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Weathering Testing

What is Weathering?

Weathering is the adverse response of a material or product to climate, often causing unwanted and premature product failures. Consumers spend billions of pounds per year to maintain products that inevitably degrade and to replace products that fail. Materials that fail as a result of exposure to outdoor environments account for a significant portion of this total cost.

We attempt to prevent deterioration and premature product failure through chemical or mechanical stabilisation and through weathering tests to assess a material’s durability. For product development, it is vital to understand how to properly design and conduct these tests. Recognising the key factors that cause degradation is a good start.

The three main factors of weathering are solar radiation (light energy), temperature and water (moisture). But it is not just 'how much' of each of these factors ultimately causes degradation to materials, because different types of solar radiation, different phases of moisture and temperature cycling have a significant effect on materials on exposure. These factors, in conjunction with secondary effects such as airborne pollutants, biological phenomena and acid rain, act together to cause 'weathering.'

Below are some common applications of weathering testing and the Atlas products which are suited to them:

Automotive coatings, fabrics and plastics:

  • Ci Series Weather-Ometers®
  • Xenotest®

Packaging:

  • Ci Series Weather-Ometers®
  • Xenotest®
  • UV 2000
  • SC Solar Simulation Chambers

Paints, coatings and pigments:

  • Ci Series Weather-Ometers®
  • Xenotest®
  • UV 2000

Photovoltaics:

  • Ci Series Weather-Ometers®
  • UV 2000
  • SC Solar Simulation Chambers

Plastics:

  • Ci Series Weather-Ometers®
  • Xenotest®
  • UV 2000
  • SC Solar Simulation Chambers

Textiles, including industrial and geotextiles:

  • Ci Series Weather-Ometers®
  • Xenotest®
  • UV 2000
  • Suntest®

Window profiles:

  • Ci Series Weather-Ometers®
  • Xenotest®
  • SC Solar Simulation Chambers

Pharmaceuticals:

  • Xenotest®
  • Suntest®

Printing inks:

  • Xenotest®
  • Suntest®

CD's and DVD's:

  • Suntest®

Cosmetics:

  • Suntest®

Geotextiles:

  • UV2000

Wood coatings:

  • UV2000

Adhesives:

  • UV2000

Automotive exteriors:

  • UV2000

Agrochemicals:

  • Suntest®

Building sealants:

  • Suntest®

Dental materials:

  • Suntest®

Powder coatings:

  • Suntest®

Chemicals:

  • SC Solar Simulation Chambers

Electronics:

  • SC Solar Simulation Chambers

Military aerospace:

  • SC Solar Simulation Chambers

Roofing:

  • SC Solar Simulation Chambers

Laboratory Weathering

Due to a need for more rapid evaluations of the resistance of materials to weathering than can be obtained by outdoor exposure tests, devices with artificial light sources are generally used to accelerate the degradation. These sources include filtered long arc xenon, fluorescent, metal halide lamps and carbon arc. Less commonly used light sources include mercury vapor and tungsten lamps. These laboratory accelerated weathering tests are sometimes, and perhaps more appropriately, referred to as 'artificial weathering.'

The acceleration over natural weathering occurs for several reasons. Principally, the tests can run continuously at naturally occurring or higher irradiance than solar radiation, uninterrupted by the natural day/night cycle, seasonal variations and weather conditions. Temperatures, thermal cycles, humidity and water exposure can also be manipulated to maximum, but not unrealistic, stress levels.

Specimens can be exposed to spectral energies at/or beyond the limits of their intended service exposures, although caution must be exercised so as not to cause unnatural degradation mechanisms. In addition to the ability to manipulate and accelerate weathering conditions on demand, a fundamental benefit of a laboratory test is the reproducibility and repeatability over what is essentially an uncontrolled and variable phenomena, the actual weather. Research can be conducted to study the specific response of materials to various weathering factors. Each of the weathering factors can be controlled independently. Each light source has its own inherent benefits (and pitfalls) of which a weathering experimenter must be aware. Since the radiant energy received by an exposed material is considered to be most important, we will focus our attention on the quality of the light source, referring to how well each light source resembles natural sunlight and simulates other outdoor factors.

About Atlas

For more than 90 years, Atlas has pioneered innovations in the way companies test the durability of their products. From their first instrument in 1915 - the Solar Determinator - which simulated the fading effect the sun has on fabric, to today's comprehensive network of weathering testing instruments and services, their focus has remained the same:

Providing customers with sophisticated technology and advanced testing solutions to determine how long their products will last. As a result, they can reach their ultimate goals: a quality product, a competitive edge, a faster time to market.

Atlas is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and with its European headquarters in Linsengericht, Germany. Atlas has two design and manufacturing sites worldwide for the internationally accepted Weather-Ometer® and Xenotest® line of test instruments: Chicago, Illinois and Linsengericht, Germany.

With the combined resources of Atlas Material Testing Technology, clients have expert assistance in all areas related to natural and laboratory weathering and material testing solutions. Atlas work together to provide clients with a test program that will supply the data needed to make informed material performance decisions.

Atlas offers a wide range of instruments and systems that simulate the environmental parameters of sunlight, temperature and moisture in the form of rain, dew and humidity.

These parameters are controlled to replicate actual end use conditions. The chambers incorporate light sources ranging from carbon arc to xenon; metal halide to fluorescent lamps. Typical applications can be found in a variety of industries: Textiles, Automotive, Paints and Coatings, Plastics and Polymers, Paper, Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals.