Nissan Develops Tool to Test Paint Samples Even on the Darkest Day of the Year

The winter solstice is the shortest day in the year, but Nissan has developed a tool that makes it possible to test paint samples even when the sun does not shine. The company’s engineers in Michigan can still perform sunlight UV exposure tests using the Xenon Weather-Ometer (XWO) tool. The tool is used for evaluating material durability in different climate conditions.

XWO makes it possible for the sun to shine at Nissan’s engineering center near Detroit as the machine serves as a kind of tanning bed and is used to test paint, interior materials and plastics for their durability and quality. The machine can be used to test almost 100 different colored samples can be tested at one go, thus saving time and reducing excess waste.

The machine has a 4,000-watt Xenon bulb that bakes almost 100 samples at the same wavelengths as the sun and the team can then evaluate the effects of solar energy on paint and other materials. In order to imitate the earth’s orbit around the sun, samples rotate around the Xenon bulb and as the XWO “sun can shine” 24 hours a day, unlike in the real world, it takes half the time to test paint samples. Engineers observe the changes in the material samples through a series of cycles. This helps them to ensure top durability and quality for Nissan customers.

“In addition to rigorous real-world tests, this tool allows us to create harsh environments,” said Doug Prytula, technician, body and chassis testing, Nissan North America. “It is one more step we take to ensure Nissan’s quality standards are second-to-none.”

Nissan uses machines like the XWO accelerated weather chamber to replicate the conditions that occur in a natural environment inside the lab. These test cells are used to expose different types of material samples to a wide range of conditions that a vehicle may face throughout its lifecycle.