NOTICE:¬This¬standard¬has¬either¬been¬superceded¬and¬replaced¬by¬a¬new¬version¬or¬discontinued.

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Designation: C 167 – 98
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND MATERIALS
100 Barr Harbor Dr., West Conshohocken, PA 19428
Reprinted from the Annual Book of ASTM Standards. Copyright ASTM

Standard Test Methods for

Thickness and Density of Blanket or Batt Thermal
Insulations1
This standard is issued under the fixed designation C 167; 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.

This standard has been approved for use by agencies of the Department of Defense.

1. Scope
1.1 These test methods cover the determination of thickness
and density of flexible, felted, or woven thermal insulating
blankets, rolls, or batts composed of fibrous materials, with or
without surface covering or reinforcement.
1.2 This standard does not purport to address all of the
safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the
responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro-
priate safety and health practices and determine the applica-
bility of regulatory limitations prior to use.
2. Referenced Documents
2.1 ASTM Standards:
C 168 Terminology Relating to Thermal Insulation Materi-
als2
3. Terminology
3.1 Definitions—Terminology C 168 shall be considered as
applicable to the terms used in these test methods.
4. Significance and Use
4.1 Proper measurements of thickness and density of blan-
ket or batt insulations are essential for determining thermal
insulation properties. For a particular batt or blanket product, FIG. 1 Depth Gage for Thickness Measurements
thickness and density are usually directly related to thermal
insulating value. 5.2 Steel rule, graduated in 0.05-in. or 1-mm intervals.
4.2 These test methods are of significant value in manufac- 5.3 Scales, of sufficient capacity and sensitivity to weigh the
turing quality control, to ensure that claimed insulation values test specimen to an accuracy of 60.5 %.
of products are maintained.
6. Sampling
5. Apparatus
6.1 A test sample shall consist of one representative roll or
5.1 Depth Gage, of the type shown in Fig. 1. The disk shall bundle of insulation.
be fabricated of a suitable clear plastic material, so that the 6.2 Sampling of Bundles—For bundles which contain 20
operator can see when contact is made with the insulation. The or more batts, five batts shall be selected. Otherwise, either the
disk shall be perpendicular to the pin at all times and shall have three-batt or five-batt selection technique may be used. Batts
a friction device to grip the pin unless purposely moved. The which are folded in half shall count as two batts for purposes
pin shall be of sufficient length for the material to be measured. of choosing and employing the selection method.
6.2.1 Three-Batt Method—Select the center batt and the
1
These test methods are under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee C-16 on second batt in from each end of the package.
Thermal Insulation and are the direct responsibility of Subcommittee C16.32 on 6.2.2 Five-Batt Method—Divide the package sequentially
Mechanical Properties.
into five groups of batts as equal in number as possible. Select
Current edition approved August 10, 1998. Published November 1998. Origi-
nally published as C 167 – 41. Last previous edition C 167 – 93. the first batt from each group. Be careful to select one and only
2
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 04.06. one batt from the two end batts within the package.

1
 NOTICE:¬This¬standard¬has¬either¬been¬superceded¬and¬replaced¬by¬a¬new¬version¬or¬discontinued.¬
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C 167
6.2.3 Cut batts which are longer than 48 in. to 48 6 0.25 in. half of that dimension to establish the test points.
(122 6 0.63 cm) in length. NOTE 2—Some materials may require 4 h or more to reach equilibrium.
6.3 Sampling of Cut Rolls—Five batts will be cut of 7.2 Expansion of Full Roll—Unroll the insulation. Flip the
roll-width by 48 6 0.25 in. (122 6 0.63 cm) in length. test roll over its entire length so the bottom surface is now on
6.3.1 Cut one batt from the center of the roll, two batts from top. Next grasp one end and pull the material over itself until
the ends of the roll, and the fourth and fifth from the quarter the original surface is again facing up. If there is insufficient
points along the length. room to pull the material over itself (less than twice the
6.3.2 For blankets wider than 24 in., cut each of the five unrolled length), the material may be repositioned by sliding
batts 24 6 0.25 in. (61 6 0.63 cm) wide by 48 6 0.25 in. (122 the partially pulled roll to the end of the testing space, and
6 0.63 cm) long. continue to pull the material over itself.
6.4 Sampling for Full Roll Method—This method can be
NOTE 3—Use Section 7.1 if sampling procedure in Section 6.3 is used.
used in place of 6.3 when the roll is wider than 24 in. (61 cm)
or longer than 50 ft (16.4 m). Prior to unrolling the material, 7.3 Measurement of Bundles and Cut Roll—Insert the pin of
weigh the entire roll to the nearest 0.25 pound (0.11 kg). Two the thickness gage vertically into the material at the first
methods may be used to obtain the full roll weight. The first measuring point with a twisting motion until it contacts the
method removes the insulation product from the packaging hard surface beneath. Lower the disk until it lightly and
prior to weighing. The material will expand and may unroll uniformly contacts the specimen. An alternative procedure is to
slightly, care must be taken to ensure that the full roll is use a disk whose mass exerts a specified pressure of at least 0.4
weighed accurately. The second method weighs the packaged lbf/ft2 (20 Pa) on the specimen. With the gage disk locked
insulation product, then weighs the packaging material only. against the pin, lift the gage unit from the test specimen. While
The packaging material weight is subtracted from packaged holding the gage in locked position, place the disk against the
product weight to obtain net material weight. zero end of the rule with the pin projecting along the calibrated
surface of the rule. Observe and record the reading at the
7. Procedure pointed end of the pin to the nearest 0.05 in. (1 mm). Repeat
7.1 Expansion of Bundles and Cut Roll—Hold the first batt the above for each of the remaining measuring points as shown
vertically off the floor by grasping it with both hands on its in Fig. 2.
long dimension so that the lower edge is 18 6 1 in. (460 6 25 7.4 Measurement of Full Roll—Record the roll length to the
mm) above the floor. Release the batt, allowing it to strike the nearest 1 in. (2.54) cm. Take measurements on each side of the
floor. Repeat the above for a second time. Next, holding the roll. If the roll has been cut in half, take a third roll length
batt by the other long edge, drop twice as above. Place the measurement along the midpoint of the roll width. Record roll
specimen on a flat, hard surface. Repeat the above for the width at three locations to the nearest 0.125 in. (0.32 cm).
remaining four specimens. Allow specimens to reach equilib- Width measurements will be taken 10 ft (3.05 m) from each
rium by waiting at least 5 min before making thickness end, and in the middle of the roll length. Using a pin gauge,
measurements within 1 in. (25 mm) in any direction of five record thickness to the nearest 0.05 in. (1 mm) as shown in Fig.
points as indicated in Fig. 2. 3. Refer to Section 7.3 for use of pin gauge. Two 15 ft (4.57 m)
long sections shall be measured. These sections shall be 10
NOTE 1—If 23-in. (580-mm) wide samples are tested, use a quarter or
(3.05 m) in from each end. A total of twenty thickness
measurements will be taken for each roll.
NOTE 4—Use Section 7.4 if sampling procedure in Section 6.4 is used.

8. Calculation
8.1 Thickness—Take the average of the thickness measure-
ments made in accordance with Section 7 as the thickness of
the specimen.
8.2 Area Weight and Density—Calculate the weight per unit
area and the density by one of the following equations:
Weight per unit area as received, lb/ft2 ~or kg/m2! 5 w1/~L 3 W!
(1)
2 2
Weight per unit area without facings, lb/ft ~or kg/m !

5 w2/~L 3 W!

Density of insulation ~without facings!, lb/ft3 ~or kg/m3!

5 w2/~L 3 W 3 T!

Density of insulation ~without facings! at specified thickness, lb/ft3

FIG. 2 Thickness Measurement Locations ~or kg/m3!

2
 NOTICE:¬This¬standard¬has¬either¬been¬superceded¬and¬replaced¬by¬a¬new¬version¬or¬discontinued.¬
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C 167

FIG. 3 Thickness Measurement Locations – Full Roll

5 ~w2!/~L 3 W 3 specified thickness! 10.3 The interlaboratory comparison noted in 10.2 yielded
values for bias of the batt sampling techniques specified in 6.2
of not greater than 1 % for any of the products tested. Bias was
where:
w1 5 total weight of test specimen, lb (or measured in terms of the percent deviation of the average
kg), thickness of the sampled batts from the package average.
w2 5 weight of test specimen without fac- 10.4 Imprecision of the batt sampling techniques was deter-
ings, lb (or kg), mined to be 2.4 % for the five-batt method and 3.6 % for the
L 5 length of test specimen, ft (or m), three-batt method.
W 5 width of test specimen, ft (or m), NOTE 5—Imprecision in this subsection refers to twice the sample
T 5 thickness of test specimen, converted standard deviation of the thicknesses predicted by the sampling technique
from in. to ft (or mm to m), and expressed as a percentage of the average measured thickness of all batts
specified thickness 5 ordered thickness, ft (or m). within the package.

9. Report 10.5 Thickness of Cut Roll—An interlaboratory study of the

9.1 Report the following information: cut roll sampling technique was run in 1995 on fibrous glass
9.1.1 The pressure exerted on the test specimens during insulation. Five laboratories each tested three samples of two
thickness measurements, if the gage used is of the type that material thicknesses. The materials included an R-11 roll, 32
exerts a pressure, in. (9.75 m) long by 15 in. (38.1 cm) wide, and an R-19 roll,
9.1.2 Average, maximum, and minimum of the measured 39 ft (11.89 m) long by 15 in. (38.1 cm) wide. These materials
values of thickness of the test specimen, expressed in inches represent the range of product packaged as rolls. The analyzed
(or millimetres), data consisted of a package average thickness, calculated from
9.1.3 Weight per unit area as received, expressed in pounds 25 sampling points per package, five locations each from five
per square foot (or kilograms per square metre), batts per each roll.
9.1.4 Density of insulation, expressed in pounds per cubic 10.5.1 Precision Results:
foot (or kilograms per cubic metre), and R-11 R-19

9.1.5 Age of material when tested, if known, and descrip- 95% repeatability limit (within laboratory) 25.9% 6.7%
tion of package (roll, bag, etc.). 95% reproducibility limit (between laboratories) 38.7% 11.4%

10. Precision and Bias 3 10.5.2 Bias—There is not an accepted reference value
available, and thickness bias cannot be determined.
10.1 The precision and bias of these test methods depend on
the ability to read and interpolate the steel rule and balance and 10.6 Density of Cut Roll—Data from the interlaboratory
to judge when surface contact occurs between the depth gage study of the cut roll sampling technique was used to investigate
disk and the test specimen. the precision and bias of density calculations. Density is
10.2 Thickness of Bundles—An interlaboratory comparison defined as the mass per unit volume, and is dependent upon
of six participating laboratories was conducted in 1991 on both the process of weighing the sample and measuring its size
fibrous glass insulation. This test program used four common in three dimensions.
batt insulations and tested all batts within each package. A 10.6.1 Precision Results:
within-laboratory repeatability for thickness measurements of R-11 R-19

7 % was obtained, which also includes product and packaging 95% repeatability limit (within laboratory) 7.8% 17.9%
variability. Individual batt measurements were initially ex- 95% reproducibility limit (between laboratories) 14.7% 40.8%
pressed as percentages of the average measurement of the
10.6.2 Bias—There is not an accepted reference value
respective package average. These percentages were then
available, and density bias cannot be determined.
normalized to the average thickness versus piece location
10.7 Thickness of Full Roll—An interlaboratory study of the
distribution for the respective product as measured by the six
full roll sampling technique was also run in 1995 on fibrous
laboratories. Twice the sample standard deviation of these
glass insulation. Four laboratories each tested three samples of
values yielded the repeatability. The 95 % repeatability limit,
two material thicknesses. The materials included an R-10 roll,
2.8 (sr), was 9 %.
100 ft (30.48 m) long by 72 in. (182.88 cm) wide, and an R-19
roll, 50 ft (15.24 m) long by 60 in. (152.4 cm) wide. These
3
Supporting data are available from ASTM Headquarters. Request C16 – 1016. materials represent the range of product packaged as wider
3
 NOTICE:¬This¬standard¬has¬either¬been¬superceded¬and¬replaced¬by¬a¬new¬version¬or¬discontinued.¬
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C 167
rolls. The analyzed data consisted of a package average gate the precision and bias of density calculations. Density is
thickness, calculated from 20 sampling points per package, ten defined as the mass per unit volume, and is dependent upon
locations each from two 15 ft (4.57 m) wide areas located 10 both the process of weighing the sample and measuring its size
ft (3.05 m) from each package end. in three dimensions.
10.7.1 Precision Results: 10.8.1 Precision Results:
R-10 R-19
R-10 R-19
95% repeatability limit (within laboratory) 8.7% 6.5%
95% repeatability limit (within laboratory) 6.2% 5.9%
95% reproducibility limit (between laboratories) 13.3% 7.2%
95% reproducibility limit (between laboratories) 13.3% 7.3%
10.8.2 Bias—There is not an accepted reference value
10.7.2 Bias—There is not an accepted reference value
available, and density bias cannot be determined.
available, and thickness bias cannot be determined. The inter-
10.9 The precision and bias for materials other than fibrous
laboratory study revealed a thickness deviation from cut roll glass have not been determined.
insulation. The deviations are:
R-10 0.152 in. (-3.86 mm) 11. Keywords
R-19 0.254 in. (-6.45 mm)
11.1 density-thermal insulating materials; thermal insulat-
10.8 Density of Full Roll—Data from the interlaboratory ing materials-batt; thermal insulating materials-blanket;
study of the full roll sampling technique was used to investi- thickness-thermal insulating materials

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if not revised, either reapproved or withdrawn. Your comments are invited either for revision of this standard or for additional standards
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