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Testing Types
Salt Spray (FOG) Testing involves submitting test pieces, parts or panels (coupons) to a precisely-controlled accelerated corrosive environment (a salt spray cabinet) to evaluate the relative corrosion resistance of the coating or part. Because the environment inside the cabinet is warm, moist and a little bit salty, it's almost like taking your car to the beach for few months to see how much it will rust. Although no direct correlation can be made between number of hours in Salt Spray and number of hours, days or years in the real world (or other media) before corrosion, the test has been used as a standard for evaluation of the corrosion resistant properties of coatings for many years. Alike in many ways, Salt Spray testing is generally considered more extreme than High Humidity testing (link).
There are many standard specifications detailing cabinet parameters, length of time in the cabinet, evaluation of corrosion, and the amount of allowable corrosion per part per test length, including military, commercial, and industrial specs. Some of the very common Salt Spray tests are run to conform to MIL-C-5541/BAC 5719 for chromate conversion coating, MIL-A-8625/BAC 5019 for anodizing, and TT-C-490 for phosphating and paint. We also have a great deal of experience in assisting customers with designing a set of parameters to meet individual research or production needs. In addition to the above applications, Salt Spray can also be used to evaluate the performance of assembled electronic equipment.
Ashley Laboratories, Ltd. maintains a cabinet conforming to ASTM B-117 (latest revision) 365 days a year. Our turn around is rapid; parts often go into the cabinet the same day they are received, parts are evaluated the same day testing is completed, and reports are quickly generated. Most tests run for intervals of 24 hours. We are an approved vendor for Salt Spray testing of the Boeing Corporation (insert Boeing link here www.boeing.com) and others. We offer individual attention to our wide base of clients from across the globe.
High Humidity Testing, like Salt Spray (FOG) Testing (link here) is a form of evaluating coatings, or electronic equipment performance, after exposure to a precisely-controlled accelerated environment. Unlike Salt Spray, the cabinet generally maintains a moist and warm environment, but without the additional corrosivity of the salt. For that reason, High Humidity is generally considered a bit less harsh a test than Salt Spray. Both the temperature and the relative humidity of the cabinet are adjusted to conform to the desired specification to which parts are to be tested.
There are many standard specifications detailing cabinet parameters, length of time in the cabinet, evaluation of corrosion, and the amount of allowable corrosion per part per test length, including military, commercial, and industrial. Some common High Humidity tests are run to conform to ASTM A 380/QQ-P-35, WS 16198, BAC 5751 and Mil Std 753. We also have a great deal of experience in assisting with designing a set of parameters to meet your individual research or production needs.
Our turn around is rapid; parts often go into the cabinet the same day they are received, parts are evaluated the same day testing is completed, and reports are quickly generated. Most tests run for either a few hours or intervals of 24 hours.
Solution analysis is one of the essential services provided by Ashley Laboratories, Ltd. Whether you need regular checks for solution control or specific analyses to assure compliance with specification requirements Ashley's analysts provide quick, careful and accurate attention to all your solution analysis needs. With our vast experience and background we can assist you with solution analyses from the most routine daily, weekly, or monthly solution controls for in-house quality requirements, to quality system procedures to support the needs of the FAA, NASA, or the aerospace industry, from periodic checks against in-house testing kit types of analyses, to individually designed research projects.
Waste Water Analysis/Environmental Testing
In our effort to offer comprehensive soup-to-nuts service for our customers, Ashley Laboratories, Ltd. offers a full range of waste water, effluent and other environmental testing to meet your waste water discharge permit needs and more. We have built a wide range of clients from all manner of metal finishers ( job shop platers, aircraft engine and landing gear refurbishers, pc board manufacturers, machine shops, etc.) to soft drink bottlers, from bakeries and laundries to real estate auction houses. Look to Ashley first for your Fed EPA, state or local regulatory permit-required effluent testing, in-house studies of your waste treatment systems, TCLP leachate testing and other environmental services. All tests are performed where required in accordance with current EPA approved methods ( including 40 CFR part 136, 600-4-79-020). Our rigorous quality program includes in-house and EPA round robin blind studies.
Abrasion Resistance (Taber) Testing
Abrasion resistance (Taber) testing is a regulated wear test used to evaluate the durability of coatings and materials. Most commonly associated, in our industry, with hardcoat anodize ( MIL-A-8625, typeIII ), this test is internationally recognized for its accuracy and reliability as an indication of the quality of a wear resistant coating. A coated test panel (or section of material) is weighed, then rotated and abraded by specially designed grit-embedded wheels for a specific number of cycles (the aforementioned MIL-A-8625 requires 10,000 cycles) and weighed again to determine coating weight loss and/or wear index. Ashley Laboratories, Ltd. provides regular testing to existing specifications. We also have and will gladly assist in designing individual research projects for new or experimental coatings.
Metal finishers have a wide variety of needs for adhesion testing from the ability of a plated coating to stick to a substrate, to a painted surface's integrity to the reliability of
aerospace parts to maintain a tenacious adherence between the substrate, a chromate conversion coating and the primer and paint layers. Ashley Laboratories, Ltd. offers the full gamut of adhesion testing: wet tape, dry tape, bend, knife, cross hatch, scribe, etc.
Solderability testing is performed to assure the ability of the coated parts to be soldered successfully in assembly for electronic performance. Ashley Laboratories offers solderability testing to individual coating specifications such as MIL-T-10727 and QQ-S-365 or for broader test method standards such as MIL-STD-202 Method 208. Following strictly scripted laboratory procedures, we test actual parts or test coupons, per your requirements, to these and other rigorous standards.
Ashley Laboratories, Ltd. also offers porosity testing in our full line of testing procedures for coated products. As its name implies, porosity testing assesses the integrity of the coated surface, by revealing holes or pores in the coating. A common porosity test is the ferroxyl test for chromium coatings as detailed in QQ-C-320. Other tests are also available.
