Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Correlations Between
Xenon Arc Accelerated
Weathering Tests and
Outdoor Weathering
By Bruce M. Klemann
Brady Corporation, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Republished with permission of IS&T, the Society for Imaging Science and
Technology, sole copyright owner of IS&T NIP 19 Conference Proceedings
Abstract
T
he ability to predict the long-term outdoor weathering of coatings
and printed graphics is essential to many industries. However, this
is a difcult task. Rates of photo-oxidation and hydrolysis for different
materials often do not increase by the same factors in accelerated
weathering tests, primarily because of differences between the spectral
power distributions of sunlight and articial light sources. For some
materials, accelerated testing results correspond poorly to phenomena
observed in outdoor exposures. Because of these difculties, few
correlation studies have been published. This paper describes a
correlation study between Atlas Xenon Arc Weather-Ometer
and
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, outdoor weathering. Color changes of signs
and printed ink jet media were measured with colorimeters and optical
densitometers. Correlations were determined for both individual materials
and overall data sets. The merits of measuring color changes with
colorimeters and optical densitometers will be discussed. The efcacy of
the ASTM G26 and SAE J1960 testing cycles will also be considered.
Introduction
Just think about the number of times you hear the questions: How
long will this product last outdoors? and This sample failed after x hours
in the accelerated weathering testhow many years is that outdoors?
Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to these questions. There is no
universal correlation that relates outdoor weathering to time spent in an
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Xenotest
Tests
Accelerated weathering was conducted in a Ci5000 Xenon Arc Weather-Ometer from
Atlas. The lter combination and environmental conditions were taken from the following two
test standards:
The ASTM G26 standard [3] employs Borosilicate inner and outer lters for the
xenon arc lamp. The light cycle has two parts:
1) Irradiance for 102 min with a set point of 0.35 0.01 W/m
2
at 340 nm, a black panel
temperature of 63 3C, and 50% relative humidity.
2) Front water spray for 18 min; same irradiance as above.
Note that ASTM G26 has been replaced by ASTM G155 since the start of this experiment.
The above conditions correspond to cycle 2 on Table X3.1 of Common Exposure Conditions in
ASTM G155.
The SAE J1960 standard [4] calls for a Quartz inner lter and a Borosilicate outer
lter for the xenon arc lamp. The cycle has four stages:
1) Irradiance for 40 min with a set point of 0.55 0.01 W/m
2
at 340 nm, 50% relative
humidity, and a black panel temperature of 70 2C.
2) Front water spray for 20 min; same irradiance as (1).
3) Same conditions as (1) for 60 min.
4) Dark cycle for 60 min at 38 2C dry bulb temperature 95 5% relative humidity
with back water spray.
Reected optical density and color values were measured after approximately every
200 hr of exposure out to 3000 hr. Two SAE J1960 Weather-Ometer samples were tested for
each material and color, while only one was run with the ASTM G26 method.
Color Measurements
Reected optical densities were measured with a Gretag Macbeth RD-1200 or
RD-1255 densitometer. For the process primary colors, only one color was measured.
For red samples, magenta and yellow were measured; for green samples, cyan and yellow
were measured; and for blue samples, only cyan was measured. Each data point was taken
as the average of ve measurementsthe four corners and the center point of the
rectangular color patch.
A Hunter Ultrascan colorimeter was used for color difference measurements in
L,a,b space. The small area aperture (1/4
"
) was used for all samples. The colorimeter was
congured for a D65 light source, a 10 angle of view, and specular reections included.
All data points were taken as the average of ve measurementsthe four corners and the
center point of the rectangular patch of color.
Correlations Between Weathering Tests, from previous page
Fall 2005
5
Continued on next page
Results and Discussion
Weathering Test Results
Data from the Atlas Weather-Ometer
. The average
for each product tested lies within this range. Of course, the standard deviations for some
materials are quite large. Most correlation coefcients are in the 0.60.8 range.
Problems with certain types of materials are to be expected in weathering tests.
For some materials, the spectral power distribution of the articial light source, the thermal
energy, and the water applied in a test do not result in a simple acceleration of the weathering
chemistry in outdoor exposure. Instead, other degradation pathways are activated, and the
test results are anomalous. For example, Gerlock [1] used FTIR spectroscopy to follow the
weathering chemistry of polyester/urethane and acrylic/melamine automotive clear coats.
The acrylic/melamine clear coats were found to be much less sensitive to exposure conditions
than the polyester/urethane clear coats. Changes in the weathering chemistry of the
polyester/urethane coatings resulted in poor correlation of xenon arc weathering with South
Florida and Arizona weathering. The effectiveness of light stabilizers added to the coating
formulations was also found to be distorted due to thermal migration of the stabilizers [1].
Another factor that may have affected the acceleration factors that were determined is
the two-year time scale of our experiments. For all materials, the acceleration factor was lower
for two-year than for one-year outdoor data. For example, for Ink Jet Vinyl, one year of outdoor
weathering was equivalent to 983 hr of SAE J1960 Weather-Ometer testing, but after a second
year of testing this equivalent had dropped to only 715 hr. Indeed, this gure may drop even
further in a longer test (which corresponds to a higher acceleration factor). It is expected that
it may eventually approach a stable, long-term value.
When these experiments commenced, the author was expecting to nd that
about 400600 hrs in the Weather-Ometer was equivalent to a year outdoors in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. However, the overall average for this experiment is approximately 800 400 hr in
the Weather-Ometer/year outdoors, which corresponds to an acceleration factor of 11.0 3.7.
It is difcult to compare this to the literature, because nearly all of the published studies
cite data for the Atlas South Florida Test Service or DSET in Arizona. In a comprehensive
study of the accelerated weathering of polyester gel coats, Crump [2] found an acceleration
factor of 8.4 relative to South Florida weathering for ASTM G26 xenon arc weathering. Model
predictions and experimental values of Bauer [5] for acceleration factors in South Florida and
Arizona weathering range from 4.5 to 15.0 (Borosilicate/Borosilicate lters) depending upon
the type of material. Bauer has estimated that one year in Florida or Arizona is approximately
equal to two years at Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan [6]. In order to make a fair
comparison, data collected at the South Florida Test Service is needed.
Table 5
Overall Weathering Correlations
Sample Set Test Cycle Metric Hr/Yr in Milwaukee
Overall ASTM G26 Density 928 564
Overall ASTM G26 E 1031 862
Current Products ASTM G26 Density 801 284
Overall SAE J1960 Density 864 964
Overall SAE J1960 E 802 1108
Current Products SAE J1960 Density 807 746
Correlations Between Weathering Tests, from previous page
Fall 2005
9
Conclusions and Recommendations
The Atlas Xenon Arc Weather-Ometer
, an
acronym for Equatorial Mount with Mirrors for Acceleration. Standards for this test method
include ASTM G90, ASTM D4364 A, ISO 877, and SAE J1961.
Fall 2005
17
AtlasCommitment to Growth continued
> Level 6
The next quantum leap in evolution of natural accelerated weathering test methods (like
the pivoting rack, follow-the-sun trackers, and EMMAQUA
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