Comparative Aluminium Joint Evaluations in Varying Saltwater Exposure Conditions

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Abstract
The compatibility of aluminium in the presence of a wide variety of nonmetallic materials and corrosive saltwater has been the subject of study at our laboratories for many years. These studies have provided guides for evaluating the durability of aluminium bonded joints since an adhesive is only another form of nonmetallic material. A widely accepted standard test has been ASTM B117 which provides continuous joint exposure to a 5% sodium chloride salt fog. Publications in recent years,′-9 have cited test conditions where the exposure to saltwater has been intermittent rather than continuous. This was consistent with our observation in earlier years of investigating joint durability that continuous immersion in 3–½% sodium chloride solution was the most innocuous of exposures and less aggressive than immersion in deionized or distilled waters. Since 1978, our publications have included exposure results obtained by daily exposures to continuous salt fog for 16 hours followed by drying under ambient lab temperatures for 8 hours. We had also used an immersion of aluminium structures in 3–½% saltwater for 10 minutes of each hour for stress corrosion evaluations. Most recently, the author has been seeking the most economical way for customers to evaluate the corrosion resistance of aluminium joints without the need for any special test equipment. A discriminating procedure has been simply to immerse test joints in 3-½% saltwater over night and dry out in ambient air during the work day. It was the purpose of this investigation to determine the relative aggressiveness of some of these procedures.

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