Why Test?
Some plastic parts are finished products themselves, while others are simply the container for your product. Materials that see sunlight, moisture, and heat are subject to the damaging forces of nature, so designing products to survive these harsh conditions is critical.
Will your plastics last outdoors? For how long? Does your new raw material supplier have the same quality as your previous one? Are you trying to enter a new market and need help proving out your product? Don’t guess when you can test.
The plastics industry is extremely diverse. Q‑Lab serves customers in many sectors related to plastic products, including:
- Thermoplastic compounds
- Thermoset compounds
- Masterbatch formulators
- Fiber-reinforced systems
- Elastomers
- Extruders
- Composite materials
- Colorants
- Stabilizers and other additives
- Degradable plastics
- Biodegradable plastics
- Packaging and protective films
Accurate simulation of the short-wave ultraviolet portion of sunlight and outdoor moisture have made the QUV accelerated weathering tester the world’s most widely-used tester for plastics. Because of its simulation of the entire sunlight spectrum and versatile, easy-to-use specimen tray, the Q-SUN xenon test chamber is another popular choice, particularly when testing three-dimensional parts or when color stability is an important concern.
Our Exposure Testing Services for Plastics and Packaging
Florida & Arizona Natural Outdoor
While accelerated weathering chambers are a key weapon in the fight against the forces of sunlight, heat, and moisture, nothing beats the real thing: outdoor testing in one of Q-Lab's benchmark outdoor testing facilities. Whether your plastics are designed to last for weeks, months, or years, outdoor testing can provide the most reliable data for how your product will perform in the real world.
Accelerated Laboratory Weathering
Accelerated laboratory weathering testing is an efficient and effective way to evaluate the durability of plastics and packaging. If you’re looking to quickly reformulate a product or want to see how a material will hold up in a new application, accelerated testing can help you make decisions quickly while mitigating the risk of not testing.
Q-Lab's accelerated testers simulate the primary weathering & lightfastness conditions that degrade plastics by numerous failure modes, including:
- Yellowing of polymers
- Cracking
- Crazing
- Color change and fading
- Warping
- Embrittlement
- Loss of tensile strength
A variety of international test standards are used to evaluate plastics and packaging for weathering resistance and light stability. Visit Q-Lab’s Standards Search page to browse standards and find the right test for your product.
Additional Testing for Plastics
Q-TRAC Natural Solar Concentrator
The Q‑TRAC natural sunlight concentrator combines the benefits of outdoor and accelerated testing, delivering five times the annual solar energy of an exposure in South Florida. This testing is ideally-suited to plastics designed for use in outdoor applications with elevated temperature, like automotive plastics or architectural films.
Automotive Interior Materials (AIM) Box
AIM Boxes are under-glass enclosures that simulate the sunlight and heat found inside an automobile. These important environmental stressors result in color change, cracking, peeling, oxidation, or loss of strength of materials in car and truck interiors. AIM boxes can accelerate these stressors by tracking the sun throughout the day. These tests can be useful for durability testing for plastic products designed for extended use inside of a vehicle.