Overview

Industrial testing laboratories simulate exposure to the elements—solar radiation, wind, rain, salt, heavy storms, fog, heat—in order to weather-test products and materials: plastics, coatings, automotive parts, paints, textiles… Accelerated weathering tests re-create real-world conditions in a condensed time frame, to test future durability to fading and corrosion. The two main means of testing materials are outdoor exposure racks and accelerated laboratory chambers. The xenon lamps used in sunlight weathering machines are said to have the power of two or three suns.