AATCC 169 Accelerated Aging and UV Tests

EUROLAB Laboratory performs AATCC 169 tests accredited as part of material testing services. This standard describes accelerated aging methods that allow to evaluate the resistance of materials to degradation through the use of UV exposure. Indeed, this standard is based on the use of Xenon arc light as a hard welding and this welding is based on ASTM G-155 practice.

Factors of degradation resistance of textiles

AATCC 169 is a standard detailing the test conditions required to perform an accelerated aging that simulates outdoor sun exposure. Although AATCC 16.3 is a very similar standard to AATCC 169, it differs in that it reproduces exposure to sunlight through a window. The purpose of this testing protocol is to determine a material's ability to resist degradation by assessing the color fastness and/or percent residual strength (breaking, tearing, or bursting) after exposure to direct sunlight for a specified period of time. Finally, the samples are compared against a standard of comparison of known properties to ensure the accuracy of the test. Also, if color fastness is the only criterion tested, the comparison standard defined in AATCC 16.3 may be used.

The main factors to consider when applying this standard are: temperature, relative humidity, rain cycle, UV exposure cycle and of course radiation.

Typical Experimental parameters for the AATCC 169 test

The number of samples required is two and table 1 details the dimensions of the samples according to the suitability tested. In addition, different test options are available for all kinds of textile materials and test conditions are given for them in Table 2.

Table I: Sample size based on suitability tested

Table II: Typical conditions test for AATCC 169 standard

Other test methods related to AATCC 169
Please refer to ASTM D1776, ISO 4892-2 for additional relevant test methods.

If you have any questions about the AATCC 169 test or other UV Tests, we invite you to contact EUROLAB Laboratory today.