The Right Choice--UV Fluorescent Testing or Xenon Arc Testing?/A Comparison of Two Effective Approaches to Accelerated Weathering Testing

摘要

Weathering and light exposure are important causes of damage to coatings, plastics, inks, and other organic materials. This damage includes gloss loss, fading, yellowing, cracking, peeling, embrittlement, loss of tensile strength, and delamination. For many manufacturers, it is crucial to formulate products that can withstand weathering and light exposure. Accelerated weathering and light stability testers are widely used for research and development, quality control and material certification. These testers provide fast and reproducible results. The increasing globalization of the coatings market intensifies the need for testing to improve product durability, meet quality standards of export markets, or decrease material costs to compete with imported products from emerging countries. The most frequently used accelerated weathering testers are the fluorescent UV accelerated weathering tester (ASTM G154) and the xenon arc test chamber (ASTM G155). In recent years low cost and easy to use testers were developed. This paper will explore the ways in which the two different type of testers including emission spectra method of moisture simulation, specialty testing methods, uniformity, and practical considerations in tester use. The inherent strengths and weaknesses of each tester will be discussed, including purchase price and operating costs. Guidelines will be given for which tester is generally recommended for a particular material or application.