OUTDOOR PERFORMANCE OF PLASTICS

PLASTICS PERFORMANCE WAS STUDIED UNDER OUTDOOR AND ACCELERATED EXPOSURES. TWENTY PLASTICS FORMULATED FROM SIX BASE POLYMERS WERE EXPOSED TO OUTDOOR CONDITIONS AND ACCELERATED WEATHERING IN THE LABORATORY TO EVALUATE THEIR PERFORMANCE AND ESTABLISH A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TWO TYPES OF EXPOSURES. THE BASE POLYMERS WERE POLYETHYLENE (PE), POLYMETHYL METHACRYLATE (PMMA), POLYVINYL FLUORIDE (PVF), POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE (PETP), GLASS-REINFORCED POLYESTER (RP), AND POLYVINYL CHLORIDE (PVC). A COMPUTER WAS USED TO SELECT, PLOT, ANALYZE, AND CORRELATE THE DATA. VARIABLES CODED INCLUDED TYPE OF EXPOSURE, TIME OF EXPOSURE, TYPES OF PLASTIC, PROPERTY MEASURED, AND THE VALUE OF THAT PROPERTY. THE COLORS OF ALL ORIGINAL AND OUTDOOR-EXPOSED SPECIMENS WERE MEASURED WITH A SPECTROPHOTOMETER TO OBTAIN CIE TRISTIMULUS COLOR VALUES. TOTAL COLOR DIFFERENCE WAS CALCULATED BY REILLY'S MODIFICATION OF GLASSER'S CUBE-ROOT FORMULA. A CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM WAS DEVELOPED TO BETTER EVALUATE THE PERFORMANCE OF PLASTICS. ALL OF THE CLEAR PVC'S FOLLOWED SIMILAR PATTERNS OF DISCOLORATION. ALL WHITE- PIGMENTED PVC'S SHOWED SOMEWHAT PERIODICALLY SLIGHT DISCOLORATION. PVF AND PMMA WERE QUITE COLOR-FAST. MOST OF THE PLASTICS IN ALL LOCATIONS WERE FOUND TO BE FAIRLY COLOR- FAST FOR ONE YEAR. MOST OF THE RESULTS EVALUATED IN THE STUDY HAVE BEEN CONCERNED WITH DISCOLORATION AS A FUNCTION OF TIME AND LOCATION. OTHER PROPERTIES BEING STUDIED CONSIST OF APPEARANCE PROPERTIES, AS WELL AS PHYSICAL STRENGTH AND ELECTRICAL PARAMETERS.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 53, No 5, PP 108-109, 1 TAB, 1 PHOT
• Corporate Authors:

  National Bureau of Standards

  Department of Commerce, Office of Technical Publications
  Washington, DC  United States  20234
• Publication Date: 1969-5

Media Info

• Serial:
  • Dimensions NBS

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accelerated weathering; Color; Computer programs; Electrical properties; Ethylene resins; Information processing; Performance; Physical properties; Plastics; Polyester resins; Polyvinyl chloride; Spectrophotometers; Values in measurement
• Uncontrolled Terms: Discoloration; Polyethylene
• Old TRIS Terms: Tristimulus values
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00216902
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 16 1970 12:00AM