Service Life Prediction of Polymers and Plastics Exposed to Outdoor Weathering

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. Kenneth M. White is Lead Research Specialist in the Weathering Research Center of the 3M Corporate Research Analytical Laboratory. He is a recognized world leader in the weathering of polymers and has contributed to some of the most influential and well cited publications and presentations in this field. 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. Service Life Prediction: Why Is This so Hard?2. Weathering Standards and Service Life Prediction of Polymers: How Can We Bridge the Gap?3. Experimental and Derived Approaches to Service Life Prediction Models4. Natural Weathering Testing and 401(k)’s5. New Tools for Service Life Prediction and Risk Minimization for Exterior Building Product Finishes6. Highly Accelerated UV Weathering: When and How to Use it7. Assessing the Effects of Accelerated Weathering Stresses Used to Predict Service Life8. Spectral Power Distributions in Accelerated and Natural Weathering Tests and Their Impact on Aerospace Coating Service Life Prediction9. Predicting Field Degradation of Sealants Using Accelerated Tests from the NIST Solar Sphere10. Prospects of 2D-Luminescence Spectroscopy for Aging Investigations of the Embedding EVA Polymer in PV Modules: Revealing DLO Conditions11. Effect of Temperature on Radiation-Induced Degradation of EPDM12. Combination of Material Characterization and Cyclic Fatigue Testing for Investigation of Elastomer Aging13. Multivariate Statistical Process Control of Accelerated Weathering Chambers14. Effect of UV Radiation on Surface Mechanical Properties of NanoTiO2–Acrylic Urethane Coatings15. A Study of Critical Strain and Nanomechanical Test Methods as Predictive Tools for Coating Changes in Weathering16. Non-Free Radical Oxidation Mechanisms17. Summary of the Discussions Following Each Session of the 6th International Conference on Service Life Prediction of Polymer Materials: Over the HorizonAppendix - Service Life Prediction Series Cumulative Table of Contents