In the coatings industry new technologies are often necessary to produce high solids materials which are required to meet current and future VOC legislation. Due to the lack of track record with some of these technologies it is essential to use accelerated test methods to evaluate performance.
The test method must have the following characteristics:
• It must be performed using commercially available equipment
• Performed in a relatively short time period (max 12 months)
• The results should correlate with real life exposure
Presently there are a number of internationally recognized accelerated corrosion tests which can be used including NACE TM0304, ASTM B117, ASTM D5894 and ISO 20340. The following paper will discuss each of the test methods listed above and correlate data produced from the accelerated testing of various high performance coating systems with performance in real life exposure at a coastal environment. The major findings are that cyclic corrosion testing produces a higher degree of correlation with natural weathering and therefore provides a more reliable method of predicting coating performance.
Key Words: Accelerated tests, natural exposure, corrosion creep.