Salt Spray Test & Its Uses In Ranking Stainless Steel

Stainless steel is widely used for numerous applications within the domestic, automotive, and industrial sectors. Salt spray tests can help manufacturers grade product samples for various applications. It allows users to identify the correct stainless steel grade for the device that can be located at the seafront or determine the life cycle of the sample. The accelerated corrosion test can help simulate real-life conditions that can help select the suitable steel variant or modify the sample based on requirements. The salt spray chamber provides a controlled corrosive environment for specimens exposed in the test chamber.

What Is Salt Spray Test?

It is one the oldest and most widely used corrosion test that offers numerous advantages. It has become a universal corrosion test across various industries and manufacturers. It helps expose the sample to moisture, salt mist, and varying temperature conditions. The test is conducted for a pre-defined duration to examine the effects of prolonged exposure to a corrosive environment on the test sample. The test is conducted in a sealed chamber to ensure that the environment remains consistent throughout the test. The multi-material test equipment provides users with easy-to-comprehend impressive test results.

How Does The Test Help With Stainless Steel?

The salt spray fog test exposes the sample to an extremely harsh environment with high chloride concentration. The chloride within the solution is a hundred folds more elevated than the chloride concentration in seawater. It is used to stimulate a harsh environment with reproducible results. It can detect shortcomings or modify the coating to improve product quality. It helps ensure that coated steel remains free from structural or visual degradation for quite a long time. Modern testing equipment allows users to subject the specimen to progressively increasing until corrosion initiates or critical conditions are observed.

The salt spray test is among the few most relevant tests in actual applications. Different types of coating materials react differently when subjected to corrosion tests. Chloride salts are pertinent corrosive elements. Therefore the salt spray test results can help compare the corrosion resistance of different steel grades and help establish a ranking based on corrosion resistance properties. Localized attacks, pitting, and crevice corrosion are typically observed, generally confined to small areas over the sample specimen. The surrounding surface is covered with rusty corrosion by-products.

Final Thoughts

The critical findings or salt spray test results are defined parameters where corrosion initiates. The test output serves as a quantitative measure of corrosion resistance. These test values can help manufacturers select the most appropriate grade of stainless steel for a specific application, depending on the severity of the corrosion environment. This can help prevent costly corrosion-related failures in the future and lead to significant cost savings over the long term.

The salt spray test equipment by Pacorr, in compliance with the globally acclaimed standard ASTM B117, allows manufacturers to ensure that their steel products meet the required corrosion resistance standards. The inner chamber is reinforced plastic and has various high-end features like a PID temperature controller, fog collection funnel, water level indicator, etc. The sophisticated equipment can detect suboptimal surfaces or detect flaws or factors that contribute to rapid rusting.