Updated April 08, 2004
(No more updates will be posted until after the 11/8/02 subcommittee meeting)

     
ASTM F1292-99 is a standard specification that establishes impact attenuation perfromance criteria for playground surfacing materials. The standard also describes impact test procedures for measuring impact attenuation perfromance.describes an impact test for measuring the impact attenuation performance of playground surfaces using an instrumented headform.. In the course of working with the standard over the last several years, there has been concern over the consistency of scores recorded by different laboratories. Indeed, the interlaboratory study used to determine the precision and bias of the test method shows large variations in test results both within and among laboratories.

A Task Group of ASTM Subcommittee F08.63 has been considering proposals for a major revision to the F1292 standard. The primary goal of the revision is to improve the repeatabiity and reproducibility of the test method. However, almost every aspect of the current standard has been revised, either to reduce measurement error, to improve clarity, to provide more specific detail or to make it consistent with other standards.

Proposed revisions include:

1. Specification of a single hemispherical  headform for all F1292 tests.
2. More specific testing and measurement requirements, including more stringent sensitivity, accuracy and verification requirements and the use of an MEP reference pad to check test system performance.
3. Consolidation of Field and Laboratory Test methods into a single method. with separate procedures for the determination of critical fall height and for the determination of the performance of installed surfaces
4. More detailed specifications for the field test protocol.
5. More specific requirements for the preparation and compaction of loose-fill surfacing materials, which will include compaction of the surface.
6. Change of the cold test reference temperature to 25 F
7. Modification of temperature conditioning requirements to ensure that the 2^nd and 3^rd drops of  “cold” and “hot” tests do not diverge excessively from the target temperatures.
8. Additional, optional protocols for performing tests on “wet” and/or “frozen “ surfaces.

In addition, the proposal consolidates elements of other standards (e.g. F355, SAE J211) into F1292 and provides supplementary information on injury risk, sources of error, calculation procedures, etc.

Please send comments or questions to the Task Group Chairman.

Documents

The latest version of the Task Group's proposal and supporting documentation are available for download at the bottom of this page.

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This file is a re-drafted F1292 standard, incorporating the proposals of the Task Group.

This file contains rationales for the proposed changes and related discussion.