Accelerated Weathering Test Development With Fluorescent UV-Condensation Devices

Richard M. Fischer

doi:10.4271/841022

1984-08-01

Accelerated Weathering Test Development With Fluorescent UV-Condensation Devices 841022

Quality and durability have become very important aspects in the development of automotive components. Consumer expectations and competitive pressures require reliable and rapid testing to determine end use performance. One of the most important areas of test development is in exterior durability predictions for polymeric materials.

Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were used to determine the ability of several accelerated testing devices to predict the weathering performance of flexible polymer films used in exterior automotive graphic design. Commonly used cycles in carbon arc and fluorescent uv-condensation test equipment exhibited generally unacceptable correlation levels for these materials. Three causes for this poor correlation have been identified:

1.
Test device variability can be a significant problem and certain precautions have been taken to insure uniform environmental stress application to all test specimens.
2.
Similar predetermined exposure periods for all samples have proven to be misleading. There is an optimum exposure period for best correlation for each material and each cycle.
3.
For maximum correlation, the stresses induced by the accelerated testing device should be characteristic of the natural environment. The effect on correlation by varying these stresses (uv spectral distribution and condensation cycle duration) can be significant.

SAE MOBILUS

Subscribers can view annotate, and download all of SAE's content. Learn More »

Access SAE MOBILUS »

Digital $35.00 Print $35.00

Preview Document

We also recommend:

Standards

SAE Mobilus®

Publications

News

Events

Professional Development

A World in Motion (PreK-12)

Participate with SAE

SAE Membership

Donate

Accelerated Weathering Test Development With Fluorescent UV-Condensation Devices 841022

SAE MOBILUS