This part of IEC 60216 specifies the experimental and calculation procedures to be used for deriving the relative thermal endurance index of a material from experimental data obtained in accordance with the instructions of IEC 60216‑1 and IEC 60216‑2. The calculation procedures are supplementary to those of IEC 60216‑3.

Guidance is also given for assessment of thermal ageing after a single fixed time and temperature, without extrapolation.

The experimental data may in principle be obtained using destructive, non-destructive or proof tests, although destructive tests have been much more extensively employed. Data obtained from non-destructive or proof tests may be “censored”, in that measurement of times taken to reach the endpoint may have been terminated at some point after the median time but before all specimens have reached end-point (see IEC 60216‑1).

Guidance is given for preliminary assignment of a thermal class for an insulating material, based upon the thermal ageing performance.

The calculation procedures of this standard also apply to the determination of the thermal class of an electrical insulation system when the thermal stress is the prevailing ageing factor.