ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is an independent federation of national standards bodies from more than 160 countries. Its documents give globally harmonized methods for testing, quality management, and international trade.
Why ISO standards matter in testing
An ISO test standard fixes the specimen, apparatus, procedure, and reporting so that a result obtained in one laboratory is recognized worldwide and supports accredited calibration and quality systems.
What ISO standards cover
ISO mechanical-testing standards span most material families relevant to a universal testing machine:
| Area | Typical ISO methods |
|---|---|
| Metals | Tensile, hardness, impact, bend (e.g. ISO 6892, ISO 148) |
| Plastics | Tensile, flexural, compressive (e.g. ISO 527, ISO 178, ISO 604) |
| Rubber & elastomers | Tensile and tear (e.g. ISO 37, ISO 34) |
| Composites | Tensile, compression, shear of fibre-reinforced laminates |
| Paper & textiles | Tensile, tear, and burst of sheet materials |
How to read an ISO designation
ISO designations use a number, an optional part after a dash, and a colon year of publication:
| Part | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Number | 6892 | Sequential standard number |
| Part | -1 | Part of a multi-part standard (e.g. method at ambient temperature) |
| Year | :2019 | Year of publication or last revision |
Browse all ISO standards
- ISO 1:2022 — Standard reference temperature (20 °C) for geometrical and dimensional specifications
- ISO 10275: Tensile strain hardening exponent (n-value) for metal sheet and strip
- ISO 10319 Wide-width Tensile Test for Geosynthetics
- ISO 10350-1:2025 — Plastics: comparable single-point data for moulding materials
- ISO 10555-1:2023 Intravascular Catheters (Sterile, Single-Use) — General Requirements
- ISO 10606:1995 — Total elongation at maximum force (reinforcing steel tensile test)
- ISO 11403 — Comparable multipoint data for plastics
- ISO 11566 — Carbon fibre single-filament tensile properties
- ISO 1184: Tensile properties of plastic films (withdrawn)
- ISO 12048 Packaging Compression and Stacking Tests (Compression Tester)
- ISO 12192 Ring Crush (RCT) Compressive Strength Test for Paper and Board
- ISO 12236 Static puncture (CBR) test for geosynthetics
- ISO 12625-4 — Tensile strength, stretch, and tensile energy absorption for tissue
- ISO 12625-5 Wet Tensile Strength (Tissue Paper & Tissue Products)
- ISO 13802 — Verification of Pendulum Impact-Testing Machines (Charpy, Izod, Tensile Impact)
- ISO 13934-1 Tensile Properties of Fabrics (Strip Method)
- ISO 13934-2 (Grab Method) — Fabric Maximum Force Tensile Test
- ISO 13937-2 (Trouser Tear) — Tear Force of Textile Fabrics
- ISO 14125 — Flexural Properties of Fibre-Reinforced Plastic Composites
- ISO 14126 — In-plane compression testing of fibre-reinforced plastic composites
- ISO 14129 — In-plane shear properties of fibre-reinforced plastic composites (±45° tension method)
- ISO 14130 (Short-beam): Apparent Interlaminar Shear Strength (ILSS) of Fibre-Reinforced Plastic Composites
- ISO 14556 – Instrumented Charpy V-Notch Pendulum Impact Test (Metals)
- ISO 148-1 Charpy Pendulum Impact Test (Metals) — Test Method
- ISO 148-2 — Verification of Charpy pendulum impact testing machines
- ISO 148-3 — Charpy V-notch reference test pieces for pendulum impact machine verification
- ISO 148:1983 — Steel Charpy V-Notch Impact Test
- ISO 14879-1: Endurance (fatigue) testing of knee tibial trays
- ISO 15024:2023 — Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness (GIC) using DCB testing
- ISO 15579: Metallic materials — Tensile testing at low temperature
- ISO 15630-1 Testing (Reinforcing Bars, Rods, and Wire)
- ISO 15630-2 (Welded Fabric & Lattice Girders) Testing
- ISO 15630-3 Prestressing Steel Test Methods (Reinforcement & Prestressing of Concrete)
- ISO 15754 (Paper & board): Z-directional tensile strength (ZDT) test
- ISO 16770 (FNCT): Environmental stress cracking of polyethylene
- ISO 16808 Bulge Test for Biaxial Stress–Strain (Optical Measurement)
- ISO 17282: Plastics — Guide to the acquisition and presentation of design data
- ISO 178 Flexural Properties of Plastics (3-Point Bending)
- ISO 179 (Charpy impact strength for rigid plastics) – Standard Overview
- ISO 179-1 — Charpy impact strength of plastics (non-instrumented impact test)
- ISO 179-2 Instrumented Charpy Impact Test for Plastics
- ISO 1798 Testing (Tensile Strength & Elongation) for Flexible Polymeric Foams
- ISO 180: Plastics — Izod impact strength (pendulum impact test)
- ISO 1827 — Shear modulus and adhesion to rigid plates (quadruple-shear)
- ISO 18352 Compression-After-Impact (CAI) Testing for Carbon-Fibre Composites
- ISO 18872: Plastics — Tensile properties at high strain rates
- ISO 1924 (Withdrawn) Paper & Board Tensile Strength Testing
- ISO 1924-2 — Tensile properties of paper and board (20 mm/min)
- ISO 1924-3 — Tensile Properties of Paper & Board (100 mm/min CRE)
- ISO 1974: Paper Tear Resistance (Elmendorf Method)
- ISO 19819: Metallic materials — Tensile testing in liquid helium
- ISO 2307 Fibre Rope Physical & Mechanical Property Testing
- ISO 252:2023 — Conveyor Belts: Adhesion Between Constitutive Elements
- ISO 26203-2 High Strain Rate Tensile Testing (Servo-Hydraulic and Related Systems)
- ISO 283: Textile conveyor belt tensile strength and elongation test method
- ISO 3035 Flat Crush Resistance Test for Corrugated Fibreboard
- ISO 3037: Edgewise Crush Resistance (ECT) of Corrugated Fibreboard
- ISO 3108 Steel Wire Ropes — Determination of Measured Breaking Force
- ISO 3384-1: Stress relaxation in compression (constant temperature)
- ISO 3386-1 — Compression stress/strain characteristics for low-density flexible cellular materials
- ISO 3386-1: Low-density flexible foam compression stress–strain testing
- ISO 3386-2: Compression stress–strain for high-density flexible cellular polymeric materials
- ISO 34 (Tear Strength of Vulcanized Rubber — Trouser, Angle & Crescent)
- ISO 34-1 Tear Strength Testing for Rubber (Trouser, Angle, Crescent)
- ISO 34-2:2022 — Tear strength of vulcanized or thermoplastic rubber (small Delft test pieces)
- ISO 3506-1 Fasteners — Mechanical properties of corrosion-resistant stainless steel fasteners (Part 1)
- ISO 3506-2: Mechanical properties of corrosion-resistant stainless steel nuts
- ISO 37 Rubber Tensile Stress–Strain Properties Testing
- ISO 37-1 (Rubber Tensile Stress–Strain Properties)
- ISO 376 (Force-Proving Instrument Calibration for Uniaxial Testing Machines)
- ISO 3781: Wet tensile strength of paper and board after water immersion
- ISO 3800: Axial Load Fatigue Testing of Threaded Fasteners
- ISO 4506 (Hardmetals — Compression test)
- ISO 4545-2 — Knoop hardness testing machine verification and calibration
- ISO 4606 — Textile glass woven fabric tensile breaking force & elongation (strip method)
- ISO 4662 Rebound Resilience Testing for Rubber
- ISO 4674-2: Tear resistance of rubber- or plastics-coated fabrics (ballistic pendulum)
- ISO 527 — Tensile Properties of Plastics (ISO 527 Series)
- ISO 527-1 Plastics Tensile Properties Testing (General Principles)
- ISO 527-2 — Tensile Properties of Plastics (Test Conditions for Moulding and Extrusion Plastics)
- ISO 527-3 — Tensile properties of plastic films and sheets (test conditions)
- ISO 527-4 Tensile Test Conditions for Fibre-Reinforced Plastic Composites
- ISO 527-5 Tensile Testing for Unidirectional Fibre-Reinforced Polymer Composites
- ISO 5628:2019 — Bending stiffness of paper and board (2-point, 3-point, 4-point)
- ISO 604 — Compressive Properties of Plastics (Compression Test Method)
- ISO 6259-1 Tensile Properties of Thermoplastics Pipes (General Test Method)
- ISO 6259-2 Tensile Properties Testing for PVC Thermoplastics Pipes
- ISO 6259-3 — Tensile properties of polyolefin thermoplastics pipes
- ISO 6383-2 — Elmendorf tear resistance for plastic film and sheeting
- ISO 6506-1 Brinell Hardness Test (Metallic Materials) — Test Method
- ISO 6603-2 — Instrumented puncture impact testing of rigid plastics
- ISO 6892-1 Tensile Testing of Metallic Materials (Room Temperature)
- ISO 6892-1: Tensile Testing of Metallic Materials (Room Temperature)
- ISO 6892-2 Tensile Testing of Metallic Materials at Elevated Temperature
- ISO 7206-13 – Torque resistance of hip prosthesis head fixation
- ISO 7206-4: Endurance testing of stemmed femoral components
- ISO 7438 Bend Test for Metallic Materials
- ISO 7500-1 — Calibration & verification of static uniaxial testing machines (force measurement)
- ISO 7500-1:2018 — Calibration & Verification of Force-Measuring Systems (Tension/Compression Testing Machines)
- ISO 7743:2017 Rubber Compression Stress-Strain Properties
- ISO 7763: Compressive strength (S-shape) test for paper and board
- ISO 7800: Metallic materials — Wire — Simple torsion test
- ISO 8067 — Tear Strength of Flexible Cellular Polymeric Materials
- ISO 815-1 Compression Set Testing for Vulcanized or Thermoplastic Rubber (Ambient/Elevated)
- ISO 815-2 Compression Set of Rubber at Low Temperatures
- ISO 8256 (Plastics) — Determination of Tensile-Impact Strength
- ISO 844 — Compression properties of rigid cellular plastics
- ISO 8491 — Tube (Full Section) Bend Test for Metallic Materials
- ISO 8496 Ring Tensile Test for Metallic Tubes
- ISO 8513: GRP pipes — initial longitudinal tensile strength
- ISO 8521 (GRP pipes) — circumferential (hoop) tensile wall strength test methods
- ISO 898-1 (Fastener Mechanical Properties for Bolts, Screws, and Studs)
- ISO 898-1: Mechanical properties of carbon and alloy steel bolts, screws, and studs
- ISO 898-2 (Nuts) — Mechanical & Physical Properties by Property Class
- ISO 899-1 (Plastics — Tensile creep)
- ISO 899-2: Plastics flexural creep by three-point loading
- ISO 9073-4 Tear Resistance (Trapezoid) for Nonwovens
- ISO 9290: Woven fabric tear resistance (falling pendulum method)
- ISO 9513 — Calibration of extensometer systems for uniaxial testing
- ISO 9854-1:2023 — Charpy impact properties for thermoplastic fluid-transport pipes (Part 1)
- ISO 9854-2 — Charpy impact test conditions for thermoplastics pipes
- ISO 9895 — Short-span compressive strength (SCT) of paper and board
- ISO/DIS 18989: Strain-rate dependent tensile tests for thermoplastics
- ISO/TS 18625:2017 — Container Tracking and Monitoring Systems (CTMS) Requirements
- ISO/TS 6892-5 Tensile Testing of Miniaturised Metallic Test Pieces