The concentration of water vapours in the air is termed as humidity. These water vapours are in a gaseous state which cannot be seen with the human eye. These vapours cause fog, dew and precipitation.
There are three different types of humidity which are: Absolute, Relative and Specific in the Humidity Chamber.
However, in this blog, we’ll share some information on the effects of humidity on different materials. As humidity is the presence of water vapours in the air and excess, a warm and humid environment is created which may affect different materials used in daily life.
Humidity affects different materials such as:
- Metals get corrosive and rust in high humidity. It May affect the electrical conductivity of some metals.
- Humidity affects wood in several ways. In high humid conditions, wood gets cracked, swell, warp or decay. However, splitting and shrinkage may occur in low humidity.
- It also affects plastics. Plastics get degraded in highly humid conditions.
- High humidity has deep effects on paper. It causes deterioration, warping and buckling of paper.
- In textile products, it affects the durability of textiles. If the fabrics face high humid conditions, they cause mildew growth. Also, fibres would get weak after some time.
- Electronic components malfunction or fail after facing high humidity because they corrode the electronics.
However, humidity has its effects on different materials. One noticeable thing is; that several materials were affected only in highly humid conditions. In low humidity, they may last for a long time but they are also affected.
So, as we all know humidity affects different materials. Hence the manufacturers need to test their products wether they face humid conditions or not.
In this era, the majority of manufacturers test their products before selling them in the market.
However, for testing humidity, a machine is used which is commonly known as a humidity test chamber.
In this machine, a humid environment is created and then the product (to be tested )is placed in it. It helps the manufacturers to know how long their products can bear humidity.
What is the standard for the humidity test?
A humidity test is conducted on a machine, and some standards are set for conducting such scientific/research tests. Similarly, the humidity test has a standard according to which the test is conducted in a unique and best manner.
This standard contains rules and regulations and some steps of performing a humidity test.
The ISO standard for humidity tests is ISO 16474-3.
What is the standard temperature humidity test?
Standard temperature humidity test is a method used to evaluate the performance of materials under different humid conditions. Testing is necessary for different industries such as electronics, manufacturing or autosave where products may get exposed due to harsh environmental conditions.
However, the recommended standard Temperature for humidity is 10°C. to 70°C.
How to calculate humidity?
Humidity is calculated by different methods. As There are three different types of humidity then all of them have their mathematical formulas for calculating humidity. If you would like to calculate absolute humidity, then you would have to divide the mass of water in the air by the volume occupied. However, it is expressed in g / m³.
In a humidity test chamber, an instrument is used for calculating the humidity. It is commonly known as a hygrometer which is specially designed for measuring the humidity. Moreover, there are several types of hygrometer each of them has its operations.