Weather testing of polymers

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Accelerated photo-ageing of polymers in SEPAP units is the controlled polymer degradation and polymer coating degradation under lab or natural conditions.

The prediction of the ageing of plastic materials is an important subject that concerns both users and manufacturers of materials (polymers, fillers and various additives) or intermediates that are the many transformers that use their "thermoplastic" property for the manufacture of multiple objects by different processes such as extrusion, injection molding, etc.

The reliability of the materials is one of the many guarantees that are increasingly required for all the manufactured objects we use every day and it is therefore perfectly integrated into the "sustainable development" approach. However, predicting the behavior of a material or an industrial part over time is a delicate process, because many parameters must be taken into account.

The resistance to "natural" ageing itself is variable, it depends on temperature, sunshine (climate, latitude, humidity, ...) and on many other factors (physical constraints, level of pollution, ...), difficult to assess accurately. The simulation of this ageing by the use of artificial light sources and other physical constraints (temperature, sprinkling of water simulating rain, ...) has been the subject of many developments that are the basis of several standards, ISO, ASTM, etc.

After all, accelerating this ageing to offer, for example, ten-year guarantees or validate stabilizing agents is a more complex approach that must be based on solid scientific backgrounds. Other applications, such as those of materials that must degrade quickly in the environment, are also concerned by this approach.

1. Mechanistic approach 2. Photo-ageing 3. SEPAP accelerated artificial photo-ageing units 4. Medium and ultra-acceleration 5. Role of water 6. CNEP 7. Notes and references