ISO 12103-1:1997

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 12103-1
First edition
1997-12-15
Road vehicles — Test dust for filter
evaluation —
Part 1:
Arizona test dust
Véhicules routiers — Poussière pour l'essai des filtres —
Partie 1: Poussière d'essai d'Arizona
A
Reference number
ISO 12103-1:1997(E)

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ISO 12103-1:1997(E)
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.
Draft International Standards adopted by the technical committees are
circulated to the member bodies for voting. Publication as an International
Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies casting
a vote.
International Standard ISO 12103-1 was prepared by Technical Committee
ISO/TC 22, Road vehicles, Subcommittee SC 7, Injection equipment and
filters for use on road vehicles.
ISO 12103 consists of the following parts, under the general title Road
vehicles — Test dust for filter evaluation:
— Part 1: Arizona test dust
— Part 2: Aluminium oxide test dust
Annexes A and B of this part of ISO 12103 are for information only.
©  ISO 1997
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and
microfilm, without permission in writing from the publisher.
International Organization for Standardization
Case postale 56 • CH-1211 Genève 20 • Switzerland
Internet central@iso.ch
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Printed in Switzerland
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ISO ISO 12103-1:1997(E)
Introduction
This part of ISO 12103 specifies four grades of test dusts made from
desert sand, which is composed of natural occurring compounds that motor
vehicles are commonly subjected to. These test dusts are used to deter-
mine performance of filtration systems. Due to the abrasive characteristics
of these materials, they have also been used in wear studies involving
bearings, seals, fan blades, windshield wipers, etc.
This part of ISO 12103 specifies the particle size distribution of these four
dusts by volume, as opposed to by number. The particle size distribution
by number will be added to a revision of this part of ISO 12103.
Dusts complying with the volume distribution specified in this part of
ISO 12103 are not appropriate for calibration of particle counters. For this
purpose refer to ISO 4402, which is currently under review.
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INTERNATIONAL STANDARD  ISO ISO 12103-1:1997(E)
Road vehicles — Test dust for filter evaluation —
Part 1:
Arizona test dust
1 Scope
This part of ISO 12103 defines particle size distribution and chemical content limits involving four grades of test dust
made from Arizona desert sand.
2 Test dust description
Test dusts according to this part of ISO 12103 are manufactured from Arizona desert sand. Arizona desert sand is a
naturally occurring contaminant consisting primarily of silicon dioxide with smaller amounts of other compounds. It is
collected from a select area of Arizona desert, jet-milled and classified to specific particle size.
NOTE —  Arizona desert sand has also been referred to as Arizona road dust, Arizona test dust, Arizona silica, AC fine or
coarse test dust, ACFTD or ACCTD, and SAE fine or coarse test dust (see annex A).
Arizona desert sand has a density of approximately 2 650 kg/m³. Bulk density of ISO-specified test dusts made from
Arizona sand varies with particle size (see table 1).
Table 1 — Bulk density
Category Approximate bulk
density
3
kg/m
ultrafine 500
fine 900
medium 1 025
coarse 1 200
3 Test dust designation
Arizona test dusts are available in four standard categories, designated as follows:
— ISO 12103-A1 for ultrafine test dust
— ISO 12103-A2 for fine test dust
— ISO 12103-A3 for medium test dust
— ISO 12103-A4 for coarse test dust
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ISO 12103-1:1997(E)
4 Particle size distribution
1)
Particle size distribution is determined using a Coulter Multisizer IIe™ particle size analyser. Table 2 specifies
cumulative volume particle size limits for ISO-specified test dusts made from Arizona desert sand.
Table 2 — Particle size distribution
Maximum volume fraction, %
Size
μm
A1 A2 A3 A4
ultrafine fine medium coarse
1 1 to 3 2,5 to 3,5 1 to 2 0,6 to 1
2 9 to 13 10,5 to 12,5 4,0 to 5,5 2,2 to 3,7
3 21 to 27 18,5 to 22,0 7,5 to 9,5 4,2 to 6,0
4 36 to 44 25,5 to 29,5 10,5 to 13,0 6,2 to 8,2
5 56 to 64 31 to 36 15 to 19 8,0 to 10,5
7 83 to 88 41 to 46 28 to 33 12,0 to 14,5
10 97 to 100 50 to 54 40 to 45 17,0 to 22,0
20 100 70 to 74 65 to 69 32,0 to 36,0
40 — 88 to 91 84 to 88 57,0 to 61,0
80 — 99,5 to 100 99 to 100 87,5 to 89,5
120 — 100 100 97,0 to 98,0
180 — — — 99,5 to 100
200 — — — 100
5 Analysis equipment and operating procedure
5.1 Particle size analysis procedure
Analysis of ISO-specified Arizona test dusts shall be performed using a Coulter Multisizer IIe™ particle size
analyser.
The Coulter Multisizer IIe™ measures particles individually by volume (mass) with a high degree of resolution. A
dilute suspension of the sample to be analysed is made in Isoton II electrolyte solution complying with the Coulter
manufacturer specification. The suspension is then stirred and drawn through a small aperture by means of a
vacuum source.
An electrical current, passing through the aperture between two electrodes, enables the particles to be sensed by
momentary changes in the electrical impedance as they pass through the aperture, since each particle displaces its
own volume of electrolyte solution within the aperture. These changes in impedance are detected as a series of
voltage pulses where the magnitude of each pulse is essentially proportional to the volume of the particle that
produced it. These pulses are then amplified, counted and allocated to the correct size class. This principle allows
thousands of individual particles to be measured every second, accurately, and in three dimensions.
Individual apertures are capable of measuring particles ranging between 2 % and 60 % of the aperture diameter.
Therefore it is necessary to use multiple apertures to measure broad band particle size ranges found in fine,
medium, and coarse test dusts according to this part of ISO 12103.

1)  Coulter is a trade name. This information is given for the convenience of the users of this part of ISO 12103 and does not
constitute an endorsement by ISO of this company or its products.
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ISO 12103-1:1997(E)
Multiple aperture procedure involves removal of particles larger than aperture capacity by wet sieving prior to
analysis. Data generated from individual apertures is mathematically correlated to determine full range particle size
distributions.
Table 3 — Aperture/sieve correlation size
Dust grade Aperture Aperture size Sieve size
procedure
μm μm
ultrafine single 30 none
fine multiple 30 20
100 45
280 none
medium multiple 30 20
100 45
280 none
coarse multiple 30 20
100 45
200 75
400 none
The Coulter Multisizer IIe™ instrument offers many set-up options that are selected prior to sample analysis.
Set-up mode options shall read as follows:
— channels: 256;
— edit: off;
— coincidence corr: off.
Sample data accumulation screen options should be set as follows:
— x-axis: diameter (logarithmic scale);
— y-axis: volume difference.
Blank subtraction option should be used in conjunction with 30 μm aperture tube analysis. Blank subtraction
involves running a background count of particulates in the electrolyte prior to sample analysis. The background
count is then subtracted from the sample data. The majority of background counts occur in the first 20 channels of
data. Multiple aperture reduction of data eliminates use of the first 20 channels of data in all apertures, except the
smallest or 30 μm size. Therefore, it is not necessary to use blank subtract with larger apertures.
Typical sample preparation is as follows:
a) Place one or two drops of suitable dispersant into a clean 20 ml vial.
b) Add 1 ml of water to dispersant.
c) Add 5 mg to 10 mg sample of test dust. Insure that sample removed is representative of lot of test dust.
d) Mix by gently moving the vial in a circular motion. Be careful not to create bubbles.
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ISO 12103-1:1997(E)
e) Add approximately 10 ml deionized water.
f) Place sample vial and contents in an ultrasonic bath for 10 s. Ultrasonic bath should be approximately 80 W
power.
g) If the sample prepared is to be used with 280 μm or 400 μm aperture tubes, proceed to step j).
h) Pour the sample into a thoroughly cleaned 76 mm diameter test sieve of appropriate mesh size to remove
oversized particles. Rinse sample vial using a small amount of deionized water so that rinse solution drains into test
sieve.
i) Pour sample that passed through the test sieve into a clean vial. Rinse test sieve pan with deionized water to
remove sample residue and include in sample vial.
j) Using a pipette, mix sample and liquid in vial so that all particles are suspended in solution. Withdraw a portion
of prepared sample with pipette and place into stirred electrolyte solution. Add sample until concentration index
reaches 5 % to 10 %. Stirring speed shall be high enough to keep largest particles in suspension.
k) Start accumulation process. It is necessary to accumulate a minimum of 1 200 000 particles per aperture to
obtain repeatable multi-aperture data. Larger aperture analysis requires repeated stopping of the accumulation
process to refill electrolyte solution, add additional sample, and restart accumulation.
All of the prepared sample shall be consumed or counted when using 280 μm or 400 μm apertures. This is
necessary because it is virtually impossible to remove a representative portion of the prepared sa
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