What is The Salt Spray Testing?

You depend on your fastener's durability and you want them to be serviceable, no matter which harsh environments they are placed in. Rusted fasteners can be dangerous and costly to replace, so to provide you with the durability that you require, Rapierstar rely on results of salt spray testing.

 

 

What Is The Salt Spray Testing?

 

Salt spray testing is a method of checking the corrosion resistance of coatings and materials used to manufacture products such as fasteners. During salt spray testing, an accelerated corrosive attack is produced in order to better predict how well the coating protects the metal.

 

Salt spray testing is typically used to produce quick comparisons between expected and actual corrosion resistance. In reality, there is only a weak correlation between the coatings duration in the test and its actual expected life. This is due to the fact that many external factors influence corrosion as it is not a simple process.

 

 

EFFECTIVENESS

Salt spray testing is typically used to produce quick comparisons between expected and actual corrosion resistance. In reality, there is only a weak correlation between the coating's duration in the test and its actual expected life. This is due to the fact that many external factors influence corrosion—it’s not a simple process. This is especially true for materials like hot dip galvanized steel, where drying cycles are an important factor to consider for durability.

 

For this reason, salt spray testing is most effective when used on samples to determine a pass-or-fail grade and compare it to expectations, typically in a quality audit role or to test for the effectiveness of a particular production process.

 

Salt spray tests are used on phosphate surfaces, zinc and zinc-alloy plating, electroplated tin, copper, nickel, and chromium, organic coatings, paint coatings, and coatings that aren't applied electrolytically.

 

 

WHY DO WE USE IT?

Salt spray testing has long been the standardized corrosion test method because it's quick, repeatable, and relatively inexpensive. The first such internationally recognized test dates back to 1939. The ASTMB117 test is still the most popular salt spray test used worldwide today. ASTM B 117 and ISO 9227 tests are also standardized and used today.

 

HOW IT WORKS

Salt spray tests are conducted in a closed testing chamber. A saltwater solution is applied to a sample via a spray nozzle. This dense salt water fog is used to imitate a corrosive environment. After a period of time, which is dependent on the corrosion resistance of a product, the appearance of oxides is evaluated. The more resistant a product is, the longer it takes for oxides to appear. Testing periods can take between eight to twenty-hour hours to complete for materials like phosphate steel to 720 hours for zinc-nickel coatings and even 1,000 hours or more for certain zinc flake surface coatings.

 

 

For this reason, salt spray testing is most effective when used on samples to determine a pass-or-fail grade and compare it to expectations. This is typically done in a quality control role or to test for the effectiveness of a particular production process.