Products based on plastics can degrade by the effects of the environment. This webinar addresses the basic principles of polymer degradation caused by the effects of weather. The main environmental stress factors are solar radiation, heat, and moisture. Testing of the environmental durability can be done under natural conditions; however accelerated laboratory testing offer the potential of acceleration. Today xenon-arc instruments (full solar simulation) and fluorescent UV instruments are the main technologies used to test the weathering stability of plastics. Modern test instruments offer control of the simulated environmental parameters, but also measurement of specimen properties, such as the surface temperature. International weathering standards are the base for reproducible testing. Recent standardization efforts focus on better parameter control and on more realistic simulation of environmental degradation effects.

Plastics can degrade when exposed to environmental stress – some faster than others. This webinar addresses the basic principles of polymer degradation under the synergetic impact of solar radiation, heat, and water.

The online seminar will show how weathering testing of plastics can be performed under natural conditions, but also in the most common laboratory weathering instruments:

• Filtered xenon-arc (full spectrum solar simulation, including UV)
• Fluorescent UV (UV only)