AATCC 16.3 - Colorfastness to Light: Xenon Arc - Provides procedures based on practice ASTM G155 or ISO 4892-2; its ISO counterpart. The ability of textile materials to resist sunlight exposure can be assessed by accelerated aging with xenon arc test equipment. These devices use xenon gas from a precision gas discharge lamp in a sealed quartz tube as the radiation source. The latter emit radiation from the ultraviolet below 270 nm to the visible spectrum and infrared. For vehicle interiors, we recommend referring to SAE J2412.

Lightfastness uses and factors to consider

By exposing a sample of textile material to a xenon arc light source under specific conditions, its colorfastness to light can be assessed by using a comparative standard with a known change in lightfastness after a specific exposure. In fact, not all materials are uniformly affected when exposed to a particular light source or various environmental factors. The standard is called "AATCC Blue Wool" and is available from AATCC.

Each of these standards has a known decay rate and is used to verify the accuracy of xenon arc lamps.

Typical experimental parameters for AATCC 16.3 testing

Number of samples/products: at least three replicate samples

Dimensions: Swatches must be at least 70mm X 120mm (2.75" X 4.7") and yarn length must be approximately 150mm (6").

Different test options are available for various textile materials. The table below provides the test conditions for each option.

Table I: Typical Condition Tests for AATCC 16.3 Standards