What Is Crush Test?
The crush test is a test in which an increasing compressive load is applied to the specimen while the force at which crushing begins, or the load-carrying capacity at a specified deformation, is measured.
Purpose of Crush Test
The purpose is to verify that packaging and structural elements can safely carry the loads encountered during stacking and transport.
Which Products Is Crush Test Applied To?
- Corrugated board and boxes
- Pipe and section
- Foam and filler materials
- Battery cells and modules (as an abuse test)
In Which Sectors Is Crush Test Used?
Standards Related to Crush Test
- ISO 3037
- ISO 12048
- ASTM D642ambalajlarda basma (kompresyon) testi test
- IEC 62133-2Safety in portable lithium cells and batteries test
Crush Test Conditions
- Loading speed
- Constant rate per the standard; typically 10 mm/min in ISO 12048
- Loading direction
- Vertical or horizontal; defined in the product standard
- Environment
- Conditioning at 23 °C / 50% relative humidity for paper-based materials
- Platens
- Parallel, rigid compression platens
Equipment for Crush Test
- Compression testing machine
- Parallel compression platens
- Force and displacement measurement system
- Conditioning room
Sample Requirements for Crush Test
- The specimen may be the real product or a section conforming to the standard
- Paper-based materials must always be conditioned
- Generally at least three specimens per set
- The specimen must be undamaged beforehand
Duration of Crush Test
Testing per specimen is short; conditioning typically takes 24 hours.
Crush Test Procedure
- 1Specimen dimensions are measured.
- 2Conditioning is completed.
- 3The specimen is placed centred between the platens.
- 4Load is applied at the defined rate; force and deformation are recorded.
- 5The crushing force and deformation value are determined.
Crush Test Acceptance Criteria
The acceptance criterion is defined in the product specification as a minimum crushing force or a minimum load carried at a specified deformation.
Evaluation of Results
The peak of the force–deformation curve and the mode of failure are evaluated. The result is considered invalid for specimens that are not centred.
Crush Test Report
- Standard applied
- Specimen description and loading direction
- Conditioning conditions
- Crushing force and deformation
- Force–deformation curve
Accreditation
EUROLAB holds internationally recognised accreditation obtained from accreditation bodies party to the IAF and ILAC multilateral recognition arrangements, under ISO/IEC 17025 for laboratory testing, ISO/IEC 17020 for inspection and surveillance, and ISO/IEC 17021-1 and ISO/IEC 17065 for system and product certification. This chain ensures the reports and certificates issued are accepted worldwide.
Whether this test can be offered within accredited scope depends on your product and the standard applied; since accreditation is method-based, the scope is confirmed in writing at the quotation stage.
Scope and authorisationsRelated Regulations
- Packaging and transport specifications
Mekanik Testler — What Does This Testing Field Cover?
The section below describes the field that the Crush Test test belongs to; the conditions and acceptance criteria of this particular test are given in the sections above. The scope specific to your product is confirmed in writing at the quotation stage.
Mechanical testing measures how a material or a part behaves under force. The family ranges from static loading (tension, compression, bending) to time-dependent behaviour (fatigue, creep), and from hardness and wear to fracture toughness.
What these tests have in common is that the result is reported as a MATERIAL PROPERTY. Yield strength or hardness is not a conformity decision; it is numerical data against which the design and the product standard will compare. Mechanical test reports are therefore usually an input to an engineering decision rather than to a product approval — material selection, safety factor, life prediction.
The distinction between static and dynamic behaviour is the key to understanding the field. A part may appear entirely unstressed under a static load yet break under repeated loading; fatigue fracture occurs at stresses well below the yield strength and gives no warning. For rotating, vibrating or cyclically loaded parts, a tensile test alone is therefore not sufficient evidence.
Test conditions determine the result, and this is critical for the readability of the report: specimen geometry, loading rate, temperature, conditioning and the gripping arrangement. The same material gives different values under different conditions. In plastics the rate effect is very pronounced, in metals the temperature effect; in composites the specimen orientation changes the result entirely.
Hardness is the most misused measurement in the field. Because it is fast, close to non-destructive and inexpensive, it is often used in place of strength. Conversion tables from hardness to strength exist, but they are APPROXIMATE and depend on the material group; using them as the sole evidence in material acceptance is wrong.
The fracture mechanics side requires a specific competence. Fracture toughness and fatigue crack growth rate measurements make it possible to calculate how long a cracked structure will last; they are the basis of damage-tolerant design in fields such as pressure equipment, aircraft structures and pipelines.
Method groups in this field
Static tests
Tension, compression, bending, shear and torsion. Yield and tensile strength, elongation and modulus of elasticity are obtained.
Impact tests
Charpy and Izod notch impact; the brittle-to-ductile transition behaviour of the material is determined as a function of temperature.
Hardness
Brinell, Vickers, Rockwell, Shore and micro hardness. Valuable for surface treatment depth and local differences in strength.
Fatigue
Force- and strain-controlled axial fatigue, fatigue in bending; S-N curves and the endurance limit.
Creep and stress relaxation
Behaviour under long-term load at high temperature; decisive for boiler, turbine and pressure equipment materials.
Fracture mechanics
Plane-strain fracture toughness, the J integral, CTOD and fatigue crack growth rate.
Wear and friction
Taber and rotating drum abrasion, coefficient of friction measurements.
Commonly confused in this field
- Calculating strength from hardness is approximate; it cannot be used as the sole evidence in material acceptance.
- Adequate static strength does not demonstrate fatigue strength; a cyclically loaded part requires a separate test.
- If test rate and temperature are not reported, the result cannot be compared — especially for polymers and composites.
- A test specimen and the actual part may not give the same value; moulding orientation, weld lines and differences in surface treatment all have an effect.
- A strength value given for a composite without stating the specimen orientation is meaningless.
- ASTM and ISO counterparts measure the same quantity but use different specimen geometries; the results are not treated as directly equivalent.
Which decisions these results support
- Design verification and material selection
- Incoming material control and supplier approval
- Meeting the mechanical requirements of the product standard
- Failure analysis, life prediction and damage tolerance calculation
- Verifying heat treatment and surface treatment processes
Related Tests
Frequently Asked Questions About Crush Test
Is the battery crush test also within this scope?
The battery crush test is an abuse test and is defined with separate parameters in standards such as IEC 62133-2 and UL 2580. The same criteria as the packaging crush test are not used.