Corrosion testing
The research field ‘lightweight and hybrid design methods’ concerns itself with the topic of corrosion protection for automobile and rail vehicle construction. The avoidance of galvanic corrosion, crevice corrosion, and stress corrosion cracking poses a particular challenge especially at the joints of vehicle structures in multi material design.
There is a variety of different test standards to choose from in order to be able to characterise the susceptibility of a material combination of the most important lightweight design structural materials (steel, aluminium, magnesium, and CFRP/GRP) and assess the protective effect of coatings. The Institute of Vehicle Concepts has a new universal cyclic corrosion test chambers for salt spray, humidity and climate change tests. An associated air temperature conditioning unit enables testing in the temperature range from -40 °C to 70 °C.
This function expansion is required primarily by corrosion tests according to VDA 233-102, since a cold phase at -15 °C is run through here. In addition, effects such as infiltration or filiform corrosion can also be substantiated under reproducible conditions with the aid of the expanded temperature range in just a fraction of the testing time of natural weathering.
The universal corrosion test device's most important operating figures
- Temperature range: −40 °C to 70 °C (dry)
- Humidity range: 5% to 95% rel. humidity
- Test space volume: 450 litres
- height: 1140 mm
- width: 640 mm
- depth: 1010 mm
Testing standards
- Corrosion test according to VDA 233-102
- Salt spray test according to DIN EN ISO 9227 and ASTM B 117
- Salt spray test with synthetic sea water according to SWAAT test
- Humidity test according to DIN EN ISO 6270-2
- Climate change test according to VW PV 1210
- Or individual test conditions