Overview
EN ISO 15106-3:2005 (ISO 15106-3:2003) specifies an instrumental test method to determine the water vapour transmission rate (WVTR) of plastic film, plastic sheeting and multi‑layer structures using an electrolytic detection sensor method. Published by CEN and adopted from ISO, this part of ISO 15106 provides a rapid measurement technique over a wide WVTR range for quality control and materials selection in packaging, construction and industrial applications.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Scope and principle
- Measures water vapour passing through a specimen from a controlled‑humidity chamber to a dry chamber; permeating moisture is carried by a dry carrier gas into an electrolytic cell where it is absorbed and decomposed, and the resulting electrolytic current is used to quantify WVTR.
- Specimens and conditioning
- Specimens must be representative, free of defects and larger than the cell transmission area. Three specimens are used unless otherwise agreed.
- Standard conditioning: 23 °C ± 2 °C and 50 % ± 10 % relative humidity (unless other conditions are specified).
- Apparatus and test conditions
- Transmission area: 5 cm² to 100 cm²; temperature control within ± 0.5 °C.
- Carrier gas flow meter range: 5 ml/min to 100 ml/min.
- Electrolytic detection uses a D.C. voltage of about 70 V and a capillary with phosphorous pentoxide coated electrodes.
- Humidity in the controlled chamber is commonly set using a glass‑fibre plate impregnated with sulfuric acid solution (relationship of H2SO4 concentration to relative humidity is given in Annex A).
- Preferred test condition sets (examples) include temperatures and RH such as 23 °C / 85 % RH or 25 °C / 90 % RH (see Table 1 in the standard).
- Calculation and reporting
- WVTR is calculated from the steady electrolytic current using the instrument constant specified in the standard (clause 10) and reported as g/(m²·24 h).
- Test report must include apparatus, test conditions, specimen details, transmission area, thickness, conditioning, and mean WVTR.
- Precision
- Inter‑laboratory precision data are not available in this edition.
Applications and users
- Practical uses:
- Packaging industry - barrier testing for food, medical and pharmaceutical films.
- Materials R&D - comparing barrier performance of polymers and multi‑layer structures.
- Quality control - production monitoring and specification compliance.
- Construction and industrial - moisture barrier assessments for membranes and sheeting.
- Who uses it:
- Test laboratories, packaging engineers, materials scientists, product developers and standards compliance teams who require rapid, instrumented WVTR measurements.
Related standards
- ISO 15106 series: Part 1 (humidity detection sensor method) and Part 2 (infrared detection sensor method).
- Normative references cited: ISO 2528 (gravimetric WVTR method) and ISO 4593 (thickness measurement for films and sheeting).
Keywords: EN ISO 15106-3:2005, ISO 15106-3:2003, water vapour transmission rate, WVTR, electrolytic detection sensor method, plastics film testing, permeability testing, packaging barrier testing.