Correlation Studies of Accelerated and Natural Weathering Tests of Protectively Finished Cotton Duck

Abstract

Artificial and natural weather exposure tests were made with unfinished and with protectively finished cotton duck samples. The treating agents employed were chiefly mineral pigments, film-forming resins, and vat dyes, alone and in combinations. The finishes were ranked in order of excellence on the basis of amounts of original strength retained by individual samples in both types of exposure. The results of the natural and accelerated tests were compared and then correlated by a statistical method and by a simple computation of agreement among groups of good, intermediate, and poor performance. Although statistical interpretation of the data indicated a positive corre lation between the 2 types of tests, the relationship was not sufficiently constant to justify reliance on the accelerated techniques employed in predicting the behavior of finished cotton textiles in outdoor service conditions.