Testing, testing: Cross Cut Dimensional Stability Test

In this month’s Testing, testing, we look at the Cross Cut Dimensional Stability Test; what it’s for and how it’s done.

What is it used for?

The test simulates wet cleaning techniques that are commonly used in commercial buildings, to see if a floorcovering shrinks in such circumstances.

How it’s done:

  1. A 300mm piece of floorcovering that has been cut into four squares is bonded using adhesive to a 300mm piece of concrete. Each quarter of the floorcovering is marked to show where it meets an adjacent piece.
  2. When the adhesive is fully cured, the sample is placed face down into a bed of water for four hours.
  3. After four hours, the sample is examined to see if gaps have appeared in the joints between each quarter section, which would show that the floorcovering has shrunk.
  4. The sample is then kept at a constant temperature of 230C for 7 days, to represent an average room temperature and is measured again for gaps.

 What’s next?

The sample is then kept at 500C overnight, to simulate extreme temperature change. The floorcovering is assessed again to check if an unacceptable level of shrinkage has occurred.