Service Life Prediction of Polymers and Coatings

Chris White is a Research Chemist in the Polymeric Materials Group at the USA's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He has 30 years of experience in service life prediction of polymers, over 100 peer reviewed publications, numerous books, and presentations. He is the organizer for 5th, 6th, and 7th Service life Prediction gatherings of international experts. Mark E. Nichols is the leader for the weathering group at the Ford Motor company. He is a recognized world leader in the weathering of polymers, and has contributed to numerous publications in the area. James Pickett is now a consultant, having retired from GE Global Research after 33.5 years as a physical organic chemist. His work focuses on degradation, stabilization, testing, and lifetime prediction of plastics and coatings. He has over 60 issued US patents and has written over 50 peer reviewed papers and book chapters.

• 1. Introduction to polymer weathering, stabilization, and testing2. Why is service life prediction of polymers and plastics exposed to outdoor weathering important? An industrial perspective3. Instrumented stone chipping of automotive paint systems4. A natural-weathering approach to predict the color service life of fluoropolymer-based coatings with organic pigments5. Unraveling reaction pathways for service life prediction of PET6. Methodology study of time accelerated γ ray irradiation to ethylene-propilene elastomer7. Multiscale study and kinetic modelling of PDCPD thermal oxidation8. Accelerated thermal aging of thermoplastic materials for the motor compartment: Characterization, degradation model and life time prediction9. Service life prediction of aromatic engineering thermoplastics: assessing the quality of predictions from xenon arc exposures10. An analysis of thermal and humidity cycling stresses in automotive hard coatings11. Bayesian hierarchical models for service life prediction of polymers12. Design and interpretation of laboratory weathering tests using acceleration parameters of aromatic engineering thermoplastics13. A simple estimation of UV irradiance under clear-sky conditions14. Structural insulated panels for housing: protocol for accelerated aging15. Summary of the discussions following each session of the 7th international conference on service life prediction of polymer materials: Reaching new heights