Thermal Expansion In Solid Vinyl Tile (LVT And LVP) By .

Thermal Expansion in Solid Vinyl Tile (LVT and LVP)By Evan C. LauridsenSolid vinyl tile. Love it, hate it, it’s been around for many years. To the amazement ofmany, including resilient floor manufacturers it made a huge come back in early 2000and has remained that way ever since. Solid vinyl tile or what’s commonly referred toas Luxury Vinyl Tiles and Planks or LVT/LVP is composed of binder, filler and pigmentscompounded with suitable lubricants and processing aids. The binder consists of oneof more polymers or copolymers of vinyl chloride, other modifying resins, plasticizersand stabilizers. The polymers or copolymers of vinyl chloride comprise at least 60% ofthe weight of the binder. Any copolymer of vinyl chloride used shall contain at least85% vinyl chloride according to the ASTM. It is the plasticizer that causes the polyvinylchloride (PVC) to become flexible and less brittle. Where specified the manufacturermay add a layer of fiberglass within the core to make it more resistant to thermalexpansion or the material may go through other stress or tension relieving processessuch as annealing to further stabilize the material with respect to dimensional stabilityof the product. These products differ from those classified under ASTM F3261-20Resilient Flooring in Modular Format with Rigid Polymeric Cores (i.e. WPC, SPC) andthe newest category or rigid core products such as MgO or magnesium oxide whichhas now made its way into the market in both flooring and underlayment panels. Theserigid core products should not be confused with solid vinyl tile as described withinASTM F1700-20.During and after production of the solid vinyl tile the flooring will typically undergo anumber of quality control checks both on the production line and in the lab. Thesetests are described within the ASTM F1700-20 as well as other testing standards thatmanufacturers may subscribe to. One of those tests conducted is dimensional stabilityand curling properties of resilient flooring after exposure to heat under ASTM F219920. The tolerances for dimensional stability are found within ASTM F1700-20 whichstate that the material after exposure to heat (and allowed to cool the prescribedamount of time) should not exceed 0.020” per lineal foot. Thus in a 6” x 48” vinyl plankthe amount of change in size in width should not exceed 0.010” nor 0.080” in thelength. Thus the volume of the material dominates how much shrinkage or expansiona given plank may experience after production of the product.Now you might say “wow, 0.080” that’s a lot of movement in a single plank” and youwould be correct. But we are talking physical properties of materials at time ofmanufacture and not what the customer or homeowner should expect to see out onthe jobsite. Let’s keep in mind that ASTM F1700 is a test conducted in a laboratory andto laboratory conditions to determine the dimensional stability of the product. The testincludes raising the temperature of the material to 180 F for 6 hours and then lettingit cool before taking measurements. Most homes we go into do not reach anywherenear 180 F, even with direct sun for longer than 6 hours. For one the sun doesn’t movebut the earth does which means at some point the direct sun on the floor will moveeither to another area of the floor or completely off the floor. Still the floor expandsand contracts based on exposure to temperature variations (when cooled contracts,when heated expands). How much a post installed floor moves depends on a numberof factors including how it was produced, how it’s acclimated and installed out on the

job and what post installed exposures it will experience. Time and temperature aredominate factors when it comes to thermal expansion along with the coefficient ofexpansion of a product or material.Evan C. LauridsenShaw Industriesevan.lauridsen@shawinc.comField measurement of extracted planks which demonstrated peaking(note manufacturing specs called for plank to be 48” - tolerances).

Field measurement of extracted areademonstrating less than actual length of 2planks suggesting product was installed ina cooled state and once HVAC wasinstalled and turned on thermallyexpanded back to its original size.Bond failure of patching compound dueto a foreign substance on subfloor, mostlikely paint.

Peaking as a result of installing the floor cold, bond failure between patchingcompound and subfloor, and failure to obtain transfer.

Lack of adhesive transfer due to installing past working time of the adhesive.Non collapsed adhesive ridges suggestfloor not rolled nor installed withinworking time of adhesive.

Thermal Expansion in Solid Vinyl Tile (LVT and LVP) By Evan C. Lauridsen . Solid vinyl tile. Love it, hate it, it's been around for many years. To the amazement of many, including resilient floor manufacturers it made a huge come back in early 2000 and has remained that way ever since. Solid vinyl tile or what's commonly referred to