TESTING | WEATHERING
between automotive and airline OEMs, their suppli- ers and weathering testing companies to design a complex test cycle that better replicated that of a southern Florida subtropical climate, considered to be a benchmark location for weathering testing,” says McGreer. “This cycle takes advantage of current state-of-the-art control capabilities to truly simulate the stresses incurred by materials exposed to this environment. The development took over ten years, and included a full characterisation of the climate, how that climate could be simulated in accelerated weathering instruments, research into how the various weathering factors affected materials exposed to that climate, and the valida- tion to show improved acceleration and correlation of a variety of materials.”
Above: The Specific Specimen Surface Temperature (S3
T) system
from Atlas collects actual sample surface temperatures
system and All-In-One-Sensor (AIOS) technology.” The Specific Specimen Surface Temperature T) system is a means of collecting actual surface
(S3
temperatures of exposed samples during expo- sure. It uses a non-contact pyrometer for the actual surface temperature measurement and special RFID functions to index and determine the actual temperature measurement that applies to each sample. This provides a significant improvement in information about actual temperatures over the ‘black panel’, which has been traditionally used to control accelerated weathering tests but does not provide specific surface temperature data. All-In-One-Sensor (AIOS) technology allows for
Right: The Atlas All-In-One- Sensor collects controlled test parameter data right at the sample surface
controlled test parameter data to be measured right at the sample surface. Current instruments typically have certain control parameters, such as chamber air temperature and relative humidity, measured in areas away from the actual sample exposure area. Not only does AIOS allow for measurement of critical weathering factors at the sample level, but the calibration device can be placed in other weathering instruments to ensure reproducible tests, or in outdoor weathering test facilities to compare real-world weathering parameters with the accelerated tests, or even in specific outdoor environments that could be used for test method development.
New standards Atlas has recently been involved with the develop- ment of a new automotive exterior test method that has been published as a new standard, designated ASTM D7869. While this standard was originally developed for coatings in the automotive and airline industries, it is now being adopted (some- times with minor deviations to better simulate specific applications) for plastics as well. “This study was a long-term collaboration
46 COMPOUNDING WORLD | December 2019
www.compoundingworld.com Atlas also highlights possible areas for future
improvement in accelerated testing. “There has been quite a bit of recent work done to improve the simulation of sunlight with better filters,” McGreer says. “While the S3
T system improves our
understanding of sample surface temperatures, the next issue to address may be that of moisture – the third factor of weathering. It may be possible that improvements or features could be employed to better understand the impingement of spray on a sample to simulate rainfall. Another feature that is less associated with the actual functional tests, but more with how that data is collected, is to consider leveraging IoT and technology associated with that to provide easier, more complete and remote access to instrument data during a test.”
Fundamentals retained In terms of the main market requirements for accelerated weathering testing for plastic com- pounds, Andy Francis, Marketing Director, Q-Lab Corporation, says he does not believe that the
IMAGE: ATLAS MATERIAL TESTING TECHNOLOGY
IMAGE: ATLAS MATERIAL TESTING TECHNOLOGY
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
