Weathering Standards and Service Life Prediction of Polymers: How Can We Bridge the Gap?

Critical Review of Polymeric Building Envelope Materials: Degradation, Durability and Service Life Prediction

“…The expansion of SLP methods would produce information regarding life expectancy of materials that would allow for the advantages of polymeric materials to be utilised, while reducing the risks of unexpected failure, damage [12]. There are several SLP methods available [14][15][16][17][18][19], but there are no comprehensive methods, specifically for polymeric materials used in the building envelope. Durability and SL is gaining importance in the National Building Code of Canada to determine the appropriate level quality for building materials, and as such, SLP should be included in building material standards [20,21], but a lack of information on degradation factors, material properties and methodologies makes it difficult to implement standards in this respect.…”

“…At high UV radiation, the surface of the polymer goes through rapid photo-oxidation, which results in diffusion-limited oxidation atypical of the natural process [49]. Likewise, accelerated aging at temperatures beyond a polymer phase transition (e.g., glass transition temperature) leads to greater than normal oxygen diffusion rates and degradation in the polymer phase that remains glassy at service temperatures, which leads to degradation mechanisms and activation energies different from that in normal service temperatures [16,135]. Therefore, aging loads should be raised for a reason.…”