Geotextiles and Geomembranes xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

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Geotextiles and Geomembranes

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/geotexmem

Spectrophotometry as a tool for characterizing durability of woven

geotextiles
José Luiz Ernandes Dias Filho∗, Paulo Cesar de Almeida Maia, Gustavo de Castro Xavier
Civil Engineering Laboratory, Darcy Ribeiro State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro, 28013-602, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Geotextiles are used in numerous applications ranging from coastal hydraulic projects to geotechnical landfill
Geosynthetics projects. Durability studies are necessary for the sizing of these structures since these projects are subject to
Degradation aggressive weathering. Therefore, it is important to be able to rapidly evaluate the rate of degradation of the
Durability geotextile, without detriment to the project. For traditional tests of geosynthetics, large areas must be exhumed,
Geotextiles
therefore a test which makes use of small specimens is proposed: spectrophotometry. The procedure proposed
Ultraviolet
Infrared
here makes use of electromagnetic radiation to evaluate the degradation of woven geotextiles by means of
analysis of ultraviolet and infrared absorption. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the analysis of geotextile
materials by spectrophotometry, making comparisons between laboratory and field degradation. The analyses
and correlations were demonstrated to be satisfactory for characterization of degraded geotextiles. The results,
with respect to both the absorbance of ultraviolet and transmittance of infrared, yielded both qualitative and
quantitative characterizations of the behavior of the studied material. Therefore, spectrophotometry may be
considered viable alternative for evaluating the characterization of durability in exhumed samples.

1. Introduction
Geosynthetics are polymers widely used in geotechnical engineering
projects intended to last for generations. Therefore, it is important to
know the characteristics of these applied materials in relation to the
exogenous medium over the long term. There is sparse literature on the
degradation of geosynthetics used in civil engineering projects, how-
ever, Hosney and Rowe (2014); Wang et al. (2015), Koerner et al.
(2017), Rowe et al. (2017) and Sumi et al. (2018) presented studies
showing the behavior variations in geosynthetics over time. These au-
thors studied the properties of samples exhumed at different time in-
tervals, concluding that the alteration of the material may even lead to
the rupture of the geosynthetics at the site. However, since traditional
geosynthetic characterization tests, such as wide-width tensile tests,
require the exhumation of relatively large sized test specimens, studies
of real applications are not common because of their impact on the
project.
The existing studies on the durability of geosynthetics evaluate the
weathering resistance of the geosynthetics under accelerated conditions
by laboratory degradation tests (Carneiro et al., 2014, 2018; Guimarães
et al., 2014; Abdelaal et al., 2015), under real conditions by field de-
gradation tests (Rowe et al., 2012, 2014; Take et al., 2012, 2015;
Marques et al., 2014; Rowe and Ewais, 2014; Rowe and Abdelaal, 2016;
Guimarães et al., 2017) or both tests for comparing the degradation rate
of the geosynthetics and predicting their design life more accurately
(Dias Filho et al., 2016a,b; Koerner et al., 2017; Maia et al., 2017).
The use of spectrophotometry, in turn, has been shown to be an
alternative for the characterization of geosynthetics after degradation.
It analyzes the spectrum and wavelength of the light source, a proce-
dure that was used in Suits and Hsuan (2003), Yang and Ding (2006),
Valente et al. (2010) and Carneiro and Lopes (2017). In these studies,
small-sized test specimens on the order of 4 cm2 are used, a value below
the minimum for conducting five wide-width tensile tests equivalent to
3000 cm2.
With ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometry it is possible to de-
termine the ability of a material to absorb wavelengths between 200
and 800 nm that make up the ultraviolet spectrum and the visible range
for the most common natural source of radiation, the sun, or artificially
by lamps. These wavelengths are classified as UVC, UVB, UVA and
visible. Short-wavelength UVC covers the range of 100–280 nm.
Medium-wavelength UVB ranges from 280 to 315 nm and relatively
long-wavelength UVA falls between 315 and 400 nm. The visible
spectrum has wavelengths in the range of 400–780 nm and infrared
light has wavelengths longer than visible light. Suits and Hsuan (2003),
Yang and Ding (2006), Azuma et al. (2009), Carneiro and Lopes (2017),
for example, show the importance of evaluating the absorption of this

∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: jlernandes@hotmail.com (J.L.E. Dias Filho), maia@uenf.br (P.C.d.A. Maia), gxavier@uenf.br (G.d.C. Xavier).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2019.02.002
Received 13 August 2018; Received in revised form 29 January 2019; Accepted 19 February 2019
0266-1144/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article as: José Luiz Ernandes Dias Filho, Paulo Cesar de Almeida Maia and Gustavo de Castro Xavier, Geotextiles and
Geomembranes, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2019.02.002
J.L.E. Dias Filho, et al. Geotextiles and Geomembranes xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Fig. 1. Characterization of woven geotextiles tested.

light spectrum over the useful life of the material as a mechanism for
evaluating the durability of the geosynthetic.
The infrared spectrophotometer, used to identify the molecular
structure, produces wavelengths in the spectral range of 500–4000 nm.
For a given wavelength, the transmittance response indicates the
change in bonds due to photodegradation. As widely used procedure for
polymer films it monitors the carbonyl band, and carbon-oxygen double
bonds, 1712 cm−1, as a function of the time of exposure to ultraviolet
radiation. Kwon et al. (2013), Curcio et al. (2015) and Murakami and
Koga (2016) used this technique to evaluate the formation of carbonyl
in polymers used in research on packaging. There are also studies in
geosynthetics such as those by Yang and Ding (2006), Azuma et al.
(2009), Valente et al. (2010), Rouillon et al. (2016). The latter, Rouillon
et al. (2016), presented a critical analysis of the use of the 1456 cm−1
band, corresponding to methyl, as an easy and representative form of
the specific behavior of polypropylenes.
In the present study, the wavelengths in the spectral range of in-
frared and ultraviolet are put forth as a means for evaluating the de-
gradation of geosynthetics. As such, the objective of this study is to
compare geosynthetics altered in the field with those altered in the
laboratory, by means of spectrophotometry, in order to predict the
durability of the geosynthetics used in the project, without needing to
exhume large amounts of material. Fig. 2. Methodology to evaluate durability in geosynthetics.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Geotextiles
In this study, four woven geotextiles were used, two with mono-
filament polypropylene and two with multifilament polyester, whose
characteristics are presented in Fig. 1. The Figure presents the no-
menclature is formed by the union of the base polymer and its weight. A
variety of masses per unit area were chosen to better evaluate spec-
trophotometry as a tool for characterizing durability.
2.2. Equipment
The analysis of the samples degraded naturally in the field and those
degraded in an accelerated process in the laboratory, were carried out
on Shimadzu UV-1800 spectrophotometers in the spectral range of
200–800 nm and on Shimadzu IRAffinity-1 with a spectral range of
4000 to 500 nm according to ASTM D2702. These analyses were con-
ducted in the Laboratory of Chemical Sciences - LCQUI/UENF.
The acceleration of degradation conditions caused by cycles of ex-
posure to solar rays and seasonal humidity variations was performed on
the samples at the Civil Engineering Laboratory - LECIV/UENF, using
equipment for condensation and exposure to ultraviolet radiation
during 200 days or 600 cycles. UVB lamps and ASTM D4355 guidelines
were used.
2.3. Test procedure
Spectrophotometry, in which samples are evaluated by means of
ultraviolet and infrared light, presents both qualitative and quantitative
results on the alteration of material after degradation processes. It is
important to note that samples are usually comprised of materials in
liquid form. When solid, it is usually advisable to grind and press the
specimens, in addition to ensuring that the composition is translucent.
However, such procedures would not enable the evaluation of the de-
gradation, since it would change the physical state of the sample.
Therefore, for this study, a decision was made to perform the tests
with the original samples, without modification of the collected mate-
rial, that is, without grinding or dissolving. The sizes of the specimens
used in spectrophotometric tests are always smaller than 4 cm2.
Therefore, the analysis of the durability of the exhumed geosynthetic
becomes a more practical procedure and without detriment to the
project.
The alterability of the geosynthetic is an important aspect to be
considered for each project, in view of the prolonged contact with
agents of alteration which can cause its premature aging. Fig. 2 presents
the methodology reported by Dias Filho et al. (2016a) that was applied

2
J.L.E. Dias Filho, et al.
Fig. 3. Variation of monthly accumulated solar radiation and average tem-
perature during outdoor exposure.
Fig. 4. Variation of monthly accumulated rainfall and average relative hu-
midity during outdoor exposure.
in this study.
The absorbance data, with ultraviolet spectral analysis, enables the
evaluation of the behavior of material after natural exposure in the field
or after accelerated degradation in the laboratory. The areas of the
graph corresponding to each wavelength range equivalent to the ul-
traviolet spectra were integrated with the data from the test curves. In
this way, it was possible to determine how much the absorption varied
in relation to the intact material. Only the PET340 and PET740
Fig. 5. Climate characterization of the exposure site.
3
Geotextiles and Geomembranes xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
materials were evaluated, since the polypropylenes presented negligible
absorbance differences. The polypropylenes, PP500 and PP925, proved
to be more resistant to ultraviolet rays.
The transmittance data from the infrared rays were also evaluated.
The results obtained show the integration of the area of the graph
corresponding to the spectral range where the carbonyl band, carbon-
oxygen double bonds between 1820 and 1660 cm−1, are monitored as a
function of the time of exposure to degradation. In this case, only
PET340 and PP500 materials were evaluated, since the two materials of
higher weight prevented readings by the equipment. The higher weight
materials, PET740 and PP925, have a weight of 740 and 925 g/m2,
respectively. In this case the light radiation failed to cross the heavy
geotextile. The analysis of ground or dissolved samples was not con-
sidered so as not to modify the physical structure of the samples, which
would thereby invalidate the results.
For comparison factors it was necessary to collect meteorological
data for the period of natural degradation in the field. Such information
was obtained directly from the National Institute of Meteorology -
INMET (2018). Climate values of daily accumulated solar radiation and
average daily temperature during the 2-year period (2013 and 2015)
were collected, as well as other climatic conditions, such as daily mean
air humidity and daily accumulated precipitation.
3. Meteorological data
Fig. 3 show that there was an incidence of solar radiation with peaks
in spring and summer, while average temperatures were 31 °C max-
imum and 20 °C minimum. The relative air humidity remained at 85%
on average and there was little precipitation during the days of the
study (Fig. 4).
Briefly, the total accumulated value of the solar radiation incidence
was 13.44 GJ/m2 (Fig. 5a) associated with the daily average tempera-
ture of 23.4 °C. Ultraviolet radiation was 1.01 GJ/m2, i.e., a value
corresponding to 7.5% of the total cumulative incidence of solar ra-
diation according to ISO TS 13434. The total rainfall during this period
was 1487.8 mm (Fig. 5b).
4. Results
The UV–Vis spectrophotometry in Fig. 6a and b shows the results of
the PET340 samples, the lower weight geotextile used in the research.
The lower mass per unit area characteristic allows better evaluation of
J.L.E. Dias Filho, et al.
Fig. 6. UV results of the polypropylene samples PET340.
the absorbance of the degraded materials. The Figures show that the
results of absorbance in 600 cycles of condensation and ultraviolet ra-
diation degradation in the laboratory are close to the results for 12
months of natural degradation in the field.
Fig. 7a and b shows the results for PET740. Ultraviolet and visible
spectrophotometry has shown that thicker samples tend to be less af-
fected by the action of light rays. The materials degraded in the la-
boratory absorbed ultraviolet rays as much as the intact sample. Ab-
sorbance was also observed in the visible spectrum.
The UV–Vis spectrophotometry in Fig. 8a and b shows the materials
that were analyzed which yielded results that did not allow for a good
evaluation of absorbance. The woven geotextile samples PP500 and
PP925 may contain some type of chemical additive, such as ultraviolet
4
Geotextiles and Geomembranes xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
Fig. 7. UV results of the samples PET740.
or antioxidant stabilizers, which would explain the lack of significant
variation in absorbance between the intact and degraded material. They
also present less loss of strength over time compared to the studied
polyesters, for both natural field and laboratory degradation.
Briefly, Fig. 9 shows that the degraded material absorbs a declining
amount of ultraviolet radiation relative to the intact material. Both the
exposure to natural radiation in the field and the accelerated radiation
in the laboratory decreased the absorption of UVB and UVC rays by
values of up to 28 and 34%, respectively, while the decrease in ab-
sorption of UVA radiation was close to 15%.
Fig. 10, on the other hand, shows the PET740 material, with the
same polymer composition as PET340, but with different weights and
weave. It is worth mentioning the decrease in the absorption of the UVB
and UVC spectra over time on the order of 4% in the laboratory and
13% in the field. While, at UVA wavelengths, there was an increase in
J.L.E. Dias Filho, et al.
Fig. 8. UV results of the polypropylene samples.
absorption of 8% in both cases. The biological activities present in these
samples may have made this possible. Fig. 11a and b presents living
organisms that use ultraviolet light absorption as a source of energy, as
well as the change in coloration after exposure.
Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometry, in turn, did
not allow for the analysis of PET740 and PP925, possibly due to the
higher weight, making it impossible for the waves to cross the sample
preventing a reading by the equipment.
Fig. 12 shows the formation of carbonyl in PET340 that reached
values on the order of 200% in the laboratory and 160% in the field.
Whereas, for PP500, in the same figure, both in the field and in the
laboratory, the values increased approximately 26%. Fig. 13 shows the
same materials under methyl band analysis. This interpretation was
similar to PET430 in the formation of the carbonyl band, whereas for
PP500 the difference was greater. As Rouillon et al. (2016) observed,
the degradation in polypropylenes can best be studied by means of this
5
Geotextiles and Geomembranes xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
Fig. 9. UV absorbance variation of the sample PET340.
Fig. 10. UV absorbance variation of the sample PET740.
wavelength.
The data indicate that degradation causes changes to the physical
and chemical structures of the material. In both Figures there is
agreement between the responses obtained for the samples with ac-
celerated degradation in the laboratory and the samples degraded
naturally in the field. In these analyses, similar to the UV data, areas of
the graph were calculated. The wavelength range equivalent to the
formation of carbonyl (C]O) and methyl (CH3) bands was defined for
the degraded materials as well as the intact material.
With this data one can also evaluate the degradation of the mate-
rials by making comparisons of the spectrophotometry tests in four
possible ways. First, the absorbance variation data in Figs. 9 and 10 and
the carbonyl and methyl formation in Figs. 12 and 13 can be evaluated
according to the methodology proposed by Dias Filho et al. (2016a). In
this way the durability parameters of the material and, consequently, its
project useful life (Table 1) are obtained.
These parameters are obtained by curves plotted with the variation
J.L.E. Dias Filho, et al.
Fig. 11. Color variation of the samples PET740.
of material properties over time for the samples degraded in the field
and in the laboratory. The results are exponential curves. The Iult and T0
allow for the correlation of the curves of the material behavior
(Fig. 14a); I'ult l denotes the adjustment index for the laboratory sam-
ples, whereas T indicates the number of times larger the ultimate
6
Geotextiles and Geomembranes xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
Fig. 12. Absorbance variation of carbonyl.
Fig. 13. Absorbance variation of methyl.
degradation in the field is compared with the degradation in the la-
boratory (Fig. 14b).
Another comparison is with the analysis of the meteorological data
of ultraviolet radiation. The radiation accumulated by the degraded
material in the field has a good correlation with the radiation imposed
by laboratory degradation procedures and is also directly linked to the
loss of strength of the geosynthetics over time, as presented by
Guimarães et al. (2015), Dias Filho et al. (2016b), Maia et al. (2017)
and Carneiro and Lopes (2017).
For this purpose, for each study material, the incidence of accu-
mulated ultraviolet radiation, over varying exposure periods, is used.
For example, after 180 days of exposure the PET340 sample presents
0.28 GJ/m2 of total UV irradiation (see Table 2). This value can be
compared with the results obtained in the laboratory for the same ac-
cumulated artificial radiation, that is, according to the laboratory pro-
cedures this value of total UV irradiation is obtained at 800 h or 33.3
days. The property obtained in the test after accelerated degradation in
J.L.E. Dias Filho, et al. Geotextiles and Geomembranes xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Table 1
Durability parameters and project useful life.
Test Material Parameter Field Laboratory T

2 2
Iult T0 R Iult T0 R

UV absorbance PET340 UVC 33 2700 0.99 32 520 0.97 5.19

UVB 28 2600 0.98 25 510 0.97 5.10
UVA 14 2500 0.97 10 470 0.94 5.32
PET740 UVC 18 14000 0.97 3 2642 0.58 5.30
UVB 18 14000 0.99 5 2718 0.62 5.15
UVA 9 9000 0.94 8 1800 0.93 5.00

Infrared absorbance PET340 Carbonyl 190 10000 0.99 210 2000 0.99 5.00
Methyl 300 9000 0.96 201 1700 0.98 5.29
PP500 Carbonyl 28 8000 0.98 30 1600 0.98 5.00
Methyl 160 10000 0.98 90 2000 0.98 5.00

Iult is a dimensionless parameter that represents the ultimate degraded condition of the material, T0 is an elementary parameter whose unit of measurement is time, T
is a dimensionless parameter that the relation between the degradation time in the field and that in the laboratory.

the laboratory, which in this case was the tensile strength of 20.19 kN/
m, is the parameter that will be the property of the material obtained in
the field. As field tests were performed, the obtained value of 19.36 kN/
m confirms a good correlation between the data. It is important to note
that the simulation of degradation in the laboratory should be re-
presentative of the conditions presented in the material exposure en-
vironment.
Specifically using the absorbance variation results, in turn, this
correlation can also be performed. The data obtained with these ma-
terials compared to loss of strength data in Dias Filho et al. (2016b)
presented close variations and provide a good correlation with rapid
laboratory tests for extrapolating the property of the material analyzed
in the field by means of spectrophotometry (Tables 2 and 3). It is im-
portant to note that the comparison between the current results and
previous studies was obtained using the same geotextile materials, from
the same manufacturer, the same production lots, the same polymer
resins and the same stabilizers.
Considering the previous example of PET340 in Table 2, this ma-
terial at 180 days of exposure in the field obtained UVB absorbance of
18.1%. For this value, tensile strength obtained in the laboratory was
close to 17.87 kN/m. When comparing UV absorbance is important to
ensure that accelerated degradation in the laboratory has adequate UV
lamps to represent the incidence of solar radiation.
Similarly, the formation of carbonyl or methyl can be good para-
meters for the analysis of the durability of the material. As described by
Rouillon et al. (2016) and according to strength measurements obtained
over time by Dias Filho et al. (2016b), the methyl band provided a more
precise correlation with the strength data. This can be seen in Figs. 12
and 13, which present similar behavior in the analyses of the polyester
in terms of alteration, between 150% and 200% for the formation of the
band under analysis. While the polypropylene varies widely depending
on the methodology applied. Formation of methyl up to four times
greater than carbonyl was found. In terms of representativeness of the
results, the loss of strength for PET340 was approximately twice as high
as PP500, a result similar to methyl formation (Tables 2 and 4).

5. Conclusions

Spectrophotometric analyses were shown to be satisfactory for

characterization of degraded geotextiles. These results suggest corre-
lating exhumed samples to evaluate their properties without major
Fig. 14. Durability curve.

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J.L.E. Dias Filho, et al. Geotextiles and Geomembranes xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Table 2
Parameters over time for PET340 in Field and Laboratory conditions.
Condition Time Total UV irradiation Absorbance Tensile strength Dias Filho et al. (2016b) Index Absorbance
Maia et al. (2017)
UVC UVB UVA Carbonyl Methyl

2
days hours GJ/m (%) (kN/m) (%) (%)

Field exposure 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 52.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
90 2160 0.12 18.59 14.79 7.90 40.91 41.65 51.01 85.97
180 4320 0.28 22.71 18.31 9.58 19.36 64.24 70.55 113.81
270 6480 0.40 27.53 22.00 10.74 12.98 76.49 86.41 127.22
360 8640 0.49 32.34 25.69 11.91 10.81 83.13 113.96 152.81
720 17280 1.01 34.44 28.26 14.75 5.08 90.32 156.60 297.35

Laboratory exposure 0 0 0.000 0.00 0.00 0.00 52.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.33 8 0.003 0.32 0.01 0.00 51.09 1.17 −9.47 −20.50
0.67 16 0.006 0.65 0.02 0.01 48.94 2.33 −1.74 −0.89
1.00 24 0.008 1.29 0.04 0.01 50.04 3.48 0.14 12.64
1.33 32 0.011 2.58 0.07 0.03 49.87 4.61 5.16 13.61
1.67 40 0.014 5.17 0.14 0.05 45.76 5.73 −1.53 2.40
3.33 80 0.028 7.39 6.47 8.09 43.04 11.12 6.60 19.78
8.33 200 0.070 14.68 15.40 10.61 29.69 25.43 26.42 49.34
16.67 400 0.140 23.75 18.49 7.32 17.87 44.12 41.91 80.00
33.33 800 0.280 26.03 19.26 7.11 20.19 67.96 57.10 78.93
43.33 1040 0.364 28.97 22.37 6.07 10.90 76.62 81.20 94.27
91.00 2160 0.764 30.16 23.68 7.64 4.72 92.54 140.39 146.15
200.00 4800 1.680 33.35 27.16 11.86 1.60 95.94 193.04 200.95

Table 3
Parameters over time for PET740 in Field and Laboratory conditions.
Condition Time Total UV irradiation Absorbance Tensile strength Index Absorbance
Dias Filho et al. (2016b) Maia et al. (2017)
UVC UVB UVA Carbonyl Methyl

2
days hours GJ/m (%) (kN/m) (%) (%)

Field exposure 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 149.00 0,00

90 2160 0.12 3.47 1.98 1.69 67.13 55,46
180 4320 0.28 2.64 3.10 1.85 51.80 65,63
270 6480 0.40 6.75 6.91 5.76 46.76 68,98
360 8640 0.49 7.72 8.08 6.12 41.72 72,33
720 17280 1.01 12.89 12.87 6.70 26.04 82,72

Laboratory exposure 0 0 0.000 0.00 0.00 0.00 149.00 0.00

0.33 8 0.003 −0.33 −0.73 −0.71 148.12 1.74
0.67 16 0.006 1.30 2.47 −1.84 152.32 −1.05
1.00 24 0.008 0.41 0.20 0.23 150.36 0.25
1.33 32 0.011 −1.44 0.30 −0.45 139.25 7.62
1.67 40 0.014 0.56 2.22 −1.59 136.57 9.40
3.33 80 0.028 0.99 0.60 −0.26 106.25 29.51
8.33 200 0.070 1.50 2.86 −0.52 85.60 43.21
16.67 400 0.140 2.59 4.04 −0.99 82.78 45.08
33.33 800 0.280 1.27 2.86 1.01 58.36 61.28
43.33 1040 0.364 0.18 1.92 5.21 51.09 66.10
91.00 2160 0.764 2.32 3.77 5.26 48.21 68.01
200.00 4800 1.680 2.07 3.26 7.95 40.49 73.14

damage to the project. No concrete absorbance results were obtained
for the polypropylene samples. Whereas for the polyester samples, the
absorbance behavior was similar for both field and laboratory de-
gradation environments. The results from the FTIR analysis were re-
stricted to the low-weight samples, PET340 and PP500. The results
indicated a higher susceptibility to degradation in the polyesters stu-
died, with methyl formation up to 2 times higher than the carbonyl
band, a value similar to the loss of tensile strength evaluated.
The results of this study show that evaluation of durability is
possible through analysis of the comparison of exhumed samples to
samples of the degraded material in laboratory conditions. A method
for estimation of the properties of exhumed material through climatic
radiation data was also presented.
Therefore, this study suggests that spectrophotometry is a poten-
tially valuable tool for the investigation of design with geosynthetics.
Furthermore, when used in conjunction with meteorological data and
degradation tests in laboratory conditions, this method offers much
scope for research into durability.

8
J.L.E. Dias Filho, et al. Geotextiles and Geomembranes xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Table 4
Parameters over time for PP 500 in Field and Laboratory conditions.
Condition Time Total UV irradiation Absorbance Tensile strength Dias Filho et al. (2016b) Index Maia et al. (2017) Absorbance

2
days hours GJ/m UVC UVB UVA (kN/m) (%) Carbonyl Methyl

(%) (%)

Field exposure 0 0 0.00 106.00 0 0.00 0.00

90 2160 0.12 79.90 24.73 3.10 26.80
180 4320 0.28 69.82 34.22 8.69 39.00
270 6480 0.40 67.80 36.13 14.33 62.65
360 8640 0.49 60.05 43.43 18.21 94.04
720 17280 1.01 47.79 54.97 26.65 141.18

Laboratory exposure 0 0 0.000 106.00 0.00 0.08 0.00

0.33 8 0.003 103.71 2.30 0.08 0.00
0.67 16 0.006 102.01 3.89 0.44 2.25
1.00 24 0.008 99.52 6.24 2.49 −1.21
1.33 32 0.011 99.01 6.73 2.87 3.52
1.67 40 0.014 97.45 8.19 1.33 0.98
3.33 80 0.028 96.30 9.28 2.49 0.00
8.33 200 0.070 97.52 8.13 6.29 5.47
16.67 400 0.140 95.71 9.84 10.09 10.94
33.33 800 0.280 88.85 16.29 13.41 19.14
43.33 1040 0.364 85.29 19.65 17.56 27.34
91.00 2160 0.764 73.94 30.35 23.38 43.74
200.00 4800 1.680 47.68 55.08 27.53 84.73

Acknowledgements
This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de
Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) -
Finance Code 001. The authors are also thankful to UENF and Huesker
Brazil for additional the financial support.
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