Importance, Novelty and Formulation of Indian Weathering Cycle
Keywords:
Weathering, solar radiation, temperature, humidity, weathering cycle, polymers degradationAbstract
Weathering is the adverse response of a material or product to climate, often causing unwanted and premature product failure. The factors responsible for weathering are; solar radiation (light energy), temperature and water (moisture). The specifications of weathering cycles in Indian standards refereed from European regulations, American standards or Japanese standards; hence the entire weathering specifications based on the respective countries data. These specifications may not be suitable for Indian weathering climate as well as usage requirements. Any material design should permit the independent selection of the major degrading forces such as UV radiation, temperature, humidity, and rain. Thus the selection of the right combination for a particular location and time of year should be easy and should give a cycle that truly simulates natural conditions. Hence, deriving the data for the standards as per Indian requirements is of prime importance. In this context, collected the Indian climatic data from five different regions considering India is one of the largest geographical areas and standardize India specific weathering test specification/ cycle. Daily solar radiation (light energy), temperature, humidity and rainfall data collected from metrology department of different regions of India for the period 5 years are used to study the climatology and spatial and temporal characteristics of Indian weathering variations. Comparison of the Indian wreathing data with the Global weathering cycle shows a variation in each parameters. The India specific weathering data collected during the course of this study will prove to be of significant importance to automobile manufacturers, testing agency and useful in development of Indian weathering standards. Also India specific weathering study of polymers helps Indian automobile manufacturer for selection of polymers as per Indian conditions.
References
2. Hand book of material weathering by George Wypych William Andrew publishing ISBN 1-895198-28-3.
3. Handbook of Plastics Testing Technology Vishnu Shah, Performance Engineered Products, INC, Pomona, California.
4. SAE technical paper No.:2003-01-1192 titled “Highly Predictive Accelerated Weathering of Engineering Thermoplastics by James E. Pickett GE Global Research
V. Umamaheswaran GE Plastics - 5
5. SAE technical paper No.:2003-01-1195 titled “Development of a Carbon/Epoxy Body for a High Performance Vehicle
6. SAE technical paper No.:2003-01-1191 titled “Weathering of Black Plastics for Automotive Exteriors
7. AIS:012 Requirements of Light and signaling devices for four wheeled vehicles
8. AIS:010 Requirements of Light and signaling devices for two and three wheeled vehicles
9. AIS:062 Requirements of Light and signaling devices for tractors
10. ECE R 112 Uniform provisions concerning the approval of motor vehicle headlamps emitting an asymmetrical passing beam or a driving beam or both and equipped with filament lamps
11. ECE R 113 Uniform provisions concerning the approval of motor vehicle headlamps emitting an symmetrical passing beam or a driving beam or both and equipped with filament lamps
12. ECE R 27 Uniform provisions concerning the approval of advance warning triangle
13. ISO 5740 – 1982 : “Road vehicles – Rear view mirrors – Test for determining reflectance”.
14. ECE R 104 Uniform provisions concerning the approval of retro-reflective markings for heavy and long vehicles and their trailers
15. ISO 4892-1,2,3,4 Plastics and varnishes – Method of exposure to laboratory light sources-
16. Part 1: General guidance, Part 2 : Xenon arc sources
17. ISO: 105 Textiles – tests for colorfastness – Part B02: Colorfastness to Weathering Xenon Arc.
18. ASTM G 26 Standard practice for operating Light – Exposure Apparatus (Xenon Arc Type) with and without water for exposure of nonmetallic materials.
19. SAE J 576 Plastic materials or use in Optical parts such as lenses and reflex Reflectors of Motor Vehicle lighting Devices.
20. SAE J 1960 Accelerated Exposure of Automotive Exterior Materials Using a Controlled Irradiance Water-cooled Xenon Arc Apparatus
21. SAE J 1545 specifies the procedures for instrumental color difference measurement of colored parts.
