Designation:D6600−00(Reapproved2013)StandardPracticeforEvaluatingTestSensitivityforRubberTestMethods1ThisstandardisissuedunderthefixeddesignationD6600;thenumberimmediatelyfollowingthedesignationindicatestheyearoforiginaladoptionor,inthecaseofrevision,theyearoflastrevision.Anumberinparenthesesindicatestheyearoflastreapproval.Asuperscriptepsilon(´)indicatesaneditorialchangesincethelastrevisionorreapproval.1.Scope1.1Thispracticecoverstestingtoevaluatechemicalconstituents,chemicalandphysicalpropertiesofcompoundingmaterials,andcompoundedandcuredrubbers,whichmayfrequentlybeconductedbyoneormoretestmethods.Whenmorethanonetestmethodisavailable,twoquestionsarise:Whichtestmethodhasthebetter(orbest)responsetoordiscriminationfortheunderlyingfundamentalpropertybeingevaluated?andWhichtestmethodhastheleasterror?Thesetwocharacteristicscollectivelydetermineonetypeoftechnicalmeritoftestmethodsthatmaybedesignatedastestsensitivity.1.2Althoughacomprehensiveanddetailedtreatment,asgivenbythispractice,isrequiredforafullappreciationoftestsensitivity,asimplifiedconceptualdefinitionmaybegivenhere.Testsensitivityistheratioofdiscriminationpowerforthefundamentalpropertyevaluatedtothemeasurementerrororuncertainty,expressedasastandarddeviation.Thegreaterthediscriminatingpowerandthelowerthetesterror,thebetteristhetestsensitivity.Borrowingfromtheterminologyinelectronics,thisratiohasfrequentlybeencalledthesignal-to-noiseratio;thesignalcorrespondingtothediscriminationpowerandthenoisecorrespondingtothetestmeasurementerror.Therefore,thispracticedescribeshowtestsensitivity,genericallydefinedasthesignal-to-noiseratio,maybeevalu-atedfortestmethodsusedintherubbermanufacturingindustry,whichmeasuretypicalphysicalandchemicalproperties,withexceptionsasnotedin1.3.1.3Thispracticedoesnotaddressthetopicofsensitivityforthresholdlimitsorminimumdetectionlimits(MDL)insuchapplicationsas(1)theeffectofintentionalvariationsofcompoundingmaterialsonmeasuredcompoundpropertiesor(2)theevaluationoflowortraceconstituentlevels...
