1997 Volume 83 Issue 6 Pages 365-370
The method for service life prediction of color polyethylene heavy duty coating has been studied from the behavior of antioxidants in polyethylene. Color polyethylene samples of 2.5 mm in thickness were exposed to the environment in Japan and Saudi Arabia for 2 years. Antioxidant concentration profiles after the exposure test were obtained by the measurement of oxidative induction time. An antioxidant consumption and diffusion model constructed in an artificial accelerated exposure test was applied to the natural environments, and the adequacy of this model was proved in the natural environment as well. The change in elongation of color polyethylene coating as a function of time in natural environmental conditions was calculated by using the model function computation and the correlation between the degradation depth and elongation of the polyethylene coating.
This method quantitatively predicts the service life on weatherability in natural environments for color polyethylene heavy duty coating.
