Several new chambers for corrosion testing have been added to the laboratory at the IFO Institut für Oberflächentechnik GmbH in Schwäbisch Gmünd, including two XXL-sized chambers for particularly large components. The different corrosion test chambers make it possible to respond to customer-specific component requirements and offer corrosion tests according to the size of the components or the required volume. Corrosion protection systems are often evaluated on individual components. The effects of crevice and contact corrosion are often not taken into account. A sensible approach to corrosion protection is therefore to test products or component groups in their fully assembled state. The currently largest chamber in the IFO laboratory has a volume of 3500 liters. A chamber of this size makes it possible to completely test the tank system of a commercial vehicle, a complete bicycle or a complete window element, among other things.
One of the most common and well-known tests for this is the salt spray test. The internationally valid standards ISO 9227 and ASTM B117 describe how the test is carried out. In the old versions of the standards, the minimum size of the corrosion test chambers was set at 400 liters. ISO 9227 now no longer specifies a minimum volume. The reason for this change is that uniform spray distribution cannot be guaranteed if the chambers are too small. This results in existing differences in the test.
