What Is Weathering Testing and Why Do You Need It?

Releasing a new product onto the market can be an extremely exciting endeavour. In order for the product to be a success you need to make sure that it ticks all the boxes. Which is why you will need to have your product weather tested. If you are wondering what weathering testing is and why you need it than you are about to find out.What is weathering testing exactly? A machine is used in order to conduct experiments on the product that will simulate certain weather elements. This is an important process to put your products through as it will help you to determine how it will hold up against the elements. This is certainly a necessary process that needs to be taken when you are dealing with plastic products. Plastic products are more likely to fail because of the following reasons:· The product has been used outside of its design criteria· The product is poorly designed and this will include the improper formulation of the material· The materials used change unexpectedly which will subsequently affect the performanceThese problems can be avoided by conducting weathering testing on the products. Instead of having an item that is below par you can put it through this rigorous testing to determine if changes need to be made. Plastic parts are often used to make up some of the items on a car. A car is an investment and subsequently the manufacturer should be able to produce plastic parts that can stand the test of time. The only way that this can be determined is if the part in question has been subjected to weathering testing. The weathering testing will go through two main processes to test the product:


· Testing exposure to moisture: The weathering tester is programmed to simulate the varying degrees of moisture that can occur. It has moisture cycles that use condensing humidity and/or water spray to realistically duplicate dew and rain.· Testing exposure to sunlight: The weathering tester is programmed to simulate the effects of UV exposure. This is done by using special fluorescent UV lamps and wavelengths.Depending on the purpose of your plastic product the testing will be conducted over different time periods. These time periods can either be conducted over weeks or months. The idea is that the end result will show, how the product stands up to these elements over time. If it is discovered that the plastic item is not able to withstand even the shortest of time during the weathering process than you will need to go back to the drawing board. If you are in the automotive production industry you certainly have to make sure that you products are as weather resistant as possible.