The salt spray testing is one of the oldest methods that is invented at the beginning of the 20th century. During the testing process, a controlled corrosive environment is used to produce relative corrosion resistance information for metal and coated metal exposed in a test chamber. The salt spray chamber is an ideal equipment to check the corrosion resistance of material and surface coatings. The device is primarily used for paint and plating testing to verify the corrosion resistance or the rust proof ability of coated samples. The material tested using the machine are finished with a surface coating and metallic. This is an efficient testing procedure that produces a corrosive attack to coated samples to evaluate the appropriateness of coating for use as a protective finish. The period of time is pre-determined in which appearance of rust products is assessed.
The test duration depends on the coating’s corrosion resistance. If coating with excellent corrosion resistance takes a longer period of testing before the appearance of corrosion. The salt spray test is extensive and long-established. The salt spray testing is a universal test used for highly corrosive materials. The test procedure has numerous benefits.
Applications Require Salt Spray Chambers
The salt spray chambers are used for various applications to check the rust resistance of coated test specimens. The coating is responsible for high corrosion resistance to ferrous alloys and thus primarily utilized by the automotive industries.
Aerospace – The airplanes or helicopters, space shuttles, aerospace vessels are subject to extreme conditions range from changes in temperature through to vacuum state in outer space. The test chambers are best suited for testing the aerospace parts and assemblies to see the corrosion resistance of the metallic parts.
Automotive – The automotive components or parts are always in demand, and the manufacturers and suppliers are facing a big challenge to enhance the quality of their products. Maintaining the quality of automotive parts under harsh environmental conditions is a significant issue. The test chambers provide an efficient testing procedure for the safe and comfortable operation by the end users. Corrosion test is vital for automotive parts otherwise it could decay your entire vehicle.
Electronic Components – The quality and strength of electronic components are essential to prevent the dangerous situation. The rust proof ability of metallic electronic parts or wires is necessary to check in a salt laden environment.
Paint & Coating Test – The chamber predicts corrosion resistance of paints and coatings and checks the rust proof ability. The test evaluated the resistance of coating and paints in a corrosive environment.
Hardware Tools: Rust is an enemy for the tools. The corroded tools are unsafe for use and can cause considerable damage.
Medical Equipment: The medical equipment must be durable and reliable as it is directly related to the health of an individual. The resistance to corrosion of this equipment must be evaluated using the salt spray testing. The corrosion of medical equipment is not acceptable.
Railway: The railway parts, tracks, and other equipment need to check for the corrosion resistance. Corrosion means weakening or decaying of the metallic surface, and salt spray testing creates such conditions to test the rust proof capability of the materials.
Advantages and Features of Salt Spray Chamber
- The salt spray test is performed on multi-material as it can be carried out on a bare material, painted material.
- The test duration is short as compared to the natural environment. The cost is limited and standardized material is required.
- The chamber also provides a combined test of material and surface finish. The shaped items and equipped parts can be tested, and the test results are easy to understand.
- The testing machine provides the accuracy and flexibility required to meet today demanding corrosion test procedures.
- The machine has the ability to create the salt spray, high humidity, and air drying at a given temperature within the chamber.
- The corrosion cycle can be automatically repeated a predetermined number of times.
Features of an Advanced Salt Spray Chamber
Presto’s is a leading manufacturer of testing devices. Presto designs and manufactures the salt spray chamber, available in Eco Model (Korrox II), CASS Cum Salt Spray Chamber (Korrox III). Some of the primary features are described below:
- The salt spray chamber has HMI Touch Screen Panel, which is the mode of operation including program monitor, test mode, program profile, setting, history record and ESC.
- The chamber temperature is maintained from Ambient to 35 degree Celsius with air saturator temperature 40oC to 49oC and pH value ranged from 6.5 to 7.2.
- The air pressure range is between 0.7kg/cm2-1.2kg/cm2
- The chamber has a double-walled fiber reinforced plastic duly filled with glass wool insulation for protection against damage due to the corrosive temperature created inside the chamber.
- The safety thermostat inside cabinet protects against over temperature.
- The brine solution is used to generate fog inside the chamber. An adjustable control meter on the control panel is used to control the salt fog.
- Other standard accessories include time totalizer, cyclic timer, gauges and specimen racks, air purging and regulators.
- The salt spray chamber complies with DIN EN ISO 9227, BIS IS 5528:1985 (R2006), IS: 6910 (R2003), JIS Z 2371, ASTM B 117.