ASTM D4203-12 - 15.11.2012
 
1. Scope

1.1 This specification covers unfilled, filled, and reinforced styrene acrylonitrile (SAN) materials suitable for injection molding and extrusion.

1.2 This classification system and subsequent line callout (specification) are intended to provide a means of calling out plastic materials used in the fabrication of end items or parts. It is not intended for the selection of materials. Material selection can be made by those having expertise in the plastic field only after careful consideration of the design and the performance required of the part, the environment to which it will be exposed, the fabrication process to be employed, the costs involved, and the inherent properties of the material other than those covered by this standard.

1.3 The properties included in this standard are those required to identify the compositions covered. Other requirements necessary to identify particular characteristics important to specialized applications are to be specified using the suffixes specified in Section 5.

1.4 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard. The values in parentheses are given for information only.

1.5 The following precautionary caveat pertains only to the test methods portion, Section 11, of this specification: This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

Note 1—This standard and ISO 4894-1 and ISO 4894-2 address the same subject matter, but differ in technical content. Although this standard and ISO 4894-1 and ISO 4894-2 differ in approach or detail, data obtained using either are technically equivalent.
 
2. Referenced Documents

D618-21

Standard Practice for Conditioning Plastics for Testing

D790-25

Standard Test Methods for Flexural Properties of Unreinforced and Reinforced Plastics and Electrical Insulating Materials

D792-20

Standard Test Methods for Density and Specific Gravity (Relative Density) of Plastics by Displacement

D638-22

Standard Test Method for Tensile Properties of Plastics

D648-18

Standard Test Method for Deflection Temperature of Plastics Under Flexural Load in the Edgewise Position

D883-26b

Standard Terminology Relating to Plastics (Includes all amendments and changes 8/24/2026).

D1238-26

Standard Test Method for Melt Flow Rates of Thermoplastics by Extrusion Plastometer

D1525-25

Standard Test Method for Vicat Softening Temperature of Plastics

D1600-18

Standard Terminology for Abbreviated Terms Relating to Plastics (Withdrawn 2024)

D2584-25

Standard Test Method for Ignition Loss of Cured Reinforced Resins

D3641-24

Standard Practice for Injection Molding Test Specimens of Thermoplastic Molding and Extrusion Materials

D3892-15(2020)

Standard Practice for Packaging/Packing of Plastics

D4000-23

Standard Classification System for Specifying Plastic Materials

E29-22

Standard Practice for Using Significant Digits in Test Data to Determine Conformance with Specifications

E105-21

Standard Guide for Probability Sampling of Materials

IEEE/ASTM SI-10

Standard for Use of the International System of Units (SI): The Modern Metric System

D256-26

Standard Test Methods for Determining the Izod Pendulum Impact Resistance of Plastics