EVALUATION OF THE TRANSVERSE DEFORMATION TEST

(UNE-EN 12002)

Toni Solsona
Saint Gobain Weber Cemarksa

Standard UNE-EN 12002 Determination of the transverse deformation of

cementitious adhesives and grouts was initially well received, since no test method had
existed until then on the evaluation of the deformability of a cementitious adhesive or
grout.

Our comments, based on numerous tests with cementitious adhesives, will focus
on two issues: preparation of the test units and resulting data.

Test piece preparation is quite delicate. On the one hand, cementitious adhesive
tends to stick to the die, especially in products that take a long time to set or that contain
a large quantity of polymer in their formulation. On the other hand, it is quite a
complicated matter to get the test pieces to comply with the demanding thickness
specification in the standard (3.0 ± 0.1 mm). Deviations up to ± 0.4 mm are quite usual,
even for persons accustomed to preparing such test pieces.

Our experience tells us that there is high scatter in the resulting transverse
deformation data. The test method evidences a lack of repeatability and reproducibility.
The data scatter can reach up to 50% in the same laboratory, and up to 100% when
inter-laboratory results are compared. On the other hand, the values obtained in the
same series of tests can be considered comparable, though they could never be used to
create a specification.

One might say, generally speaking, that the use of polymers in the formulation
of cementitious adhesives leads to increase transverse deformation. The following plot
presents an example of the data scatter in the variation of transverse deformation as a
function of the content of a given polymer.

Deformability · Forum-debate on adhesion and deformability. Qualicer 2006 1

Presentation by Toni Solsona
 20

18

16
transverse deformation (mm)

14

12

10

6 S2

4 S1

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
% polymer

The dotted lines in the graph show the approximate maximum and minimum
values in the data scatter of the test results. The figure also shows the two classes used
to rate cementitious adhesives according to the resulting transverse deformation values:
S1 (≥ 2.5 mm and < 5 mm) and S2 (≥ 5 mm). In view of the high scatter, it is reasonable
to consider the definition of classes S1 and S2 to be of little use since, for example, a
product containing 6% polymer could, on the one hand, provide transverse deformation
results below 2.5 mm, hence not allowing it to be considered a ‘flexible’ product, while
on the other hand it could also provide results exceeding 5 mm, enabling the product to
be rated in the highest transverse deformation class (S2).

It has been unsuccessfully attempted to relate the difficulty of test piece

preparation to the resulting data scatter. When test pieces were made with the thickness
required by the standard, the resulting test data displayed the same scatter as those of the
tested pieces with thicknesses that did not conform to the requirements laid down in the
standard.

It was finally concluded that the lack of repeatability and reproducibility

stemmed principally from the difficulty of achieving uniformity in the cement hydration
process of different tests.

With a view to assuring correct cement hydration, certain proposals have been
put forward, such as replacement of 12-day curing of the test pieces inside a
hermetically sealed container with curing of the test pieces by immersion for 12 days.
Though not much experience is as yet available on this change in the test, the results
suggest that repeatability improves and that higher transverse deformation values are
obtained. This is probably because immersion of the test pieces delays the development
of mechanical strength. As a result, the test is not very representative of reality, because

Deformability · Forum-debate on adhesion and deformability. Qualicer 2006 2

Presentation by Toni Solsona
when transverse deformation is measured (28 days after test start) the material does not
yet exhibit its final mechanical strength.

In addition to the studies performed of modification proposals aimed at making

the results of UNE-EN 12002 more reproducible, in our view it might be possible to
adapt the shear adhesion strength test in UNE-EN 1324 to strain measurement. A
certain experience is available in this test, and it is thought that this might be a good
option for evaluating strain results and their reproducibility.

Deformability · Forum-debate on adhesion and deformability. Qualicer 2006 3

Presentation by Toni Solsona