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While artificial weathering is a long-established tool to investigate long-term behaviour of polymers at outdoor conditions, the use of chemiluminescence as a highly sensitive and broadly applicable sensor for the effected change is a recent addition. This combination of artificial weathering with chemiluminescence could already be successfully applied to differentiate and evaluate long-term stability of various real use polymeric building materials relatively to each other and promises to be a useful tool for a variety of other polymeric materials as well.
Degradation effects of automotive coatings after weathering as detected by thermoluminescence
(2004)
The durability of flame retardancy is a challenge for cables over long lifetimes. The degradation of flame retardance is investigated in two kinds of exposures, artificial weathering and humidity. In this basic study, typical mineral flame retardants in two polymers frequently used in cable jackets are investigated to get the fundamental picture. Aluminum hydroxide (ATH) and magnesium hydroxide (MDH) are compared in ethylene‐vinyl acetate (EVA), and further in EVA and linear low‐density polyethylene (LLDPE) cables containing the same ATH. The changes in chemical structure at the surface are studied through attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR‐FTIR), the formation of cracks, and changes in color are investigated. The cone calorimeter and a bench scale fire testing cable module are utilized to evaluate the fire behavior of the cables. Although the flame retardancy deteriorated slightly, it survived harsh exposure conditions for 2000 h. Compared to EVA/MDH and LLDPE/ATH, the fire behavior of EVA/ATH is the least sensitive. Taken together, all of the results converge to estimate that there will be no problem with flame retardancy performance, for materials subjected to natural exposure for several years; the durability of fire retardancy is questionable for longer periods, and thus requires further investigation.
For polypropylene of varied stabilization, spectral sensitivity as well as temperature dependence of irradiation caused crack formation was determined in artificial irradiation tests. UV radiant exposure HUV necessary to generate crack formation was measured both in spectrally dispersed irradiation and artificial irradiation in a Fluorescent UV lamp device. Dependencies were fitted to a plateau function and an Arrhenius function, respectively, to describe the action of irradiation by response functions. Applied to weather data from Phoenix, the results were compared with respective outdoor exposure results.
Scrap tyres are widely reused in the form of granules as infill materials or component of sub-base layers in construction of sporting grounds such as synthetic turf areas and athletic track surfaces. The recycled rubber may contain organic and inorganic pollutants due to the presence of vulcanisation catalysts, stabilisers and other additives which can be released into soil and groundwater in the case of outdoor sports facilities. In order to evaluate the amount of potentially mobile pollutants, leaching tests can be employed. This study aimed particularly at the investigation of the feasibility of column tests using complete synthetic surface flooring or turf system assemblies. The release of zinc and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) leached from components of sports surfaces containing recycled rubber granules was considered. Additionally, batch tests on coated and uncoated styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) granules aged by artificial weathering were performed to indicate its possible influence on the leaching behaviour of zinc and PAH. The chosen approach of column tests simulating typical complete synthetic sports surface installations has been proven to be feasible and robust. The time-dependent leaching behaviour and interactions between single components can be evaluated by column tests. Zinc was the most relevant contaminant in the eluates and its leachability was enhanced after accelerated ageing by artificial weathering. Leachable PAH were found in relatively low but well detectable amounts which increase by ageing as well.
Weathering reference materials (WRMs) are used to characterize the harshness of an exposure, aiming on either reproducibility of a specific exposure or on the comparability between various kinds of natural or artificial weathering exposure.
The materials that are used as weathering reference materials differ in their sensitivities (as well as in interactions and interferences of the latter), conditioned by the different processes which lead to the respective property change. It is also essential to take into account the necessary measurement equipment for the respective property change, in order to allow timely intervention.
What are the key issues on choosing a weathering reference material?
What can be learned from the weathering reference materials, investigated so far?
Possibilities and limitations are discussed on the basis of existing weathering reference materials. Conclusions are drawn, for establishing new weathering reference materials.
Scientific publications addressing the durability of the flame retardance of cables during their long-term application are rare and our understanding lacks. Three commercial flame retardants, aluminum hydroxide, aluminum diethyl phosphinate (AlPi-Et), and intumescent flame retardant based on ammonium polyphosphate, applied in ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) model cables, are investigated. Different artificial aging scenarios were applied: accelerated weathering (UV-irradiation/temperature/rain phases), humidity exposure (elevated temperature/humidity), and salt spray exposure. The deterioration of cables’ surface and flame retardancy were monitored through imaging, color measurements, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and cone calorimeter investigations. Significant degradation of the materials’ surface occurred. The flame retardant EVA cables are most sensitive to humidity exposure; the cable with AlPi-Et is the most sensitive to the artificial aging scenarios. Nevertheless, substantial flame retardance persisted after being subjected for 2000 h, which indicates that the equivalent influence of natural exposure is limited for several years, but less so for long-term use.
Outdoor exposure tests are a common tool to evaluate the weathering resistance of a polymeric material or component. However, they have only a limited validity, mainly due to the limited reproducibility of the weather as well as of the bad adaptability to other exposure sites. Typically, an outdoor exposure is characterized by the measured radiant exposure; sometimes averaged temperature data are added. These can be – separately – related to long-term annual means, to get an idea on the severity of the exposure.
However, as for polymeric ageing, irradiance and temperature act simultaneously, such severity of an outdoor exposure could be better described by a computed property change of a similar material, which is calculated from the hourly irradiance and temperature values on the base of established exposure response functions.
In this way, various outdoor exposures are evaluated. For several exposure sites, annual deviations of the ageing amount are related to annual mean values, to evaluate the weathering reproducibility at the exposure site. Additionally, correlations to relevant weather parameters are illuminated. Also some specific exposure conditions, such as tilt angle, are tested.
Compared to the use of weathering reference materials, this procedure unfavourably depends on the availability of a suited control as well as on the quality of the established exposure response function. In contrast, it enables a later exposure evaluation, on the base of documented weather data, if for instance no reference material was exposed.