Prediction of the long‐term outdoor weathering of poly(vinyl chloride)

The prediction of the long-term durability of PVC polymeric material has been a controversial subject for a long time. Attempts to evaluate this durability have indeed largely preceded experiments on the basic mechanisms of PVC degradation, and they have been essentially empirical. The present paper reports on the general rules that have to be followed to avoid basic errors in predicting the performance of PVC compounds from accelerated weathering experiments.