Tropical assessment and study of polymeric materials

Exposure trials are an important means of evaluating materials or end components. Such trials in tropical and sub-tropical regions are particularly useful because almost invariably the high levels of temperature, humidity, and solar radiation found in these regions are more aggressive to materials than the conditions of temperature zones. Thus as well as being of intrinsic interest, tropical and sub-tropical exposure trials may be considered as a way of obtaining advanced information on the resistance of a material to temperate conditions. To meet the stringent requirements of military equipment the Australian Department of Defence and the Ministry of Defence in the UK have since 1963 collaborated to run the Joint Tropical Trials and Research Establishment in Queensland. In this paper examples of the work carried out at this establishment are used to demonstrate the value of outdoor trials and experiments.