How long is accelerated aging for 1 year at 55 °C?

38 days, with Q10 = 2 and a 22 °C real-time (ambient) temperature: the aging factor is 2^((55 − 22) / 10) = 9.849, and 365 days ÷ 9.849 rounds up to 38.

How long is accelerated aging for 2 years at 55 °C?

75 days at Q10 = 2 and 22 °C ambient (92 days if you take 25 °C as ambient).

How long is accelerated aging for 5 years at 55 °C?

186 days at Q10 = 2 and 22 °C ambient.

Guide · Packaging and shelf life

Accelerated aging time: the ASTM F1980 table

Q: What is the ASTM F1980 formula?

Accelerated aging factor AAF = Q10^((T_AA − T_RT) / 10), where T_AA is the chamber temperature and T_RT the real-time storage temperature. Accelerated aging time = desired real time ÷ AAF.

One year of shelf life takes 38 days in a 55 °C chamber, two years take 75 days and five years 186 days, using Q10 = 2 and a 22 °C ambient temperature. The tables below cover 6 months to 5 years at 50 to 60 °C, for two common ambient assumptions.

Accelerated aging days, 22 °C ambient

Days in the chamber for each shelf-life claim. Q10 = 2, T_RT = 22 °C, rounded up to whole days.
Shelf life	50 °C	55 °C	57 °C	60 °C
6 months	27	19	17	14
1 year	53	38	33	27
18 months	79	56	49	40
2 years	105	75	65	53
3 years	158	112	97	79
4 years	210	149	130	105
5 years	263	186	162	132
Aging factor	6.964	9.849	11.314	13.929

Accelerated aging days, 25 °C ambient

Days in the chamber for each shelf-life claim. Q10 = 2, T_RT = 25 °C, rounded up to whole days.
Shelf life	50 °C	55 °C	57 °C	60 °C
6 months	33	23	20	17
1 year	65	46	40	33
18 months	97	69	60	49
2 years	130	92	80	65
3 years	194	137	120	97
4 years	259	183	159	130
5 years	323	229	199	162
Aging factor	5.657	8	9.19	11.314

How the numbers are calculated

ASTM F1980 uses a simplified Arrhenius relation. The accelerated aging factor is AAF = Q10^{(T_AA − T_RT) / 10}, where T_AA is the chamber temperature and T_RT the real-time storage temperature. The time in the chamber is the shelf life divided by the AAF. A month here is 30.4375 days (365.25 ÷ 12), and results are rounded up, so a study never comes out short.

Q10 = 2 (the rate of aging doubles for every 10 °C) is the conventional, conservative choice. A higher Q10 shortens the study and needs evidence that the materials support it.

Choosing the chamber temperature

Higher temperatures shorten the study but can change how materials age. A chamber temperature should stay below any temperature at which the packaging or product materials soften, melt or transition. That is why many studies run at 55 °C rather than 60 °C. Humidity is a separate choice: state it in the protocol and justify it for the materials.

Accelerated aging supports a shelf-life claim while real-time aging runs alongside it. The claim is confirmed when real-time samples reach the same age.

Run your own numbers

The Packaging & Accelerated Aging Validator takes any shelf life, chamber temperature, ambient temperature and Q10, builds the pull schedule, and lays out the conditioning (ASTM D4332) and transit (ASTM D4169) tests. The FDA recognitions of ASTM F1980 and ASTM D4169 have their own pages.