MOUNT PROSPECT, IL — Investigating the weathering process of your product is an important part of determining its ability to withstand the natural forces that will occur in its lifetime. Atlas is offering, through its Atlas Online Weathering Academy (AOWA), a wide range of free online seminars on basic weathering and on advanced topics addressing specific weathering issues, technologies and applications. Each one-hour seminar is followed by a question-and-answer session. Multiple dates are available for convenient scheduling.

The “Accelerated Outdoor Weathering: EMMAQUA” seminar will review the applications and methodologies of accelerated outdoor weathering, including linear Fresnel-reflecting concentrators that follow the path of the sun and concentrate full-spectrum solar radiation onto the test specimen, and recently developed “cool mirrors,” which reflect UV and short-wave visible – but not infrared – to enable testing of temperature-sensitive materials. The seminar is offered Wednesday, June 23, at 11:00 a.m. EDT.

Atlas is offering “Time Scales in Environmental Ageing of Polymers” on Tuesday, June 15, at 7:00 a.m. EDT and Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 10:00 CEST (Berlin). Under the synergistic impact of weather factors, polymeric materials undergo chemical and physical ageing processes, leading to property changes and ultimately to product failure. Photodegradation, chemical and physical processes run on very different time scales. Some can be easily accelerated, others not. This seminar will address methods for “balanced” acceleration of natural weather deterioration of complex material systems.

The “Comparison of Xenon-arc and Fluorescent-UV Technology and Applications” is offered Wednesday, June 30 at 8:00 a.m. EDT. The seminar will help attendees to identify the most suitable testing technology for their application and how to achieve the most meaningful results from each method.

Additional seminars offered this summer include “Introduction to Weathering” on August 31 and “Weathering Testing - Visual and Instrumental Evaluation” on July 14. View the entire Atlas seminar calendar.