Polycarbonate Glazing: Maximum and Effective Temperatures for Outdoor Weathering Exposure in the Desert of Arizona
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- Content
- We define an effective temperature (Teff) as an irradiance-weighted average temperature of a material during weathering. It is the constant temperature that would give the same amount of damage as the sample sustains during natural cycling and serves as a benchmark for predicting lifetimes. It is weakly dependant on the activation energy (Ea) of the degradation process. The annual effective ambient and black panel temperatures at an Arizona test site were 30° and 42°C, respectively, for Ea = 4–7 kcal/mol. Privacy color polycarbonate minivan sunroof windows had surface Teff = 45–46°C exterior, 54–58°C interior, and 49–52°C exterior blackout surfaces. Maximum recorded temperatures were 73°C, 87°C, and 81°C, respectively.
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- 5
- Citation
- Sargent, J., Shuler, S., and Pickett, J., "Polycarbonate Glazing: Maximum and Effective Temperatures for Outdoor Weathering Exposure in the Desert of Arizona," SAE Int. J. Mater. Manf. 2(1):347-351, 2009, https://doi.org/10.4271/2009-01-0573.