Effects of UV on breaking strength of polyamide and polyester highline webbing
Members of the ISA Safety Commission have performed comparative two year degradation tests of some commonly used webbing materials used in highlining . These tests were performed at extreme weather conditions in a high alpine environment to evaluate the highline webbing safety standard ISA:41 and to provide further data for evaluating highline webbing lifetime around the globe.
The high-altitude Jungfraujoch research station offers a perfect venue for installing an array of frames with different webbing samples for a long-term, combined weathering and solar radiation study. Not only is the exposure rate and intensity uniquely high due to the altitude, but it is also complemented by the various weather observations done at the station. One aim of testing at higher elevation is to study the effects of higher UV values as they are found in more equatorial regions of the world.
The high alpine laboratory at Jungfraujoch 3500m asl
The jungfraujoch at 3500 masl
The webbing fadding we observed over the test period
The decrease in mean breaking strength over the test period
The decrease in % of mean breaking strength over the test period
Study supported by:
Some impressions from the past tests:
Thanks so much to the numerous people helping with preparing, sampling, testing and writing up this report!
Here you can see how this topic evolved over the years and will keep evolving once we gain new insights.
Installing the webbings at 3500 masl:
Lab testing of the webbings:
Presentation from the ISA Safey Event 2023:
Presentation from the ISA Safey Event 2022:
Presentation from the ISA Safey Event 2020:
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