ASTM_D_4459_-_12.pdf

Designation:D445912Standard Practice forXenon-Arc Exposure of Plastics Intended for IndoorApplications1This standard is issued under the fixed designation D4459;the number immediately following the designation indicates the year oforiginal adoption or,in the case of revision,the year of last revision.A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval.Asuperscript epsilon()indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.1.Scope*1.1 This practice covers specific procedures and test condi-tions that are applicable for exposure of plastics in windowglass-filtered xenon-arc devices in accordance with PracticesG151 and G155 for evaluating the stability of plastics intendedfor use in indoor applications.1.2 This standard does not purport to address all of thesafety concerns,if any,associated with its use.It is theresponsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro-priate safety and health practices and determine the applica-bility of regulatory limitations prior to use.NOTE1There is no known ISO equivalent to this practice.2.Referenced Documents2.1 ASTM Standards:2D1729 Practice for Visual Appraisal of Colors and ColorDifferences of Diffusely-Illuminated Opaque MaterialsD2244 Practice for Calculation of Color Tolerances andColor Differences from Instrumentally Measured ColorCoordinatesD3980 Practice for Interlaboratory Testing of Paint andRelated Materials(Withdrawn 1998)3D4674 Practice forAccelerated Testing for Color Stability ofPlastics Exposed to Indoor Office EnvironmentsD5870 Practice for Calculating Property Retention Index ofPlasticsE691 Practice for Conducting an Interlaboratory Study toDetermine the Precision of a Test MethodG113 Terminology Relating to Natural and Artificial Weath-ering Tests of Nonmetallic MaterialsG141 Guide for Addressing Variability in Exposure Testingof Nonmetallic MaterialsG147 Practice for Conditioning and Handling of Nonmetal-lic Materials for Natural and Artificial Weathering TestsG151 Practice for Exposing Nonmetallic Materials inAccel-erated Test Devices that Use Laboratory Light SourcesG155 Practice for Operating Xenon Arc Light Apparatus forExposure of Non-Metallic MaterialsG169 Guide for Application of Basic Statistical Methods toWeathering Tests3.Terminology3.1 The definitions in Terminology G113 are applicable tothis practice.4.Significance and Use4.1 This practice is intended to simulate the effects pro-duced by exposure to solar radiation through glass.Thispractice uses exposure in a xenon-arc device equipped withwindow glass filters and operated in accordance with PracticesG151 and G155.NOTE2Practice D4674 describes exposures in a device that uses acombination of fluorescent“cool white”and ultraviolet(UV)lamps tosimulate the effects of exposures to indoor fluorescent light and windowglass filtered daylight.4.2 WarningVariation in results may be expected whenoperating conditions are varied within the accepted limits ofthis practice.Therefore,all references to the use of this practicemust be accompanied by a report prepared in accordance withSection 9 that describes the specific operating conditions used.Refer to Practice G151 for detailed information on the caveatsapplicable to use of results obtained in accordance with thispractice.NOTE3Additional information on sources of variability and onstrategies for addressing variability in the design,execution and dataanalysis of laboratory accelerated exposure tests is found in Guide G141.4.3 Test results will depend upon the care that is taken tooperate the equipment in accordance with Practice G155.Significant factors include regulation of line voltage,tempera-ture and humidity control,and condition and age of the lampsand filters.4.4 Reproducibility of test results between laboratories hasbeen shown to be good when the stability of materials is1This practice is under the jurisdiction ofASTM Committee D20 on Plastics andis the direct responsibility of Subcommittee D20.50 on Durability of Plastics.Current edition approved Nov.15,2012.Published November 2012.Originallyapproved in 1985.Last previous edition approved in 2006 as D4459-06.DOI:10.1520/D4459-12.2For referenced ASTM standards,visit the ASTM website,www.astm.org,orcontact ASTM Customer Service at serviceastm.org.For Annual Book of ASTMStandards volume information,refer to the standards Document Summary page onthe ASTM website.3The last approved version of this historical standard is referenced onwww.astm.org.*A Summary of Changes section appears at the end of this standardCopyright ASTM International,100 Barr Harbor Drive,PO Box C700,West Conshohocken,PA 19428-2959.United States1 evaluated in terms of performance ranking compared to othermaterials or to a control.4,5Therefore,exposure of a similarmaterial of known performance(a control)at the same time asthe test materials is strongly recommended.It is recommendedthat at least three replicates of each material be exposed toallow for statistical evaluation of results.5.Apparat