Corrosion testing by its very nature precludes complete standardization. This practice, rather than a standardized procedure, is presented as a guide so that some of the pitfalls of such testing may be avoided.

Experience has shown that all metals and alloys do not respond alike to the many factors that affect corrosion and that “accelerated” corrosion tests give indicative results only, or may even be entirely misleading. It is impractical to propose an inflexible standard laboratory corrosion testing procedure for general use, except for material qualification tests where standardization is obviously required.

In designing any corrosion test, consideration must be given to the various factors discussed in this practice, because these factors have been found to affect greatly the results obtained.

1.1 This practice describes accepted procedures for and factors that influence laboratory immersion corrosion tests, particularly mass loss tests. These factors include specimen preparation, apparatus, test conditions, methods of cleaning specimens, evaluation of results, and calculation and reporting of corrosion rates. This practice also emphasizes the importance of recording all pertinent data and provides a checklist for reporting test data. Other ASTM procedures for laboratory corrosion tests are tabulated in the Appendix. (Warning-In many cases the corrosion product on the reactive metals titanium and zirconium is a hard and tightly bonded oxide that defies removal by chemical or ordinary mechanical means. In many such cases, corrosion rates are established by mass gain rather than mass loss.)

1.2 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard. The values given in parentheses are for information only.

This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.