QUESTION:

I need weathering testing, including evaluation.

How does my material perform in a weathering test, e.g. inkjet print with special colors / protective varnish, powder or paint coating with corporate colour, protective display foil, decorative foil, window IR reflective foil, yarn, non-woven, plastic sheet, roofing material, …?

APPROACH:

One-stop weathering and evaluation service

We have a range of state-of-the-art Xenon weathermeters at our disposal and can offer exposure service according standard tests such as ISO 4892-2 (Plastics)*, ISO 18930 (Digital prints)*, ISO 11341 (Paints), IEC 62788-7-3 (Photovoltaic), ISO 105 B02 & B04 (Textile), ISO 3917, SAE J2527 / SAE J2412 (Automotive) or custom conditions, including the “Super Xenon” test condition of 180 W/m2 (300-400 nm) equivalent to “3 SUN”.
* For these standard tests we also offer “co-exposure”, enabling testing of smaller sample sets at a fair price.

We can provide intermediate sampling for non-destructive evaluation (visual, photo capture, colour CIELab / YI, gloss, chalking, …) and/or foresee replicates in the test plan for “destructive” testing (tensile, peel / adhesion, X-hatch, …).
Both optical evaluation and mechanical testing can be offered as an all-in service.

Whether you already have a specific test in mind with pass/fail criterion, or you need consultancy in selecting the right test conditions for your material in view of the intended application, AgfaLabs can help.

• We have experience with testing of a wide range of materials and can identify the pitfalls and limitations of accelerated testing from own correlation studies with natural weathering.
• We have ample experience from active participation in ISO and IEC project teams with regular inter-laboratory comparison (“Round Robin”) of weathering and material testing.
• Furthermore, for questions in a R&D context, we can offer advanced analysis of failure modes after weathering tapping into a wide range of chemical analytical (FTIR, NMR, …) and / or microscopic methods (light microscopy, SEM, …).