AS 1366.

3—1992

Australian Standard
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Rigid cellular plastics sheets for

thermal insulation

Part 3: Rigid cellular polystyrene—

Moulded (RC/PS—M)
 This Australian Standard was prepared by Committee PL/16, Rigid Cellular Plastics
for Thermal Insulation. It was approved on behalf of the Council of Standards
Australia on 13 December 1991 and published on 16 March 1992.

The following interests are represented on Committee PL/16:

Board of Fire Commissioners, N.S.W.
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Commercial Refrigeration Manufacturers Association of Australia

CSIRO, Division of Building, Construction and Engineering
Master Builders Construction and Housing Association
Metropolitan Fire Brigades Board, Melbourne
The Plastics Institute of Australia
Railways of Australia Committee

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amendments thereto.
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This Standard was issued in draft form for comment as DR 91197

 AS 1366.3—1992

Australian Standard
This is a free 6 page sample. Access the full version at http://infostore.saiglobal.com.

Rigid cellular plastics sheets for

thermal insulation

Part 3: Rigid cellular polystyrene—

Moulded (RC/PS—M)

First publi shed as part of AS K56—1965.

Revised and redesignated AS 1366.3—1982.
Second editi on 1992.

Incorporating:
Amdt 1—1993

PUBLISHED BY STANDARDS AUSTRALIA

(STANDARDS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA)
1 THE CRESCENT, HOMEBUSH, NSW 2140
ISBN 0 7262 7279 5
 AS 1366.3—1992 2

PREFACE

This Standard was prepared by the Standards Australia Committee on Rigid Cellular Plastics for Thermal
Insulation, under the direction of the Plastics Standards Board, to supersede AS 1366.3–1982.
AS 1366 has four parts, the other parts being:
Part 1: Rigid cellular polyurethane (RC/PUR)
Part 2: Rigid cellular polyisocyanurate (RC/PIR)
Part 4: Rigid cellular polystyrene—Extruded (RC/PS-E)
The products dealt with by this Standard are mainly intermediate products used as insulants, either by their
manufacturer or by another manufacturer, in the production of thermal insulation products, e.g. building
panels, cool store panels, insulation for bulk containers.
Density has been used over a number of years as a means of classifying cellular plastics. Because of
advances in technology, similar physical characteristics may be achieved by materials of different density;
for this reason the density of the material is not included in the list of specified physical properties.
Nominal densities of rigid cellular polystyrene are included in Appendix B for guidance purposes only.
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The subsequent processing of the sheets is the determining factor in the fire hazard associated with the use
of these materials, i.e. the potential for harm to life or property resulting from the occurrence of a fire. For
example, when used in buildings the cellular plastics may need to be faced with lining materials in order
to achieve adequate fire performance. Thus it is not relevant to include a fire performance test for the
materials specified in this Standard. The users of these materials should apply suitable fire performance
tests to these products in their finished form. Purchasers of products fabricated from these materials should
specify such tests in their purchasing agreements. For building structures and components, suitable tests
are described in AS 1530, Methods for fire tests on building materials, components and structures, Part 3:
Simultaneous determination of ignitability, flame propagation, heat release and smoke release, and Part 4:
Fire-resistance test of elements of building construction.
A combustion characteristics test has been included; however, it must be emphasized that a combustion
characteristics test gives no indication of the fire hazard associated with the use of the sheet, but is used
to compare relative combustion properties of the material. The test has been included to ensure a specified
minimum level of fire retardancy in the sheet.
Reference should be made to AS 2627, Thermal insulation of dwellings—Design guide, for installation of
thermal insulation in domestic dwellings and for guidance on correct placing of vapour barriers for
protection in situations where temperature differentials may occur. For industrial and commercial
applications, expert advice should be sought.

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 3 AS 1366.3—1992

CONTENTS

Page

1 SCOPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... .. . .. .. .. ... . .... . . ... . . 4

2 REFERENCED DOCUMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... .. ... .. ..... . .... . . . .. . . 4
3 DEFINITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... .. ... .. . .... . . ... . . ... . . 4
4 CLASSIFICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. ... . . .. ... . ... . . . ... . . 4
5 COLOUR STRIPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... .. ... .. .... . . .. .. . . .. . . . 5
6 APPEARANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... .. ... .. .. ... . .. .. . . ... . . 5
7 DIMENSIONS AND FINISH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... .. ... .. ..... . .... . . ... . . 5
8 TEST SPECIMENS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . .. ... .. ... .. . .... . . ... . . 5
9 SAMPLING AND CONDITIONING . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . .. .. . .. .... . . .... . . ... . . 5
10 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... .. ... .. .. ... . ... . . . .. . . . 5
11 DETERMINATION OF FLAME PROPAGATION . . .. .. .. . .. .. ... .. . .. .. . . ... . . 6
12 MARKING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... .. ... . . ... .. . ... . . . ... . . 6
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APPENDICES
A METHODS FOR DEMONSTRATING COMPLIANCE WITH THIS STANDARD . . . . . . . . 7
B GUIDE TO PURCHASERS OF RIGID CELLULAR POLYSTYRENE—MOULDED
(RC/PS–M) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
C EFFECTS OF AGEING ON THERMAL RESISTANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
 AS 1366.3—1992 4

STANDARDS AUSTRALIA

Australian Standard
Rigid cellular plastics sheets for thermal insulation

Part 3: Rigid cellular polystyrene—Moulded (RC/PS—M)

1 SCOPE This Standard specifies requirements for rigid cellular polystyrene in the form of sheets, board,
blocks and cut shapes for thermal insulation purposes.
These requirements are intended for use in quality control and material specification, and are not
necessarily applicable for end use design requirements.
NOTES:
1 Alternative methods for determining compliance with this Standard are given in Appendix A.
2 Guidance to purchasers on recommended applications and nominal densiti es for each class of ri gid cell ular polystyrene is given
in Appendix B.
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2 REFERENCED DOCUMENTS The following documents are referred to in this Standard:

AS
1199 Sampling procedures and tables for inspection by attributes
1399 Guide to AS 1199—Sampling procedures and tables for inspection by attributes
2122 Combustion propagation characteristics of plastics
2122.1 Part 1: Determination of flame propagation following surface ignition of vertically oriented
specimens of cellular plastics
2464 Methods of testing thermal insulation
2464.5 Method 5: Steady-state thermal transmission properties by means of the heat flow meter
2464.6 Method 6: Steady-state thermal transmission properties by means of the guarded hotplate
2498 Methods of testing rigid cellular plastics
2498.1 Method 1: Sampling and conditioning
2498.3 Method 3: Determination of compressive stress
2498.4 Method 4: Determination of cross-breaking strength
2498.5 Method 5: Determination of water vapour transmission rate
2498.6 Method 6: Determination of dimensional stability
2498.8 Method 8: Determination of water absorption
2900 Quantities, units, and symbols
2900.4 Part 4: Quantities and units of heat
3900 Quality systems—Guide to selection and use
3904 Quality management and quality system elements
SAA
HB18 Guidelines for third-party certification and accreditation
HB18.44 General rules for ISO or IEC international third-party certification schemes for products
ISO
7850 Cellular plastics, rigid—Determination of compressive creep

3 DEFINITIONS For the purposes of this Standard, the definitions below apply.
3.1 Rigid cellular plastics sheet—a rectangular flat slab of cellular plastics material of definite uniform
thickness.
3.2 Rigid cellular polystyrene—moulded (RC/PS—M)—sheet expanded from expandable polystyrene
beads, which is moulded to shape or cut from continuously or discontinuously produced blocks. In
Australia RC/PS—M is commonly known as expanded polystyrene (EPS).
3.3 Thermal resistance*—a measure of the thermal properties of building materials, measured in square
metre kelvin per watt m 2 .K/W.

4 CLASSIFICATION Rigid cellular polystyrene—moulded (RC/PS—M) shall be classified on the basis

of its performance in relation to the physical characteristics as given in Table 2.

* In AS 2900.4, ‘t hermal resistance’ is called ‘t hermal insulance’, with the symbol M.

COPYRIGHT
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AS 1366.3-1992, Rigid cellular plastics sheets for

thermal insulation Rigid cellular polystyrene -
Moulded (RC/PS - M)
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