ACCELERATED CORROSION TESTING OF VEHICLE COMPONENTS

IN RECENT YEARS THE CORROSIVITY OF THE TACTICAL WHEELED VEHICLE ENVIRONMENT HAS BECOME MORE SEVERE DUE TO INCREASED USE OF ROAD SALTS, INCREASED ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTANTS (SO(2) AND NO(X)), AND CHANGES IN CLIMATIC CONDITIONS IN SELECTED GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS OF THE WORLD. THE COMBINED EFFECTS OF THE ABOVE CONDITIONS AND MARINE SALTS HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASE THE LIFE EXPECTANCY OF SELECTED VEHICLES AND VEHICLE COMPONENTS. INCREASED U.S. ARMY "OFF-THE-SHELF" ACQUISITIONS COMBINED WITH THE RAPID ADVANCES IN MATERIALS AND PROCESSES USED FOR CORROSION PROTECTION NECESSITATES THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PREDICTIVE METHODOLOGY AND RANKING CRITERIA FOR CORROSION OF VEHICLES AND COMPONENTS. IN THIS PHASE I EFFORT, THE GOAL IS TO DEVELOP A FEASIBILITY PLAN THAT WILL ALLOW ACCELERATED TESTING OF VEHICLES/COMPONENTS AND SIMULATE 15-20 YEARS OF FIELD LIE WITH A ONE YEAR SIMULATED CHAMBER ENVIRONMENT. THE DIFFERENT REQUIREMENTS OF THE CHAMBER, THE TYPES OF ENVIRONMENTS PRESENT IN THE DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHICAL REGIONS, THE CORRELATION BETWEEN ACCELERATED TESTS AND FIELD CONDITIONS, THE ABILITY TO PROGRAM THE CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENTS, AND THE INCORPORATION OF ALL CURRENT ARMY PROGRAMS RELATED TO CORROSION WILL BE ADDRESSED IN PHASE I. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF PHASE I WOULD RESULT IN THE DETAILED IMPLEMENTATION IN PHASE II.