Designation: D 6797 – 02

Standard Test Method for

Bursting Strength of Fabrics Constant-Rate-of-Extension
(CRE) Ball Burst Test1
This standard is issued under the fixed designation D 6797; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A
superscript epsilon (e) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.

1. Scope 3.1.3 fabric, n—in textiles, planar structure consisting of

1.1 This test method describes the measurement for bursting yarns or fibers.
strength of woven and knitted textiles taken from rolls of fabric 3.2 For definitions of other textile terms used in this method
or fabric taken from garments. refer to Terminology D 123.
NOTE 1—For the measurement of bursting strength with a hydraulic 4. Summary of Test Method
testing machine, refer to Test Method D 3786.
4.1 Setup the tensile tester for performing the ball burst test
1.2 This standard does not purport to address all of the in accordance with the manufacture’s instructions. A specimen
safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the of the fabric is securely clamped to the CRE machine without
responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro- tension to the ball burst attachment. A force is exerted against
priate safety and health practices and determine the applica- the specimen by a polished, hardened steel ball until rupture
bility of regulatory limitations prior to use. occurs.
2. Referenced Documents 5. Significance and Use
2.1 ASTM Standards: 5.1 This method is used to determine the force required to
D 76 Specification for Tensile Testing Machines for Tex- rupture textile fabric by forcing a steel ball through the fabric
tiles2 with a constant-rate-of-extension tensile tester.
D 123 Terminology Relating to Textiles2 5.2 This is a new method and therefore the history of data is
D 1776 Practice for Conditioning Textiles for Testing2 very small, however the agreement of within- laboratory data
D 3786 Test Method for Hydraulic Bursting Strength of suggest this method may be considered for acceptance testing
Knitted Goods and Nonwoven Fabrics—Diaphragm of commercial shipments with caution.
Bursting Strength Tester Method3 5.2.1 If there are differences of practical significance be-
D 3787 Test Method for Bursting Strength of Knitted tween reported test results for two laboratories (or more),
Goods—Constant Rate of Traverse (CRT) Ball Burst Test3 comparative test should be performed to determine if there is a
statistical bias between them, using competent statistical assis-
3. Terminology tance. As a minimum, samples used for such comparative test
3.1 Definitions: should be as homogeneous as possible, drawn from the same
3.1.1 bursting strength, n—the force or pressure required to lot of material as the samples that resulted in disparate results
rupture a textile by distending it with a force, applied at right during initial testing, and randomly assigned in equal numbers
angles to the plane of the fabric, under specified conditions. to each laboratory. Other fabrics with established test values
3.1.1.1 Discussion—The angle of application of force, and may also be used for these comparative test. The test results
the area of the fabric upon which the force is applied varies from the laboratories involved should be compared using a
continuously as the fabric stretches when it is tested as directed statistical test for unpaired data, at a probability level chosen
in this method. prior to the testing series. If bias is found, either its cause must
3.1.2 constant-rate-of-extension tensile testing machine be found and corrected, or future test results for that fabric
(CRE), n—a testing machine in which the rate of increase of must be adjusted in consideration of the known bias.
the specimen length is uniform with time.
6. Apparatus
6.1 Tensile Testing Machine4, of the constant-rate-of- exten-
1
This test method is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee D13 on Textiles sion (CRE) type.
and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee D13.60 on Fabric Test Methods,
Specific.
6.2 Ball-Burst Attachment4, consisting of a clamping
Current edition approved April 10, 2002. Published July 2002.
2
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 07.01.
3 4
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 07.02. Apparatus is commercially available.

Copyright © ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, United States.

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 D 6797 – 02
mechanism to hold the test specimen and a steel ball attached 9.2 Place the specimen without tension in the ring clamp
to the moveable member of the tensile tester. and fasten securely. Start the CRE machine and maintain a
6.2.1 The polished steel ball shall have a diameter of 25.400 speed of 305 6 13 mm/min (12 6 0.5 in./min). Continue that
6 0.005 mm (1.0000 6 0.0002 in.) and shall be spherical speed until the specimen bursts. Record to the nearest 5 N (1.0
within 0.005 mm (0.0002 in.). The ring clamp shall have an lbf) the ball-bursting strength of the specimen.
internal diameter of 44.450 6 0.025 mm (1.750 6 0.001 in.).
10. Report
7. Sampling, Selection, and Number of Specimens
10.1 State that the specimens were tested as directed in Test
7.1 Primary Sampling Unit—Consider rolls, bolts or pieces Method D 6797. Describe the material or product sampled, and
of fabric, or cartons of fabric components of fabricated systems the method of sampling used.
such as garments to be the primary sampling unit, as appli- 10.2 Report the bursting strength of each specimen and the
cable. average bursting strength of the five specimens from each
7.2 Laboratory Sampling Unit—As a laboratory sampling laboratory sample to the nearest 0.5 N (0.1 lbf).
unit take from the primary sampling unit at least one full-width
piece of fabric that is 1 m (1 yd) in length along the selvage 11. Precision and Bias
(machine direction), after removing the first 1 m (1 yd) length. 11.1 Summary—Based upon limited information from one
For circular knit fabrics cut a band at least 300 mm (12 in.) laboratory, the single- operator and within-laboratory compo-
wide. When applicable, use the entire fabric component of the nents of variation and critical differences shown in Tables 1
fabricated systems. and 2 are approximate. These tables are constructed to illustrate
7.3 Test Specimen Selection—From each laboratory sam- what one laboratory found when all the observations are taken
pling unit, take five test specimens. Specimen preparation need by the same well-trained operators using the same piece of
not be carried out in the standard atmosphere for testing. Label equipment and specimens randomly drawn from the sample of
to maintain specimen identity. material. For this laboratory, in comparing two averages, the
7.3.1 When the end-use fabric component of fabricated differences should not exceed the single-operator precision
systems is provided, take specimens from different areas. That values shown in Table 2 for the respective number of tests in 95
is, if the product is a garment worn on the upper body, then take out of 100 cases. Differences for other laboratories may be
specimens from the shoulder, shirt tail, shirt back and front, larger or smaller.
and sleeve. 11.2 Single-laboratory Test Data—A single-laboratory test
7.3.2 For fabric widths 125 mm (5 in.) or more, take no was run in 1997 in which randomly-drawn samples of two
specimen closer than 25 mm (1 in.) from the selvage edge. woven materials were tested. Two operators in the laboratory
7.3.3 For fabric widths less than 125 mm (5 in.), use the each tested ten specimens from each mate. Five of the ten
entire width for specimens. specimens were tested on one day and five specimens were
7.3.4 Cut specimens representing a broad distribution di- tested on a second day. Analysis of the data was conducted
agonally across the width of the laboratory sampling unit. Take using Practice D 2904, Practice D 2906 and the adjunct “Tex-
lengthwise specimens from different positions across the width Pac.” The components of variance for Bursting Strength—
of the fabric. Take widthwise specimens from different posi- Constant-Rate-Of-Extension (CRE) Ball Burst Method ex-
tions along the length of the fabric. pressed as standard deviations were calculated to be the values
7.3.5 Ensure specimens are free of folds, creases, or listed in Table 1.
wrinkles. Avoid getting oil, water, grease, etc. On the specimen 11.3 Precision—Because tests were conducted in only one
when handling. laboratory estimates of between laboratory precision may be
7.3.6 If the fabric has a pattern, ensure that the specimens either underestimated or overestimated to a considerable extent
are a representative sampling of the pattern. and should be used with special caution. Before a meaningful
7.4 Specimen Preparation—As test specimens from each statement can be made about two specific laboratories, the
laboratory sampling unit, proceed as follows: amount of statistical bias, if any, between them must be
7.4.1 For fabrics, cut five specimens at least 125 3 125 mm established, with each comparison being based on recent data
(5 3 5 in.). obtained on specimens taken from a lot of material of the type
7.4.2 Garments may not require cutting if the equipment has being evaluated so as to be as nearly homogeneous as possible
ample room to clamp the garment in the apparatus. Five and then randomly assigned in equal numbers to each of the
determinations should be made on each garment.
8. Conditioning TABLE 1 Grand Average and Components of Variance
8.1 Bring the specimens (or laboratory samples) from the Expressed as Standard DeviationsA for Bursting Strength—
Constant-Rate-of-Extension (CRE) Ball Burst Method, lbf
prevailing atmosphere to moisture equilibrium for testing
Grand Average
textiles in the standard atmosphere for testing as prescribed in and Component
Material 1 Material 2
Practice D 1776.
Grand Average 172.2 131.2
9. Procedure Single-Operator Component 8.1 9.0
Within-Laboratory Component 0 0
9.1 Unless otherwise specified, make all tests on samples A
The square roots of the components of variance are being reported to express
conditioned in the standard atmosphere for testing as specified the variability in the appropriate units of measure rather than as the squares of
in 8.1. those units of measure.

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 D 6797 – 02
TABLE 2 Critical Differences for Bursting Strength—Constant- laboratories. However when agreed upon between the contrac-
Rate-of-Extension (CRE) Ball Burst Method, lbf, for the tual parties, for the approximate components of variance
Conditions NotedA
reported in Table 1, two averages of observed values may be
Number of Observations Single-Operator Within-Laboratory
Materials
in Each Average Precision Precision
considered significantly different at the 95 % probability level
if the difference equals or exceeds the critical differences listed
Material 1 1 22.4 22.4
2 15.9 15.9 in Table 2, for Bursting Strength-Constant-Rate-of-Extension
5 10.0 10.0 (CRE) Ball Burst Method.
10 7.1 7.1 11.4 Bias—The value of Bursting Strength-Constant-Rate-
Material 2 1 25.0 25.0
2 17.7 17.7 of-Extension (CRE) Ball Burst Method can only be defined in
5 11.2 11.2 terms of a test method. Within this limitation, Test Method
10 7.9 7.9 D 6797 has no known bias.
A
The critical differences were calculated using t = 1.960, which is based on
infinite degrees of freedom. 12. Keywords
12.1 ball burst; bursting strength

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