Testbed for mobile corrosion testing

Accelerated corrosion testing in the laboratory is very important for examining and comparing the corrosion resistance of materials, material combinations, surface treatments and more. The tests are usually standardized and the results from different studies can therefore be compared. However, the results of these surveys cannot be directly translated into what happens in a real road environment. Due to the complexity of the road environment, with many different factors affecting the corrosion of vehicles, mobile field testing is often used as a the "true value" when comparing the results with accelerated corrosion tests.

Accelerated corrosion testing is mainly developed for traditional materials like carbon steel and galvanized steel, which means that the correlation between results obained from accelerated and field testing can be low for other new materials used in automotive applications. Tests in real road environments are then a valuable addition to assess the corrosion resistance.

Tests in real environment

The testbed for mobile corrosion testing consists of about 10 truck trailers in traffic between Stockholm and Gothenburg as well as Stockholm and Malmö. These routes are among the world's most corrosive road environments due to frequent use of de-icing salt. The test bed offers exposure of samples on the underbody of these truck trailers. Sensors are used to to measure relative hmidity, temperature and corrosion of carbon steel and zinc during the actual exposure. There is also space to install additional equipment, sensors or specimens based on requirements from the customer. The results of the mobile test are then evaluated using standardized methods.