Salt Spray (Salt Fog) Corrosion Testing

Salt spray or salt fog testing is an accelerated corrosion test performed to assess performance of a product or material during its service life. It is a preferred method to evaluate the corrosion resistance of finished surfaces, paints, protective coatings, and other products. Specialty testing chambers that simulate high salinity and high humidity conditions are used. Specific testing parameters like salinity, time of exposure, humidity, temperature, etc., depend on the type of sample, industry standards, and other client specifications. Typically 5% NaCl solution is used for testing. However, specialty testing might be done with synthetic seawater, CaCl2, acetic acid, etc. Combined temperature tests are also performed at varying levels of test conditions. Specimens are analyzed intermittently throughout the test to record the effect of corrosion through imaging and other characterization tools.