CHICAGO – Atlas Material Testing Technology has developed a relationship with ACT Test Panels LLC of Hillsdale, MI, for the distribution of test panels in the European market. ACT serves automotive, appliance, heavy equipment, aerospace, and metal forming and manufacturing customers.

Atlas will sell ACT’s complete portfolio of panels throughout Europe, but will begin by stocking TRU panels for immediate delivery. Ideal for quick, economical and reliable on-the-spot quality control checks, these panels assure accurate spray out, flow, color match and coverage evaluations. TRU panels are available prepackaged with VCI paper. They are specially formulated for longer shelf life and batch-to-batch consistency.

In other news, Atlas has, in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Institute of Laser Technology, received the R&D 100 award for its work in developing the Ultra-Accelerated Weathering System (UAWS).

The UAWS tracks the sun while concentrating reflected sunlight on test specimens mounted in a target area. The mirror system has very high reflectance in the UV and near-visible wavelength ranges, while attenuating reflectance in the longer-wavelength visible and IR portions of the solar spectrum. This technology allows for very high concentrations of UV energy without excessive heating of test samples.