New Practice for Standard Practice for Assessing the Durability of Membrane Forming Fluid-Applied Air and Water-Resistive Barriers
1. Scope
This practice is used to estimate the ability of membrane-forming, fluid-applied air and water-resistive barriers (FAAWB) to maintain serviceability (resist change that diminishes performance) upon exposure to conditioning environments intended to simulate natural weathering and aging. This practice covers test methods and environmental conditioning / accelerated aging methods used and properties evaluated for assessing the durability of membrane-forming, FAAWB. 1.2 This practice applies to membrane-forming FAAWB intended for use on above-grade vertical walls enclosing space that is occupied, conditioned, or both. The material consists of one-part or multiple-part fluid that is applied to a substrate and cures to form a monolithic membrane that is covered by building cladding or other finish wall building materials. 1.2.1 This practice may also be applied to fluid-applied membrane that incorporates embedded reinforcement or mesh, at detailing interfaces, transitions, or joints (e.g. at sheathing joints). 1.2.2 This standard only assesses the effects of common environmental exposures on specific properties of the membrane and is not meant to be a comprehensive evaluation of all conditions that the membrane may be exposed to nor the effect of exposures on all properties of the membrane. 1.2.21.3 This standard does not apply to fluid-applied paint products. This standard does not apply to fluid-applied thin film air and water resistive barriers that cannot be tested using ASTM E2178.
Keywords
Durability, air barrier, water-resistive barrier, fluid-applied, liquid-applied
Rationale
This document provides a guide for assessing the durability of membrane-forming, fluid-applied air and water-resistive barriers, which are prevalent on the market. Testing of the properties of samples exposed to various environmental conditions and accelerated aging can be useful in development of new products and evaluation of current products in predicting long-term performance. This proposed standard practice provides test methods as well as environmental conditioning and accelerated aging techniques for assessing the durability of fluid-applied air and water-resistive barrier products. While a standard specification for fluid-applied air and water-resistive barriers is currently under development, and is related to this document, this document is written to be completely independent of the Standard Specification.
