Education

What Is Weathering?Weathering and LightstabilityWeathering refers to changes in material properties that result from exposure to the radiant energy present in sunlight, in combination with heat (including temperature cycling), and water in its variou...

This is a simple question, but unfortunately there is no simple answer. It is theoretically impossible to have a single "magic number" that you can multiply by weathering tester exposure hours to compute years of outdoor exposure. The problem is not ...

Copper-accelerated Acetic-Acid Salt Spray (CASS) testing is a common quality control corrosion test. This test combines a highly-corrosive, acidic salt solution and a high-temperature fog to accelerate the effects on corrosion-resistant materials lik...

Q-Lab is pleased to announce that all QUV, Q-SUN, and Q-FOG weathering and corrosion testers with the Gen 4 Touchscreen Displays can now be operated in 17 different languages. This represents a major expansion of Q-Lab's industry-leading on-screen la...

Plastics, coatings, and other materials used outdoors are exposed to harmful UV light, high temperatures, and water in the form of dew and rain, which can cause a variety of physical and chemical degradation modes.One of the most common types of prod...

A recent episode of This Old House, an American TV series that highlights do-it-yourself home improvement tasks, examined the properties of Solar Reflective Asphalt Shingles. Part of the qualification for these shingles included a QUV accelerated wea...

Weathering test standards often include guidance on repositioning of test specimens. This is the practice of moving specimens to different locations within a test chamber over the course of a test. Q-Lab considers specimen repositioning a best practi...

This question sounds straightforward, but it is based on some erroneous assumptions. Generally the person asking this intends to take the light output of the testers (expressed in Langleys, joules, or Watts/m2) and divide it by the intensity of outdo...

Automotive exterior testing has been using back spray for years. It’s required in order to run SAE J2527, the performance-based replacement for SAE J1960. This is the only standard that we know about which requires this odd function. Although we do o...

Accelerated weathering using Natural Sunlight Concentrator technology is a great way to combine the benefits of outdoor and laboratory testing. Testing with Q-Lab’s Q-TRAC Solar Concentrators delivers five times the ultraviolet (UV) light of natural ...