Field Weathering Test Deck for Reflective Sheeting

Details

• Creators:
  Price, David A.
• Corporate Creators:
  Colorado. Department of Transportation
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Accelerated weathering
  • Alternatives analysis
  • Color
  • Crash exposure
  • Inspection
  • Recommendations
  • Reflectorized materials
  • Retroreflectivity
  • Sheathing
  • Test procedures
  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  CDOT-DTD-R-91-5
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States ; Colorado
• Edition:
  Final Report
• Corporate Publisher:
  Colorado. Department of Transportation
• Description:
  Historically the Colorado Department of Highways (now the Colorado Department of Transportation) has approved roadside sign material based on data obtained using the weatherometer. The weatherometer is a piece of equipment used for performing accelerated weather testing. While the weatherometer gives some comparative performance data related to UV stability and exposure to moisture, the true performance is best measured under actual field conditions. An outdoor exposure deck was constructed to test sign materials for their field performance and expected longevity. Sample materials were split into three pieces, one for the weatherometer testing, one for the outdoor exposure deck, and one to remain in original condition for later comparison. This report describes the construction of the deck, and the sheeting results after three years of exposure to Colorado weather. Sheeting installed on the deck was tested bimonthly for retroreflectance, color retention, and visual defects and compared to the test results of 2,000 hours exposure in the weatherometer. The outdoor exposure deck was found to be impractical for acceptance testing of sheeting materials due to the extreme amount of time the panels must be exposed to sustain sufficient deterioration. Testing with the weatherometer should be continued with the assumption that this test only yields comparative exposure data and is not truly correlated as to time in weatherometer equals a specific time of actual weather.
• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/93955/dot_93955_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.05 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a7d8ef2e16fad048e03b3161c68d258e02da682b555e263d705a381a573bcd6ec82d04f15bb5f76ec4531ddfc01361043cc58971fdc303ce2b2cf27b54bb8ef0