Temperature

As an environmental consideration, it is evident that when kept out in continued exposure to high temperatures, can result in vinylester fibreglass pultrusions and polyester to drop a certain fraction of their properties.

The table given below shows the percentage of the property retained when the products are exposed to a set of continuous temperatures.

Weathering

With any plastic products, fibreglass reinforced pultrusions will also experience some of form of visual degradation when it is exposed to outdoor weather.

Generally, the surface of ArchitEX™ pultrusions offers ambient temperature protection as well as water resistance but these products are susceptible to ultra-violet (UV) light. Ultra-violet light has the ability to cause some damage to the polymers by breaking down the chemical bonds or initiating the reaction of chemicals. UV light lies in between the range of 290 and 400 nanometers of the light spectrum.

The damage which is caused by UV light is identified as ‘yellowing’ and ‘fading’ on the surface of the pultruded product. The glass fibres which are close to the surface will uncover after exposed for an extended time. This state is commonly known as fibrebloom and it does not promptly or directly affect the physical properties of the section.

Treadwell’s resins include a UV stabilizer integrated within the resin formulation. This is mainly done in order to safeguard the product which faces severe weather conditions in the Pacific region. It is also important to note that we utilise a high quality polyester surface veil to assure that the structural component of the composite receives maximum protection from the elements.

ArchitEX™ products are also offered with a variety of outer coatings to improve the aesthetics of the product. If a urethane coating is used then it will also offer an increased level of shelter from outdoor weathering.