oSIST prEN 4860:2020

Luft- und Raumfahrt - Umweltprüfung - Abrasiver Verschleiß von Bedruckungen, Beschriftungen, Oberflächen und Materialien verursacht durch die Reibung der Fingerkuppe oder der Hand

Série aérospatiale - Essais d'environnement - Essai Xb : Abrasion de marques, lettres, surfaces et matériaux par cause de frottement de doigts et de mains

Le présent document fournit une série de méthodes d’essais standards permettant de déterminer la résistance à l’abrasion des marquages, inscriptions, surfaces et matériaux sur des surfaces planes ou courbes, qui peut par exemple survenir lors de la manipulation manuelle d’organes de commande, de boutons, de matériaux et de surfaces dans l’aérospatiale. La méthode convient aussi aux essais de résistance contre les fluides, les pâtes, les particules et autres matériaux, y compris lorsqu’ils sont combinés.

Aeronavtika - Okoljski preskusi - Preskus Xb: obraba oznak, črk, površin in materialov zaradi drgnjenja s prsti in dlanmi

General Information

• Status: Not Published
• Public Enquiry End Date: 31-Jul-2020
• ICS: 19.040 - Environmental testing
• ICS: 49.020 - Aircraft and space vehicles in general
• Technical Committee: I13 - Imaginarni 13
• Current Stage: 4020 - Public enquire (PE) (Adopted Project)
• Start Date: 04-Jun-2020
• Due Date: 22-Oct-2020
• Completion Date: 03-Aug-2020
• Ref Project: prEN 4860 - Aerospace series - Environmental testing - Test Xb: Abrasion of markings, letterings, surfaces and materials caused by rubbing of fingertips and hands

Overview

oSIST prEN 4860:2020 is a draft European Standard developed within the aerospace sector to specify environmental testing methods – specifically, Test Xb: Abrasion of markings, letterings, surfaces and materials caused by rubbing fingertips and hands. Published by the Slovenian Institute for Standardization (SIST) as part of the Aerospace series, this document outlines standard procedures for assessing the resistance to wear and abrasion on coated or printed surfaces that frequently endure direct human contact during operation, particularly in the aerospace industry. These methods help ensure that cockpit panels, buttons, passenger area surfaces, and other critical markings retain their legibility and functional finish throughout normal use and environmental exposure.

Key Topics

• Abrasion Test Methodology: Detailed descriptions of the apparatus and procedures to simulate abrasion from human fingertips and hands. The method is designed to closely replicate actual operational wear using cyclic, controlled movements with a viscoelastic test piston.
• Surface and Marking Resistance: Focus on testing the durability of markings, letterings, and surface coatings against mechanical wear from handling, as well as resistance to fluids, pastes, and particulate contaminants.
• Test Apparatus and Media: Guidance on test devices, including specifications for test pistons and fabrics. Procedures are provided for both dry and wet abrasion tests, with defined severities (force, number of cycles, and movement paths).
• Environmental Conditions: Standard environmental parameters for testing, including temperature and humidity ranges, to ensure reliable, reproducible results under simulated operational conditions.
• Documentation and Reporting: Standardized requirements for what must be included in the test report, such as type of test, test media, force applied, environmental parameters, and results.

Applications

oSIST prEN 4860:2020 is most relevant to the aerospace industry, particularly in design, quality assurance, and maintenance of aircraft interiors and control equipment. However, its rigorous approach to abrasion resistance testing can benefit any field where markings and surface finishes must withstand frequent human contact. Key practical applications include:

• Aircraft Control Panels and Cockpits: Ensuring that critical labels and markings remain legible and functionally intact after repeated direct interaction by pilots and crew.
• Cabin Interiors and Passenger Equipment: Validating the robustness of passenger interface surfaces, including tray tables, overhead bin markings, and signage in various zones such as lavatories, galley, and cargo areas.
• Component Development: Material selection and surface engineering for improved product longevity and compliance with industry requirements.
• Maintenance Program Design: Defining intervals and conditions for inspection and possible re-marking or coating of surfaces subject to high wear.
• Cross-industry Surface Testing: The approach described can be adopted by industries such as automotive, rail, or consumer electronics for evaluating the endurance of labels, buttons, and controls.

Related Standards

To ensure comprehensive environmental and surface testing, the following standards are often referenced alongside oSIST prEN 4860:2020:

• EN 60068-1: Environmental testing – General and guidance for testing environmental influences.
• EN ISO 12947-1: Textiles – Martindale method for abrasion resistance, referenced for fabric selection in the abrasion apparatus.
• ISO 3801: Woven fabrics – Determination of mass per unit area, important for specifying test fabrics.
• DIN 53160 (Parts 1 & 2): Colorfastness of articles for common use against saliva and artificial sweat.
• AMS 1435, AMS 1452, AMS 1476, AMS 1526: Relevant aerospace material and cleaning fluid standards.
• EN ISO 105-D01: Colour fastness to dry cleaning, pertinent for evaluating marking and coating durability.

These related standards help provide a comprehensive framework for environmental testing and material validation across the aerospace sector.

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By applying oSIST prEN 4860:2020, organizations can improve product reliability, enhance maintenance planning, and ensure compliance with aerospace industry requirements for surface durability and safety.

Standards Content (Sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-julij-2020
Aeronavtika - Okoljski preskusi - Preskus Xb: obraba oznak, črk, površin in
materialov zaradi drgnjenja s prsti in dlanmi
Aerospace series - Environmental testing - Test Xb: Abrasion of markings, letterings,
surfaces and materials caused by rubbing fingertips and hands
Luft- und Raumfahrt - Umweltprüfung - Abrasiver Verschleiß von Bedruckungen,
Beschriftungen, Oberflächen und Materialien verursacht durch die Reibung der
Fingerkuppe oder der Hand
Série aérospatiale - Essais d'environnement - Essai Xb : Abrasion de marques, lettres,
surfaces et matériaux par cause de frottement de doigts et de mains
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: prEN 4860
ICS:
19.040 Preskušanje v zvezi z Environmental testing
okoljem
49.020 Letala in vesoljska vozila na Aircraft and space vehicles in
splošno general
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

DRAFT
EUROPEAN STANDARD
NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
May 2020
ICS
English Version
Aerospace series - Environmental testing - Test Xb:
Abrasion of markings, letterings, surfaces and materials
caused by rubbing fingertips and hands
Série aérospatiale - Essais d'environnement - Essai Xb : Luft- und Raumfahrt - Umweltprüfung - Abrasiver
Abrasion de marques, lettres, surfaces et matériaux par Verschleiß von Bedruckungen, Beschriftungen,
cause de frottement de doigts et de mains Oberflächen und Materialien verursacht durch die
Reibung der Fingerkuppe oder der Hand
This draft European Standard is submitted to CEN members for enquiry. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee ASD-
STAN.
If this draft becomes a European Standard, CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations
which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration.

This draft European Standard was established by CEN in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other
language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC
Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and
United Kingdom.
Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of which they are
aware and to provide supporting documentation.

Warning : This document is not a European Standard. It is distributed for review and comments. It is subject to change without
notice and shall not be referred to as a European Standard.

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2020 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. prEN 4860:2020 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 3
1 Scope . 4
2 Normative references . 4
3 Terms and definitions . 4
4 General description . 4
5 Description of the test apparatus, test piston, test fabric and test media . 4
5.1 General description . 4
5.2 Motion of the test piston . 5
5.3 Test piston . 5
5.4 Test fabric . 5
5.5 Test media . 6
6 Severity . 7
7 Preconditioning . 7
8 Initial measurements . 7
9 Testing . 7
10 Intermediate measurements . 8
11 Recovery . 8
12 Final measurements. 8
13 Relevant information to be given in the test report . 9
Annex A (informative) Schematic drawing of a test apparatus for test XB . 10
Annex B (informative) Additional textiles for testing . 11
Annex C (informative) Cabin zones and test media in cabin . 12
C.1 Cabin zones . 12
C.2 Test media in cabin . 13
Annex D (informative) Fabric technical specification . 17
Annex E (informative) Standard evolution form . 18
Bibliography . 19

European foreword
This document (prEN 4860:2020) has been prepared by the Aerospace and Defence Industries
Association of Europe — Standardization (ASD-STAN).
After enquiries and votes carried out in accordance with the rules of this Association, this Standard has
received the approval of the National Associations and the Official Services of the member countries of
ASD, prior to its presentation to CEN.
This document is currently submitted to the CEN Enquiry.
1 Scope
This document provides a series of standard testing methods to determine the resistance of markings,
letterings, surfaces and materials on flat or curved surfaces against abrasion as may occur for example
by manually operating actuators, buttons, materials and surfaces in aerospace. The method is also
suitable to test the resistance against fluids, pastes, particles and other materials and also in combination.
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.
EN 60068-1:2014, Environmental testing - Part 1: General and guidance
3 Terms and definitions
No terms and definitions are listed in this document.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp
• IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
4 General description
Marking and lettering on the product surface is a communication feature between the product and human
beings. This communication feature often affects its usability and diminishes the value of the product.
Therefore, testing of the abrasion resistance to the environmental load on the surface generated by
human physical contact is of great importance.
5 Description of the test apparatus, test piston, test fabric and test media
5.1 General description
A suitable test apparatus shall comprise all the parts and generate the motion which are described in the
drawing in Annex A.
A dynamic pneumatic drive shall move the test piston via a connecting rod towards the surface under test
and then over it. The tip of the test piston due to its viscoelasticity is deformed in such a way as to fit the
surface under test. This is to simulate the motion of human fingertip including its hand and arm muscles.
This motion shall be repeated cyclically. A viscoelastic test piston shall be used to simulate the
characteristics of the human fingertip, ball of a thumb and hand. The material property, hardness, the
shape and the surface topography of the test piston shall be chosen in such a way that the pressure and
friction executed by a human finger or by the ball of a thumb are simulated. To obtain reproducible
conditions for impact and friction, a piece of fabric is placed between the piston and the surface under
test (either as a cover of the piston or as a curtain, hanging between piston and surface). The test fabric
shall be chosen according to the real simulation condition. Depending on the relevant specification, this
fabric may either be dry (dry test) or wetted with a specified test liquid by means of an automatic
feedthrough if the test is intended to cover the influence of fluid contamination as may occur in normal
use (wet test).
The test specimen shall be positioned on a solid, rigid frame being able to hold a range of samples with
various dimensions and geometries and withstand all forces specified in this document. For non-rigid
test specimens, additional sample support shall be used.
5.2 Motion of the test piston
A single cycle of the test piston shall comprise: movement of the piston towards the test specimen at an
angle of 45 ° ± 5 ° to the surface of the specimen and at a velocity of 60 mm/s ± 5 mm/s. After the test
piston impacts the surface of the specimen, it shall move parallel over the surface of the specimen for a
specified distance (referred to as the rubbing path). During this portion of the movement the test piston
shall apply a specified force and the longitudinal axis of the test piston shall remain normal to the test
specimen. The test piston shall then retract and separate from the surface of the specimen and return to
its start position. This motion shall be repeated cyclically as many times as prescribed by the relevant
specification and the duration of the cycle set so that the “piston pressing on the surface” and “piston
lifted times” are approximately equal. The period of each pressing unidirectional movement cycle is set
based upon the force applied by the test piston and the rubbing path. The length of the rubbing movement
shall be set to that specified in the relevant specification, which shall be between 4 mm and 40 mm.
The applied force shall be set to that specified in the relevant specification and shall be between 1 N and
20 N. The test specimen shall be firmly mounted on an adjustable, solid and rigid frame.
5.3 Test piston
The size and the type of the test piston shall be selected from Table 1 according to the shape and
dimension of the test specimen and the kind of lettering. The test piston shall consist of viscoelastic
material which shall be chemically inert against the test liquids and shall be characterized by a Shore-A-
hardness of 48 ± 5, measured on the flat side of the viscoelastic material.
Table 1 — Information about size of the test piston
Dimensions
mm
Size
A B C D
±0,1 ±0,1 ±0,1 ±0,15
1 10 20 1 32
2 20 20 3 35
3 30 20 2 32
If necessary other dimensions for the test piston more suited to the test specimen may be chosen.
They shall then be prescribed by the relevant specification. The load-displacement charts shall be
documented by the manufacturer and provided upon request.
The test piston shall be replaced regularly to obtain the reproducible test results. The normal lifetime of
the test piston is no more than 1 (one) year or 2 000 000 test cycles, whichever occurs first. It could wear
out before reaching the maximum lifetime depending on the usage (e.g. test media, forces) which can
drastically change this behaviour. Wear signs include divergent hardness, loss of the contour of the
contact surface, damages on the surface, and discoloration and gloss change of the viscoelastic test piston
material. If one of the latter occurs, the test piston shall be replaced.
5.4 Test fabric
Between the test specimen and the test piston there shall be an easily replaceable piece of fabric which
also can be a cover for the test piston.
EN ISO 12947-1:1998, Table 1 gives an example of specifications of the test fabric.
Abrasion side, machine direction and cross direction of the fabric shall be specified. Additionally, they
shall be marked. The movement direction of the test piston shall be parallel to the machine direction of
the fabric to maintain reproducibility. To ensure this, a guide for the fabric is recommended. The fabric
has to be free from folds, wrinkles and creases. Any post processing to remove those artefacts is not
permitted.
In case the test piston is covered by the fabric directly, an additional mark on the fabric is recommended
before the use.
Annex D gives a recommendation for technical specification of the fabric. For the “dry test”, the fabric
shall be changed or moved such as to bring an unused part of it into contact with the test specimen after
a maximum of 250 cycles in order to avoid wear of the fabric. The fabric feed can be realized automatically
or manually.
For the “wet test” (see 5.3), at the start of a new test and after a maximum of 250 cycles, the fabric shall
be renewed to avoid stray results due to encrustation and wear. The automatically moistening of the
fabric shall be repeated parallel to the fabric feed in order to wet the newly used areas of the fabric.
The fabric shall be fully wettened, especially on the area of the fabric facing the specimen. The moistening
can be achieved by a periodic dripping of the test media on to the fabric (Annex A).
If mentioned in the relevant specification, other test fabrics can be used. In Annex B, other suitable fabrics
are listed.
The abrasive dust produced during the test shall not influence the result of the test. Therefore, it shall be
removed periodically from the area between the test piston and the test specimen.
NOTE The accumulation of abrasive dust can be avoided by mounting the test surface vertically (the dust will
fall down) or by blowing it off by means of compressed air free of oil and any pollution at room temperature.
5.5 Test media
When a “wet test” is specified in the relevant specification the test media shall be specified.
Specified test media (e.g. particles, fluids and pastes) shall be added by an automatic feed due to a pump
from a closed container. The automatic dripping system will moisten the textile at the abrasion
point/area directly.
Specified test media may be:
a) artificial sweat;
b) oil and grease;
c) caffeine-containing liquid;
d) sun cream;
e) other relevant media.
A list of suitable test media can be found in Annex C. The media can be solid, liquid, pasty or mixed.
If more than one test media is specified, different specimens shall be used for each media unless
otherwise specified by the relevant specification.
6 Severity
The load is given by the force with which the test piston acts on the specimen and by the number of cycles.
It shall be chosen from the following values. The chosen values shall be prescribed in the relevant
specification.
Force: 1 N ± 0,2 N; 2 N ± 0,4 N; 4 N ± 0,8 N; 5 N ± 1 N; 8 N ± 1,6 N; 10 N ± 2 N; 15 N ± 3 N; 20 N ± 4 N.
The rubbing path length shall be selected from the following values.
Rubbing path length: 4 mm; 5 mm; 10 mm; 15 mm; 20 mm; 25 mm; 30 mm; 35 mm; 40 mm.
Number of cycles: 101; 102; 103; 104; 105; 106; 107.
7 Preconditioning
The surface under test shall be in the condition of delivery after normal production. The relevant
specification may prescribe preconditioning (for example aging, dusting and cleaning).
8 Initial measurements
The specimen shall be submitted to a visual check and if prescribed by the relevant specification to
dimensional and functional checks. Additionally, an automated mobile 3D-scanning device can be used
to determine the topography including visual impression.
9 Testing
Testing shall only commence after the specimen, test apparatus, test media and test fabric are all
stabilized at the required ambient climatic conditions. Those conditions shall be maintained, with
specified tolerances, throughout the test.
Unless specified otherwise in the relevant specification, the test shall be conducted at one of the ambient
conditions set out in Table 2 (from EN 60068-1:2014, Table 1). The relevant specification may specify
alternative ambient temperatures, within a range of −40 °C to +85 °C.
The surface of the specimens shall be stressed in the test apparatus with the prescribed severity.
Table 2 — Standard ambient conditions for test
Temperature Humidity Air pressure
%
...