What Is a Weathering Tester?
Weathering testers are devices used to evaluate the degradation of products exposed to natural environmental factors such as solar radiation, rainfall, temperature, and humidity. Commonly used in industries involving materials like plastics, paints, fibers, and paper, these testers conduct accelerated testing to confirm material durability over a shortened period.
Weathering resistance testing, governed by standards like JIS (Japanese Industrial Standards) and ISO (International Organization for Standardization), is crucial in product design and pre-market evaluation phases, and sometimes just before shipment.
Uses of Weathering Testers
Weathering testers are vital for products intended for long-term use in natural environments, including materials like paint, plastics, rubber, textiles, and paper, as well as automobiles, buildings, and home appliances. These testers are especially important for products prone to degradation due to light, temperature, and humidity.
Principle of Weathering Testers
These testers simulate environmental factors like light, temperature, and humidity to accelerate the deterioration process. They use light sources such as xenon lamps, which closely mimic sunlight across various wavelengths, or carbon arc lamps, known for their strong UV emission. By combining these light sources with controlled temperature and humidity settings, weathering testers effectively evaluate product durability in simulated natural conditions.
Types of Weathering Testers
1. Xenon Weather Meter
This tester uses a xenon arc lamp to simulate sunlight and includes features like temperature and humidity control and simulated rainfall. It’s widely used for testing polymer building materials, and anodic oxide coatings on aluminum, paints, plastics, and rubber, as specified by JIS.
2. Sunshine Weather Meter
An older but still relevant tester, the Sunshine Weather Meter uses a carbon arc lamp, offering high UV energy. Though less sun-like than xenon lamps, its historical data make it a valuable tool in evaluating industrial coatings and other materials under accelerated weathering conditions.
3. Ultraviolet Fluorescent Lamp Weather Meter
Used mainly for evaluating the weather resistance of coating films, this tester employs ultraviolet fluorescent lamps to assess effects like cracking and chalking through cyclic testing.
4. Ultraviolet Fade Meter
The ultraviolet fade meter focuses on evaluating fading or discoloration caused by sunlight. It is particularly used for testing automobile interior materials and textile products, using a carbon arc lamp as its light source.