Abstract
Weatherability of membrane materials for membrane structures is usually evaluated by carrying out outdoor exposure and accelerated exposure tests on them. The tensile test and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) observation were conducted on exposure-tested specimens of PVC-coated polyester fabric (PVC membrane) and PTFE-coated glass fiber fabric (PTFE membrane). The specimens were taken from the fabrics, some having been subjected to outdoor exposure test and the others subjected to accelerated exposure test. It was aimed at determining weatherability of the exposure-tested fabrics and finding, if any, correlation between the two exposure tests. Retained tensile strength after 5-years-outdoor- and 5000-hours-accelerated-exposure tested PVC membrane decreased to 75% and 72%, respectively, from their initial value, while that of 10-years-outdoor-and 10000-hours-accelerated-exposure-tested PTFE membrane slightly changed to 80%, 81%, respectively. Micro cracks were observed by SEM on the PVC membrane surface exposure-tested by both methods. Any morphological change could not be found on the PTFE membrane exposed with 10000-hours-accelerated-tests. It was determined that 10-years of outdoor exposure test period roughly corresponded to 8000-hours (in PVC membrane) and 11000-hours (in PTFE membrane) of accelerated exposure tests with respect to decrease in tensile strength value alone.
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