Abstract
A new standard laboratory test (SAE J2334) for evaluation of the cosmetic corrosion resistance of autobody steel sheet has been developed through the joint efforts of the Society of Automotive Engineers Automotive Corrosion Prevention Committee (SAE/ACAP) and the Auto/Steel Partnership (A/SP) Corrosion Task Force. Results from this test gave an excellent correlation with those of on-vehicle tests conducted for 5 years in Canada at St. John's, Newfoundland, and Montreal, Quebec. To determine how results of the Canadian tests related to environments in the United States, racks of identical materials were mounted on the front license plate brackets of cars driven in various locations in the U.S. snow-belt, including Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Detroit, Michigan; and Chardon, Ohio. After 4 years to 5 years, these tests showed the U.S. environments produced less scribe creep and more red rust than those conducted in Canada. Similar rankings were obtained for the scribe creep resistance of the various coated steel sheet products when compared at equivalent amounts of corrosion. However, the ranking of materials changed at longer exposure times in Canada, and for that reason, it was concluded that the 5-year Canadian results used in the development of the SAE J2334 test provided a better real-world performance standard.
