A Study for Degradation Mechanism of Plastic Materials

플라스틱 소재의 탈변색 열화 메커니즘 분석

Out door exposure to daylight and weather climate conditions can cause adverse effect on the properties of automotive plastic materials. The effects of sunlight exposure, especially ultra violet (UV) radiation, can break down the chemical bonds in a polymeric material. This degradation process is called photo-degradation and ultimately leads to color changes, cracking, chalking, the loss of physical properties and deterioration of other properties. To explore the effect of sunlight exposure on the automotive materials, this study investigated photo-oxidation degree and surface property change of molding parts by analytical methods. For the further study, accelerated weathering test methods are proposed, which can correlate with out door weathering, to predict long term performance of automotive plastic materials.