Wing Color UV Life

[xsynergist 0]

Research in the paragliding industry has shown that degradation of wing fabrics is affected by their color as follows from most resistant to least:

1 Purple, Dark Green, Red, Dark Blue, White

#2 Yellow, Violet (Light Purple), Turquoise

#3 Orange, Fluorescent Green, Fluorescent Pink, Fluorescent Yellow

This is something to keep in mind when purchasing used canopys. Fabrics with Fluorescent colors will not last as long before becoming unusable.

I am assuming that the color resistance to UV would be the same on skydiving canopies as on paragliders. Does anyone have any data to confirm this?

Paragliders usually have a UV exposure life of something like 100 hours before porosity and strength degradation make it wise to retire the wing.
Some of the newer fabrics such as Gelvenor which are impregnated with silicone can last up to 300 hours.

I am also interested in the different fabrics and coatings used in the skydiving industry to extend UV life if any industry insiders would care to comment.

[pilotdave 0]

Don't forget that paragliders have WAY more exposure to sunlight than skydiving canopies. 100 hours is probably somewhere around 1200 jumps (at 5 minute exposure time per jump...would be less jumps if you pack in the sunlight too). I think canopies that aren't left out in direct sunlight for long periods of time probably degrade due to packing, opening, and being dragged along the ground a lot quicker than due to UV exposure. But maybe I'm wrong...

Dave

[GravityGirl 0]

....and, the life of modern ZP fabric is greater than 100 hours or 1200 jumps. Exactly what is the usable life span in hours....

...Great! Now I have to go do some research with the fabric manufacturers, 'cause I HATE not knowing. Thanks a lot. Not like I didn't have anything else to do!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Blue Skies!
Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

[FrogNog 1]

I don't know if you can say a canopy dies of UV exposure "before" dying of mechanical abuse (dragging, sand in them, packing, opening...); they kind of complement each other.

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[xsynergist 0]

This is from the Apco website concerning a zero-P powered parachute canopy they manufacture. The capital letters are theirs.

"DO NOT LET THE PARACHUTE LAY ON THE GROUND EXPOSED TO SUN RAYS. THEY ARE VERY HARMFUL TO NYLON AND QUICKLY DESTROY THE FABRIC AND CAUSE COLOR FADING. SOME COLORS ARE MORE SENSITIVE TO UV-RAYS - FADING FASTER AND LOOSING TISSUE STRENGTH- THAN OTHERS. THE UV-RAYS ARE ESPECIALLY HARMFUL TO ALL FLUORESCENT COLORS(FL-PINK, FL-YELLOW, FL-GREEN, FL-ORANGE"

The more UV exposure your wing receives the faster it degrades. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the weakened nylon will therefore wear faster when subjected to the same physical stresses.

Considering that it is only exposed for a few minutes of flight it seems obvious that packing and storing your canopy out of the light would greatly increase the life of your canopy. Are there any industry people out there than can shed more light on this matter?

------------------------------------------------
Why get married? Just find a woman you hate and buy her a house.

[nitrochute 2]

flourescent colors are dyed using a process that involves acids!that is probably the reason they give out before the other colors.
secondly and most important, para gliders do not have to remain strong enough to survive an opening shock!!you are kinda comparing apples to buicks!

[xsynergist 0]

you are kinda comparing apples to buicks***

Possibly.

But Nylon is Nylon and all the research I have done indicates that Nylon is degraded by light and heat with UV doing the most damage. My understanding is that there is a definite UV life to nylon and that this life can differ depending on the processing of the fabric and the color. I just want the facts.

[mattjw916 2]

So in one thread you propose all skydivers wear strobes to enhance daytime visibility while simultaneously proposing we all fly black canopies because the neon ones melt in the sunlight... BRILLIANT...

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

[xsynergist 0]

This is what I actually posted in the other thread.

Quote

Look at my thread in the Gear and rigging forum concerning wing color and UV degradation. The brightest colors are safer from a visibility perspective but they degrade much faster when exposed to UV. I personally value safety over wing life but that is so easy to rationalize because I want bright colors anyway... UV breaks down the fabric faster increasing porosity which changes the dynamic of the wing and weakens the structure. So what to do when buying a used wing??? But thats off topic. Thanks for the input

And where did I propose that we all fly black wings?

If you are going to insinuate I lack intelligence with your sarcastic comments at least get your facts straight.

Does anyone with actual information care to comment?

[nitrochute 2]

with over 30 years experience in parachute mfg., i just did

[xsynergist 0]

This is from Performance Designs Main Users Manual:

"Since sunlight irreversibly damages nylon parachutes, an indoor or shady area is best. Packing in the sunlight is unavoidable at most places, so try to reduce your canopy’s exposure to direct sunlight as much as possible. Cover it with a packing mat or jumpsuit while you debrief a jump or critique a student. "

Since the UV degradation of Nylon does apply to PD's parachute material as well it is logical to assume that the color chart in my original post is accurate.

[PhreeZone 20]

There are 2 main suppliers of ZP material to the parachute industry. Performance Textiles and Gelvnor. Performance Texiles manufactors a few materials, Soarcoat is the material that PD, PA, Aerodyne and almost all the US manufactors use in their ZP canopies.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[xsynergist 0]

Quote

with over 30 years experience in parachute mfg., i just did

You just did what?

And thanks for the input regarding the acids in the florscent dyes. I think that for me the safety aspects of the brighter colors visibility outweigh the shortened life span of the cloth. I'll just keep it out of the sun whenever possible.

[quade 4]

Quote

Research in the paragliding industry has shown that degradation of wing fabrics is affected by their color as follows from most resistant to least:

1 Purple, Dark Green, Red, Dark Blue, White

#2 Yellow, Violet (Light Purple), Turquoise

#3 Orange, Fluorescent Green, Fluorescent Pink, Fluorescent Yellow

Meaningless without some sort of numbers.

Does that mean that colors in the #3 group have a structual lifespan 50% that of the #1 group or 99.5%?

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[xsynergist 0]

That is why I posted. I prefer precise information. I had hopes that someone here would have access to solid data and be willing to share it with the rest of us. Some information is better than no information but it is difficult to base a decision on it when the information you have isn't quantified. I'll contact the manufacturers of the cloth that Phree posted and see if they can provide specifics.

[nitrochute 2]

see my first post

[Jumpmunki 0]

pardon me then,

but why are our canopys made from something that gets it's topskin exposed to direct sunlight whenever we pull?

shurley we should fly as fast as we can to get the canopies collapsed and into the shade then? ...

[nitrochute 2]

its about strength weight and bulk.nylon is far superior to something like like dacron for canopies.you could make a canopy out of dacron but it would be bulky,and weight would be an issue too.you would almost certainly have to use a heavier fabric just to have

it survive the opening shock.
but dont worry,your canopy will probably become obsolete well before you expose it to enough ultra violet to render it too weak to survive opening shock.

i would be more concerned about thread becoming too weak (since it doesnt benefit from the use of uv inhibitors )than canopy fabric