Corrosion testing refers to procedures performed by laboratories to solve, prevent or mitigate problems related to corrosion. These processes can be applied to industrial materials and infrastructure products, and are often used in failure analysis.
Corrosion laboratories can perform a wide range of laboratory tests, which typically focus on the following areas:
electrochemical
corrosion
heat transfer
immersion
Various materials used in industrial applications need to be tested to verify compliance with quality standards. An example is immersion testing, which is considered the more popular and simpler type of corrosion testing. This test is used to evaluate different materials affected by specific conditions. This is a very versatile process that can be personalized to meet specific needs, no matter the application. In this test, the test equipment can expose the specimen to the test solution and then subject it to different physical or metallurgical environments, such as crevices and heat treatments.
Another test is the hot wall test, which is used to evaluate whether the metal container is hotter than the bulk solution. These are common in externally heated vessels, where corrosion is often affected by temperature. In this test, high temperatures indicate high levels of corrosion activity.
There is also a test called salt spray. This technique is used to evaluate the corrosion resistance of coated samples. This test etches a coated sample to measure suitability as a protective coating.
Beyond that, there are many other corrosion testing techniques that can help prevent damage from corrosion.