UV exposure testing is a necessity if you want your products to function at their best. Products that are exposed to sunlight need to undergo UV exposure testing in order to ensure a product maintains its quality over time.
UV exposure testing is the process in which a weathering tester exposes products to simulated UV rays. There are three main ways of testing the products in this manner:
- UV-A Lamps: UV-A lamps are used to simulate the UV content of natural sunlight. These lamps are ideal for accelerating natural yellowing, fading and durability of products exposed to direct sunlight or sunlight through glass.
- UV-B Lamps: UV-B lamps are used to test the durability of products that will be exposed to direct sunlight. The UV produced by these lamps is more intense than natural sunlight, which accelerates the degradation of the product.
- Cool White Lamps: Cool White Lamps are used to mimic the light that products will be exposed to indoors. Due to the lower UV content, these lamps can produce a more realistic failure for products that are not exposed to direct sunlight.
UV Exposure Testing is often combined with exposure to moisture during weathering testing in order to simulate condensation and rain. Moisture can create serious damage to products if they are exposed to it for a long time. In real-world applications, condensation can cause more damage than rain due to the fact that the product stays wet for a longer period of time, allowing for more moisture absorption. When conducting UV exposure testing on your products, make sure to investigate the possibility of doing moisture testing at the same time. Weathering testers are capable of doing both, so combining the tests can save time and money.
Ultimately, UV exposure testing has been designed to recreate the exposure of UV rays over a certain amount of time. UV testing will speed up the process that would normally occur during the life of a product. One session of weathering testing (both UV and moisture) over a 21 day period can simulate a much longer time in real-world conditions.
It is beneficial to get your products tested in this way to ensure product quality over its lifetime. UV exposure testing lets you identify susceptible products quickly, preventing costly quality issues and improving time-to-market. Once the tests have been completed, you will be able to determine whether your product will stand the test of time.
It is essential to get your products tested at a lab that has the best equipment. At Avatar Solutions we supply leading equipment to a number of laboratories, including weathering testing systems. If you are in need of an upgrade, or want to find out more information about our products, you can visit our website www.avatar-solutions.co.za.