laboratories and suppliers.
Key topics and requirements
- Scope: Method for determining stiffness of textile glass rovings (single roving strands used as reinforcement).
- Edition notes: Second edition (2009) replacing ISO 3375:1975; sampling clause removed (ISO 1886 withdrawn) and conditioning time reduced.
- Conditioning: Packages must be conditioned in a standard atmosphere per ISO 291 for at least 6 hours before testing.
- Specimen preparation:
- Unwind roving from outside of package using a controlled unwinding device (guide eye and rollers).
- Remove at least 10 m from the package before cutting specimens.
- Cut five specimens, each 500 ± 5 mm long.
- Apparatus: Roving stiffness tester consisting of a stainless-steel hook (circular cross-section) with a sliding scale positioned 60 mm below the suspension point; controlled unwinding means with ceramic guide eye and rollers.
- Procedure highlights:
- Unwind at about 100 mm/s, avoid excessive tension.
- Drape specimen over hook, wait 30 ± 5 s, then measure separation of the hanging ends at the top of the sliding scale.
- Read each specimen directly in front of each hanging end to avoid parallax error.
- Results: Report the arithmetic mean of the five measurements (in millimetres) as the roving stiffness.
- Test report must include: reference to ISO 3375, roving identification, package outer diameter, conditioning/test atmosphere, individual results and mean, and date of test.
Applications and users
This standard is used in:
- Quality control and incoming inspection by textile glass (fiberglass) producers and suppliers.
- Composite manufacturers and processors selecting rovings for reinforced plastics, laminates and filament-wound parts.
- R&D and testing laboratories evaluating roving handling, processing behaviour and product consistency.
- Purchase/specification engineers who require objective stiffness data for supplier comparison and process optimisation.
Keywords: ISO 3375:2009, textile glass rovings, roving stiffness tester, stiffness of rovings, roving stiffness measurement, ISO 291 conditioning.
Related standards
- ISO 291 - Plastics: standard atmospheres for conditioning and testing (referenced for conditioning).
- Note: Former sampling standard ISO 1886 was withdrawn and is not used in this edition.