200804168 889
Corrosion Concepts
In this forum readers will be able to present practical problems for a permanent feature of this periodical. We are particularly anxioux
discussion. It is envisaged that these contributions will include not that both Senior Scientists and those with more practical experience
only discussion of general problems and incidents of corrosion but will make use of this forum to exchange information, problems and
that suggested remedies will also be presented and discussed. It is potential remedies.
hoped that this exchange of knowlegde and experience will become
Corrosion resistance is an important property requirement for phase and wet/dry periods. Today, there are indeed as many
materials used in the manufacturing of automobiles, particularly for accelerated corrosion tests as automotive manufacturers, which
vehicles that operate on roads treated with de-icing salt. This are currently used in order to develop and qualify new products
implies to test the corrosion resistance of automotive systems, in against corrosion, to develop new protective coating systems and
order to make a good selection of materials. Field-tests, including select materials. In the present work, steel- and zinc-coated
stationary and mobile exposures are normally the most reliable materials in cosmetic and crevice configuration were exposed in
ways of doing this, but they are costly and time consuming, as 2– a large number of accelerated corrosion tests in the automotive
8 years exposure is generally needed for a full assessment of the industry. From the study, it was shown that the results and con-
corrosion resistance. Since, the use of the standard neutral salt spray sequently the prediction on the lifetime of the same material were
test, which is well known to give a poor correlation with field data, a very much dependent on which accelerated corrosion test was used.
large development in the testing procedures has occurred with the The results were explained in terms of different salt loads applied in
use of cyclic corrosion tests, which alternate between pollution the different tests.
1 Introduction In the last few decades, several attempts have been made to
develop more reliable accelerated corrosion tests [1–6]. Most
Corrosion resistance is an important property requirement of these accelerated corrosion tests are cyclic in nature, and
for materials used in the manufacture of automobiles. This is consist of repeated cycles of intermittent exposure to salt
particularly true for vehicles that operate on roads treated solution, elevated humidity/temperature and drying. Today,
with de-icing salt during winter. Hence, automotive materials there are indeed as many accelerated corrosion tests as
have to be tested for their corrosion resistance. The most automotive manufacturers, which are currently used by car
reliable way to do it is to perform field tests, including makers and automotive suppliers in order to develop and
stationary and mobile exposures which are costly and time qualify new products against corrosion, to develop new
consuming. The other alternative is to perform accelerated protective coating systems and select materials: Volvo Car
corrosion tests in a ‘reasonable short’ time while giving a Corporation uses the test standard VCS1027, 149, Renault
realistic ranking of materials, similar to that obtained with the test ECC1 D172028, American producers follow the test
exposure under natural weathering conditions. SAE J2334 (SAE: Society of Automotive Engineers),
The standard neutral salt spray test, e.g. ISO 9227 has been German producers use the test VDA621-415, etc.
used for decades to evaluate the corrosion performance of The aim of the present study is to compare the corrosivity
automotive materials. However, it is well known that it fails of a large number of accelerated corrosion tests on steel and
in reproducing the type of degradation and ranking observed zinc-coated steel materials in cosmetic geometry and crevice
on automotive materials at natural weathering sites and configuration simulating hem flanges.
consequently not recommended to predict the durability of
automotive products. 2 Experimental
N. LeBozec, D. Thierry
French Corrosion Institute, 220 Rue Pierre Rivoalon, F-29200 2.1 Materials
Brest (France)
E-mail: nathalie.lebozec@institut-corrosion.fr Cold-rolled steel (CRS) and hot dip galvanised (HDG,
N. Blandin 10 mm of zinc thickness) steel panels of size 90 190 mm2
PPG Industries France, ZAE les Dix Muids, F-59593 Marly with a phosphating surface treatment coated with an
(France) electrodeposited paint of 20 mm in thickness were used in
the study. Prior to exposure in accelerated corrosion tests, main characteristics of the tests, e.g. temperature, relative
two vertical scribes of 100 0.5 mm2 were applied using an humidity, salt solution, duration, are also given in the table.
Elcometer 1538 tool down to the steel substrate. In addition, a neutral salt spray test according to ISO 9227
CRS crevice panels simulating hem flanges were also (NaCl 5 wt%) was also applied during 6 weeks. As shown in
studied. The design of a representative panel is crucial both Table 1, the tests differ by the composition of salt solution
in terms of reproducibility and in terms of reaching (composition, pH, concentration, deposition rate), the
reasonable corrosion rates under these conditions. Several duration (from 40 up to 70 days), the wet/dry levels and
designs of such panels are available in the literature, e.g. frequency.
panel designed by SAE [7], the Renault crevice panel (used It should be mentioned that the Renault D172028 and
in the present work, see Section 2), the Volvo crevice panel VDA621-415 cyclic tests were performed two times at two
[8] and various designs using spot welded panels (see ref. [9] laboratories.
for an example). Renault design crevice panels were
selected. The panels were laser-cut in order to ensure a 2.3 Evaluations
flat geometry. Then, the samples were assembled to gap 0
and processed using normal procedures (e.g. phosphating The evaluation of the extent of corrosion after the
and electrodeposited primer, 20 mm). The samples were then accelerated corrosion tests is summarised in Table 2 as a
disassembled and a gap ranging from 0 to 250 mm was function of the configuration and substrate. Thus, the metal
obtained by fixing a PTFE spacer on one side of the uncoated loss was calculated by gravimetric method on uncoated
surface. Finally, the samples were assembled with plastic substrates. Scribe creep was measured on coated materials
screws and nuts using a torque of 0.2 Nm. and the average depth of corrosion in CRS crevice panels.
In addition, bare CRS and pure zinc (99.9%) panels of
150 100 mm2 in dimensions were used in triplicates for the
determination of the corrosion rate. These samples were 3 Results
carefully degreased (heptane), weighed and the backside
protected with a tape before the test. 3.1 Corrosion rate of uncoated steel and zinc
Two replicates of each system (uncoated, cosmetic and
crevice) were exposed in the test chambers with an Figure 1 shows the metal loss on CRS and pure zinc panels
orientation of about 20 5 8 to the vertical. after accelerated corrosion tests. Data from field exposures
are also plotted for comparison purpose, e.g. data from yearly
2.2 Accelerated corrosion tests exposures in a marine field station (Brest, France), on
vehicles driven in five different regions where de-icing salt is
The panels were exposed in six accelerated corrosion tests applied (North America and North of Europe) and on
commonly used by automakers as shown in Table 1. The vehicles driven in milder areas. It should be mentioned that
www.wiley-vch.de/home/wuk
Materials and Corrosion 2008, 59, No. 11 Accelerated corrosion tests in the automotive industry 891
192,7
100
186,7
51,3
116,9
114,0
60
90,0
9, while it promotes the corrosion of steel
80,0
40
[10].
53,7
47,5
14,1
13,3
13,1
12,0
20
7,6
2,5
0,6
7,9
lab 2
PV1210
lab 1
lab 2
ISO 9227
VCS1027, 149
on vehicle in
KWT
on vehicle in
other areas
Marine
Concerning data from yearly field exposures, large ISO 9227 621-415 PV1210 9540P D172028 KWT
"de-icing salt
VCS1027,149 regions"
in mild
regions marine site
deposition rate of chloride (e.g. 500 mg/m2, day) and high 15 13,2
level of humidity (e.g. 6000 h/year of time of wetness). On 9,3
12,1
8,5
vehicles driven in regions where de-icing salt is applied, the 10
6,2 7,4
metal loss on steel is about 60 mm in 1 year and zinc loss of 5 3,1 3,2
1,4
about 7 mm. Much lower corrosion rates are observed on 0
vehicle driven in regions where road conditions are
significantly hostile. It has to be stressed that despite a Fig. 2. Ratio of the corrosion rate CRS/zinc as a function of test
significant chloride deposition in the marine field station conditions. Comparison with field exposures data
www.wiley-vch.de/home/wuk
892 LeBozec, Blandin and Thierry Materials and Corrosion 2008, 59, No. 11
16
Another way to compare the influence of testing conditions
14 SAE J2334 on bare and coated systems is to plot the scribe creep ratio
PSA D135486 CRS/HDG versus the metal loss ratio CRS/zinc as it is
Ratio CRS/Zn (bare metal)
12
Volvo VCS1027,149 presented in Fig. 5. Data from yearly on-vehicle exposures in
10 aggressive and mild environments are also presented. For field
8
KWT-DC data from exposure in regions where de-icing salt is sprayed,
Renault D172028
the deviation was also plotted in order to show that the
6 corrosivity is also very much dependent upon the region
4
(climatic conditions, nature of salt, etc.). Thus, the average
PV 1210
VDA621-415
NSS
value should be considered with its standard deviation.
2 k ) Two groups of tests may be distinguished: (1) testing
0 conditions where a 5 wt% NaCl solution is sprayed and (2)
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 tests with a lower level of NaCl. Again, the second group
Chloride deposition rate, mg/cm² test
gives a better correlation with on-vehicle exposure in regions
Fig. 3. Ratio of the corrosion rate CRS/zinc as a function of where de-icing is applied. However, it should be emphasised
chloride load for the accelerated tests that the first group of tests is consistent with locations where
accumulation of road mud occurs. These particular field data
were measured on samples exposed under busses driven in
30
Sweden and they were located in the front of
CRS the rear left wheel where significant road mud
HDG was thrown [6]. This position may also be
25 defined as a permanently wet position. Indeed,
the coverage of large amounts of mud
20 containing chloride acting as a salt reservoir
Scribe creep,mm
5
3.3 Metal loss on CRS crevice panels
0
lab 1 lab 2 VCS1027,149 KWT 9540P lab1 lab2 PV1210 ISO9227 Figure 6 presents the metal loss ratio open/
Renault D172028 Volvo DC GM VDA621-415 VW NSS crevice for the different test conditions and
field exposures. Open panels refer to uncoated
Fig. 4. Maximum scribe creep on painted CRS and HDG panels after accelerated or bare CRS steel panels which results of
corrosion tests metal loss were presented in Fig. 1. The plots
allow distinguishing two main groups of tests:
www.wiley-vch.de/home/wuk
Materials and Corrosion 2008, 59, No. 11 Accelerated corrosion tests in the automotive industry 893
VCS1027,149
1 year (from
loads and slightly varying humidity condition, Ström and
ISO9227
VCC)
621-415
PV1210
2 years
2 years
9540P
KWT
lab 1
lab 2
Ström have demonstrated that small changes in test
3
conditions can result in significantly different corrosion
Ratio of metal loss Open/Crevice
www.wiley-vch.de/home/wuk
894 LeBozec, Blandin and Thierry Materials and Corrosion 2008, 59, No. 11
[7] F. Zhu, Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Materials and Engineer- [10] T. Prosek, D. Thierry, C. Taxén, J. Maixner, Corros. Sci. 2007,
ing, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm 2000. 49, 2676.
[8] M. Ström, G. Ström, Presented at EUROCORR’06, Maas- [11] E. Otero, J. A. Gonzáles, B. Chico, M. Morcillo, Mater.
tricht, The Netherlands, September 25–28, 2006. Corros. 2002, 53, 807.
[9] S. Fujita, D. Mizuno, Corros. Sci. 2007, 49, 211.
(Received: November 23, 2007) W4168
(Accepted: January 2, 2008)
www.wiley-vch.de/home/wuk