GOING BEYOND SALT SPRAY TESTS

12 Jan 2022

At Engineering Edge, we aim to provide end-users with durable fasteners for various applications. Corrosion resistance is a crucial quality control criterion in fastener manufacturing. Fasteners susceptible to corrosion will result in costly rectifications, which affect the ROI and efficiency of a project.

That’s why we believe in subjecting our fasteners through strict quality checks such as salt spray tests to determine the highest product standards for our partners.


Salt Spray Tests - Anti-Corrosion Assessment

A salt spray test is one of the most basic anti-corrosion assessments used by several industries. These tests usually involve metallic substrates like fasteners, pushing their threshold by contaminating them with salt mist in a temperature-controlled chamber over a fixed duration.

CORROSHIELD®’s corrosion-resistant fasteners CORROSHIELD®’s corrosion-resistant fasteners

The sealed chamber simulates specific contaminations within real-world environments. When salt attaches itself to metallic surfaces, it strips away electrons that protects those areas. The movement of these electrons results in oxidation. Hence, the Salt Spray Test assesses the anti-corrosion capabilities of metallic and coated products.

However, it would be inaccurate and even costly for decision-makers to rely solely on Salt Spray Test in assessing the anti-corrosion performance of metallic products.


Consulting Multiple Anti-Corrosion Tests

Modern manufacturers discovered that the findings from salt spray tests are non-conclusive. For example, while a fastener product could pass a salt spray test with flying colours, it might yield poor results with acid or humidity testing.

In reality, it is imperative that manufacturers adopt a broader understanding when it comes to anti-corrosion testing and establishing a correlation between accrued results. There are several types of anti-corrosion assessments aside from Salt Spray testing. Two examples of alternative anti-corrosion tests are:


Alternate Immersion

Alternate immersion tests assess the anti-corrosion properties of coatings under wet and dry conditions. These advanced tests involve rotating a coating sample in environments of varying moisture levels.

Specifically, alternate immersion helps detect stress corrosion, which occurs when products immersed in water start to show signs of cracking. Assessing the severity and frequency of cracking prevents the production of fasteners that degrade or buckle easily when constantly exposed to moisture (i.e., bridge installations).


Humidity Tests

Humidity tests like the ASTM D2247 utilises enclosed chambers that increase the moisture content within the test area. The ASTM D2247 checks specifically for how anti-corrosive coatings hold against water impact and wet conditions that accelerate the chemical breakdown of metal components.

At Engineering Edge, we ensure that our fasteners undergo and pass rigorous assessments across multiple test types to fulfil the highest quality.


Engineering Edge’s Premium Fasteners

The Engineering Edge mission began with a focus on manufacturing corrosion-resistant fasteners for hostile outdoor applications.

We offer a premium range of CORROSHIELD® coating solutions suitable for various applications. Additionally, these fasteners come with innovative features prepared and tested for the most hostile environments.

Examples of our range of specialised corrosion-resistant fasteners includes PROTAPP® that features a reinforced fit alternate non-metallic double hex flange head and BIMATAPP® that combines stainless steel and carbon steel into a single fastener, minimising galvanic reaction towards non-suitable materials.

At Engineering Edge, we guarantee that each fastener undergoes extensive research and testing, passing the most detailed quality checks to exceed your expectations.

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