Xenon arc testing promotes property changes of materials, including the effects of sunlight, moisture and heat, by simulating ultraviolet and visible solar radiations by means of a Xenon Arc Weathering Test Chamber. Qualitest offers a full range of advanced and cost-effective Xenon Arc Test Chambers to our customers in many industries, including Automotive, polymer additive, textiles, and paint.
Accelerated exposure testing has become increasingly important to qualify new designs and materials, and to determine material durability in a fraction of the time, in real-world environments.
Unlike the electrically burning carbon arcs, xenon arc is a precision gas discharge lamp in a sealed quartz tube used to reproduce the weathering effects that occur when materials are exposed to sunlight and moisture in actual use.
Long arc lamps, where the arc length is greater than the arc diameter, simulate full spectrum solar radiation more closely than any other artificial light source, and, for this reason, they are widely used in accelerated exposure testing to simulate the weathering process of indoor and outdoor sun exposure on materials.
During xenon arc testing, specimens are exposed to filtered xenon arc light under controlled environmental conditions. Different types of xenon arc light sources and different filter combinations are used to better simulate natural sunlight and the appropriate field service conditions. A humidifier provides moisture, and heaters control temperature.
Some common methods our Xenon Test Chambers Could be used depending on the model and application, are the following:
Test Standards:
- ISO 11341 Paints and varnishes-Artificial weathering and exposure to artificial radiation--Exposure to filtered xenon-arc radiation
- ISO 12040 Graphic Technology - Prints and Printing Inks - Assessment of Light Fastness Using Filtered Xenon Arc Light
- ISO 16474-1 Paints and varnishes -- Methods of exposure to laboratory light sources -- Part 1: General guidance
- ISO 16474-2 Paints and varnishes -- Methods of exposure to laboratory light sources -- Part 2: Xenon-arc lamps
- ASTM D3451 Standard Guide for Testing Coating Powders and Powder Coatings
- ASTM D3794 Standard Guide for Testing Coil Coatings
- ASTM D4303 Standard Test Methods for Lightfastness of Pigments Used in Artists' Paints
- ASTM D5010 Standard Guide for Testing Printing Inks and Related Materials
- ASTM D6577 Standard Guide for Testing Industrial Protective Coatings
- ASTM D6695 Standard Practice for Xenon-Arc Exposures of Paint and Related Coatings
- ASTM G151 Standard Practice for Exposing Non-metallic Materials in Accelerated Test Devices that
- Use Laboratory Light Sources
- ASTM G155 Practice for Operating Xenon Arc Light Apparatus for Exposure of Non-Metallic Materials
- ISO 4892-1 Plastics – Methods of Exposure to Laboratory Light Sources – Part 1: General guidance
- ISO 4892-2 Plastics - Methods of Exposure to Laboratory Light Sources - Part 2: Xenon-arc lamps
- SAE J2412 Accelerated Exposure of Automotive Interior Trim Components Using a Controlled Irradiance Xenon-Arc Apparatus
- SAE J2527 Accelerated Exposure of Automotive Exterior Materials Using a Controlled Irradiance Xenon-Arc Apparatus
