ISO 13638:2021

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 13638
Second edition
2021-03
Building and civil engineering
sealants — Determination of resistance
to prolonged exposure to water
Mastics pour bâtiments et ouvrages de génie civil — Détermination
de la résistance à une immersion prolongée dans l'eau
Reference number
©
ISO 2021
© ISO 2021
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting
on the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address
below or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
CP 401 • Ch. de Blandonnet 8
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva
Phone: +41 22 749 01 11
Email: copyright@iso.org
Website: www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
ii © ISO 2021 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Principle . 1
5 Apparatus . 2
6 Preparation of test specimens . 2
7 Conditioning . 4
7.1 General . 4
7.2 Method A . 4
7.3 Method B . 4
8 Procedure. 5
8.1 Water immersion . 5
8.2 Cyclic movement . 5
8.3 Visual inspection . 5
8.4 Repeat of water immersion and cyclic movement . 6
9 Test report . 7
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.
ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of
electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www .iso .org/ directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of
any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or
on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www .iso .org/ patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the
World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www .iso .org/
iso/ foreword .html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 59, Buildings and civil engineering works,
Subcommittee SC 8, Sealants.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO 13638:1996), which has been technically
revised.
The main changes compared to the previous edition are as follows:
— The title of the document has been modified.
— The requirements of apparatus, preparation of test specimens and failure criterion have been
modified in accordance with other revised ISO standards.
— The minimum times of repetition of the water immersion and cyclic movement procedures have
been defined.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www .iso .org/ members .html.
iv © ISO 2021 – All rights reserved

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 13638:2021(E)
Building and civil engineering sealants — Determination of
resistance to prolonged exposure to water
1 Scope
This document specifies a method for the determination of the ability of sealants to resist differing
degrees of exposure to water under conditions of service.
The method assesses the effects of water immersion, for specified durations of time, on the ability of
the sealant to fulfil its essential functions, principally to withstand joint movement.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 6927, Buildings and civil engineering works — Sealants — Vocabulary
ISO 9046, Building construction — Jointing products — Determination of adhesion/cohesion properties of
sealants at constant temperature
ISO 9047, Building construction — Jointing products — Determination of adhesion/cohesion properties of
sealants at variable temperatures
ISO 11600, Building construction — Jointing products — Classification and requirements for sealants
ISO 13640, Buildings and civil engineering works — Sealants — Specifications for test substrates
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 6927 apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http:// www .electropedia .org/
4 Principle
Test specimens are prepared in which the sealant to be tested adheres to two parallel contact surfaces.
After immersion of the test specimens in water under defined conditions, they are subjected to repeated
extension and compression movements in a suitable device, at an amplitude which is 50 % of that used
in the test to assess the respective movement accommodation factor. This procedure is repeated a
number of times, or until failure of one or more test spec
...