TR 590

Approved 2006-03

CORROSION TESTING
OF ELECTRONIC UNITS

Adeline Velon Flogrd

Bo-Lennart Andersson

Nordic Innovation Centre

Stensberggata 25, NO-0170 OSLO
Telephone +47 47 61 44 00
Fax +47 22 56 55 65
info@nordicinnovation.net
www.nordicinnovation.net

ISSN 0283-7234

NT TECHN REPORT 590

Approved 2006-03
Authors:

Nordic Innovation Centre project number:

Adeline Velon Flogrd & Bo-Lennart Andersson

04047
Institution:

SP Swedish Testing and

Research Institute
Title:

Corrosion testing of electronic units

Abstract:

Nowadays, the demand for better and reliable products is high, whereas the time
between the idea of a product and the production decreases. This is especially the case
for products containing electronics, which are part of our everyday. Because
electronic products are submitted to all kinds of environments, especially corrosive
environments, the demand for adapted corrosion testing methods assuring their well
functioning after years of use is needed. Such methods have to give a realistic picture
of the damages that are encountered in reality, but they also have to give a fast
response.
In this project, a well proven corrosion testing method (ISO 21207 Method B)
combining humidity cycling with conditioning followed by drying as well as exposure
to corrosive substances like sulphur dioxide, nitric oxide and salts, was modified in
order to increase even further the acceleration factor of the corrosion attacks. The
modification, including a larger weekly dose of corrosive gases and salts, was tested
on reference panels of pure metals (copper, zinc, carbon steel, aluminium and
stainless steel) and a selection of tests objects from the car and electronic industries.
The corrosion damages on the objects tested with the modified corrosion testing
method showed good agreement with damages observed after exposure to real
environments. Moreover, the method could be used to verify the tightness of seals of
encapsulated test objects, by the insertion of coupons and thin threads of copper.
However, the acceleration factor of the modified method was only slightly higher than
the acceleration factor of the original corrosion testing method.

Technical Group:

Characterisation of Materials
ISSN:

0283-7234

Language:

English

Pages:

17 p.

Key Words:

Corrosive gases, salt, acceleration factor, electronic unit, reference panel

Distributed by:

Nordic Innovation Centre

Stensberggata 25
NO-0170 Oslo
Norway

Report Internet address:

www.nordicinnovation.net

Executive summary
Main objectives
The main objective of the project was to analyse the needs for and develop a corrosion testing
method for testing of electronic units. This method should be based on the existing and wellused corrosion testing method ISO 21207 Method B combining humidity cycling with
conditioning followed by drying as well as exposure to corrosive substances like sulphur
dioxide, nitric oxide and salts. The modified method should have a higher accelerating factor
compared to the existing method, i.e. it should give rise to realistic corrosion damages (in
agreement with corrosion damages from exposures to real environments), but within shorter
testing times than with the existing method. This would allow the industries producing
electronics to shorten the lead-time between the idea of a product and the production.
The project should also formulate recommendations for the testing of electronic units in order
to get a realistic picture of a products lifetime in a corrosive environment.
The objectives of the project have been met in the way that a corrosion testing method has
been developed and tried on both reference material of 5 different pure metals, and test
objects from the participating companies, both including and not including electronic units.
However, the acceleration factor of the new method was only slightly larger than the one of
the original method ISO 21207 Method B when testing electronic units, whereas it was
satisfactorily larger when testing surface treatments on metals.
The project achieved one more objective, which was not formulated in the original list of
objectives. The new developed method was used to verify the tightness of seals of
encapsulated units by inserting coupons and thin threads of copper inside them during testing.
Method/Implantation
The new developed method is ready for use in the testing of electronics and other test objects.
Because the equipment necessary for performing a test according to the new method is similar
to the one used for the method ISO 21207 Method B, SP has already the possibility of
offering tests according to the new method. For most of the participating companies, the
testing according to the new method gave satisfactory results, even though they were not as
radical as expected. They are therefore potential user of the new method.
The implementation of the project will also be done by publishing the new method as an SPmethod for dissemination among future potential users.
Results and conclusions
The project resulted in a corrosion testing method with the following modifications: an
increase of the weekly dose of the corrosive gases and salt (increase by 30% respectively
50%) as well as a decrease of the drying time from 44 to 6 hours per cycle (week). At the
same time, the drying temperature was raised from 23 to 30C. This new method led to a
larger corrosion rate on the pure metals zinc and carbon steel. However, the corrosion rate of
copper was only slightly accelerated compared to the original corrosion testing method ISO
21207 Method B. In the case of aluminium and stainless steel, the corrosion rates were too
low to draw any conclusion about the difference in corrosion rate.
The exposure of test objects from the participating companies to the new corrosion testing
method resulted in corrosion damages in good agreement with damages from exposures on
i

field. Moreover, through exposure of coupons and thin thread of copper and the calculation of
weight gain, the tightness of seals could be verified.
The results benefited at first the participating companies, since this project allowed them to
test chosen test objects according to 2 different testing methods, one being slightly more
severe than the other. Therefore, if they wish to test similar products in the future, they will be
able to choose which of the method that suits their products best.
Recommendations
Since the corrosion testing method developed during the project did not show an acceleration
rate as high as it was first expected, it would be of interest to further develop the existing
method with the same purpose: accelerating the corrosion rate even more. Moreover, the
participating companies have expressed their need of a testing method with even higher
acceleration factor, as the ones existing do not reach, after a short testing time, the corrosion
rate after many years of exposure on field.
However, there is a risk that the limit for accelerating corrosion rates is reached in the already
developed methods. Indeed, accelerating corrosion phenomena should be done by taking into
account the correlation with reality and the agreement with real corrosion damages. In other
words, the parameters used to accelerate corrosion in a testing method should be chosen
carefully and with knowledge of the materials properties.

ii

Table of content

Executive summary .............................................................................................. i

Table of content ..................................................................................................iii
1

Background and state-of-the-art.......................................................... 1

Goal of the project ................................................................................. 2

Corrosion tests: results and methodology ........................................... 3

3.1
3.1.1
3.1.1.1
3.1.1.2
3.1.2
3.1.2.1
3.1.2.2
3.1.2.3
3.1.2.4

Reference material ................................................................................................... 3

Preliminary tests......................................................................................................... 3
Test methods .............................................................................................................. 3
Results ........................................................................................................................ 5
Corrosion tests............................................................................................................ 6
Test methods .............................................................................................................. 7
Results reference panels ............................................................................................. 7
Influence of choice of corrosive gases ..................................................................... 10
Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 10

3.2
3.2.1
3.2.2
3.2.3
3.2.4
3.2.5
3.2.5.1
3.2.5.2
3.2.5.3
3.2.5.4

Test objects.............................................................................................................. 11
Selection ................................................................................................................... 11
Testing program ....................................................................................................... 11
Thermal ageing......................................................................................................... 12
Encapsulated reference material of copper .............................................................. 13
Results and conclusion about exposure of test objects ............................................ 14
Acceleration factor ................................................................................................... 14
Effect of thermal ageing........................................................................................... 15
Effect of the gas mixture .......................................................................................... 15
Agreement between reality and testing .................................................................... 15

Conclusions and recommendations ................................................... 17

iii

Background and state-of-the-art

Technical systems and products are becoming more and more complex. At the same time, the
demand for high reliability increases whereas the time between the idea of a product and the
production decreases. The development of new products therefore demands always better
ways of testing, which at the same time are quantitative in order to predict the long-time
performance of the products already at an early stage of the development.
Electronic units are no exception to this trend and they are particularly demanding since they
today are used in environments with a combination of high temperatures, humidity,
mechanical vibration and corrosive substances. It is relatively accepted among experts that
testing each parameter separately does not give a realistic picture of the behaviour of an
electronic unit in a specific environment. Indeed, combination-testing involving several
parameters has proved to correlate better with real conditions the products are submitted to.
Moreover, and in order to find relevant testing methods, it is important to consider both the
kind and the extent of environmental influence the product is subjected to. Therefore,
environmental data relevant for each product should be the ground for the determination of
the parameters and their level that are decisive to decide the lifetime.
New and better methods have been developed under the past few years to determine the
corrosion resistance of products. These methods, consisting of humidity cycling with
conditioning followed by drying as well as exposure to corrosive substances like sulphur
dioxide, nitric oxide and salts, have proved to give corrosion attacks similar to the one
observed on products exposed to a natural environment. In order to correlate the artificial
testing environment to the natural environment, standard materials are most often used.
Therefore the conception corrosion dose can be used as a ground to decide the proper testing
time for each tested product.
A cyclic corrosion testing method, developed under the name SP-method 2499, now
standardised at ISO level under the name ISO 21207, was developed for electronic units in an
earlier project performed by SP together with the Swedish car and electronic industries. The
two variants of the methods, of which one was more severe and applicable to the
telecommunication sector, use metallic copper for determination of the corrosivity of the
testing environment. The translation of testing times to exposure to real environment is
therefore done with the help of data from corrosion of copper. In the project, trials were even
made with other metals like carbon steel and zinc, to verify the good correlation between
artificial and natural environment and the acceleration factor. These methods have been used
successfully by several industries in the stage of product development. For example, one of
the defects of the product that can be detected with the help of these testing methods is the
deterioration of the EMC tightness and the apparition of leak current because of the diffusion
of humidity and corrosive gases. By using the results of such tests, products with 3 to 5 times
longer lifetime have been produced.
The conjuncture is constantly pressing industries for better products that can be implemented
on the market at record times. Representatives of the car and electronic industries have
expressed their need for more severe corrosion tests to shorten the lead-time of products. This
project was therefore initiated to evaluate the possibility of such a test method with a higher
acceleration factor.

Goal of the project

The goal of the project is to analyse, develop and propose improvements in the testing
methodology of the participating industries for qualification of electronic units for use in
corrosive environments. This goal will be achieved by answering the following questions:
1. What are the limitations in the existing methods for qualification of electronic units
for use in corrosive environments? What damages occur during the tests? Can these
damages be interpreted in terms of lifetime?
2. Are combination-testing best suitable to evaluate the synergistic effects caused by
simultaneous influence of several environmental parameters on a unit?
3. How much is it possible to accelerate a corrosion test in such a way that the
environmental influence gives a reasonable picture of the damages corresponding to
the ones in natural environment.
Moreover, it is expected from the project to formulate recommendations for testing different
electronic units to get a realistic picture of a products lifetime in corrosive environment.
In order to achieve this goal, the working plan was divided in three different evaluations
according to the following:
i. Testing of test objects according to the standard ISO 21207 Method B with subsequent
evaluation of damages
ii. Testing of chosen test objects according to the standard ISO 21207 Method B, after
suitable thermal ageing, with subsequent evaluation of damages
iii. Testing of test objects (same kind of test objects that have been tested according to i.
and ii.) according to a modification of the standard ISO 21207 Method B in order to
get a higher acceleration factor, with subsequent evaluation of damages
The results of the tests and the recommendations to the participating industries about most
suitable corrosion testing of their products are exposed in the next parts of the report.

Corrosion tests: results and methodology

3.1

Reference material

Exposing reference panels of pure metal to a given environment is a simple and very effective
way of measuring how corrosive the environment is. Especially in this case, where the goal of
the project is to develop a corrosion testing method based on the standard ISO 21207 Method
B, but with a higher acceleration factor than the original method, the exposure of reference
panels of different metals will give the possibility of comparing the corrosivity of different
testing environments. Apart from copper, which is a compulsory metal in this case since it is
included in most electronic units, carbon steel, zinc, aluminium and stainless steel were
chosen to control the corrosivity of the testing atmospheres during the project.
Preparation of the reference panels of size 5x5 cm was done by grinding and polishing down
to 9 m diamond, washing in ethanol, drying in warm air and weighting before test. After the
exposure, the panels were weighted to calculate the total mass gain. The reference panels
were then pickled in specific solutions to remove the oxides and the weight loss due to
corrosion was calculated. The pickling solutions used for the different materials are:
Copper
Carbon steel
Zinc
Aluminium
Stainless steel

3.1.1

sulphamic acid 5% in weight

hydrochloric acid in water (1:1) with hexamethylenteramine as
an inhibitor
acetic acid 5% in weight
a solution containing 50 ml H3PO4 and 20 g CrO3 per litre, used
at 60C
HNO3 in water (1:1) used at 60C

Preliminary tests

3.1.1.1 Test methods

This step of the project is decisive, since it was leading to the choice of the modified method
used in the rest of the project. Indeed, it was agreed that the most suitable way of selecting
modifications to the original method was to expose reference panels of several metals to
different cycles and evaluate the changes in corrosion rate of the environment. As mentioned
earlier, the original method ISO 21207 Method B consists of a combination of exposure to
salt spray and corrosive gases according to the following cycle:
1. Exposure to neutral salt spray for 2 hours according to SS-ISO 9227
2. Storage for 22 hours at 23C and 95%RH
3. Exposure for 48 hours under the conditions:
25C
95%RH
10 ppm NO2
5 ppm SO2
4. Exposure to neutral salt spray for 2 hours according to SS-ISO 9227
5. Storage for 22 hours at 23C and 95%RH
6. Exposure for 72 hours under the conditions
25C
95%RH
3

 10 ppm NO2
5 ppm SO2
An efficient way of increasing the acceleration corrosion factor of the original testing method
is to increase the weekly dose of the corrosive factors, i.e. corrosive gases and salt. The
acceleration factor can also be increased to increasing the weekly salt dose. Therefore, and
since the total cycle time should remain unchanged and equal to 1 week, the drying time
should be reduced. The modified method, referred as SP-method 2499 B* and evaluated in
the preliminary tests, includes the following moments:
1. Exposure to neutral salt spray for 2 hours according to SS-ISO 9227
2. Storage for 2 hours at temperature Td (drying temperature) and 95%RH
3. Exposure for 44 hours under the conditions:
Tg (temperature during gas exposure)
95%RH
10 ppm NO2
5 ppm SO2
4. Exposure to neutral salt spray for 2 hours according to SS-ISO 9227
5. Storage for 2 hours at Td and 95%RH
6. Exposure for 44 hours under the conditions
Tg
95%RH
10 ppm NO2
5 ppm SO2
7. Exposure to neutral salt spray for 2 hours according to SS-ISO 9227
8. Storage for 2 hours at Td and 95%RH
9. Exposure for 68 hours under the conditions
Tg
95%RH
10 ppm NO2
5 ppm SO2
Table 1 below compares the weekly dose of each parameter (salt, corrosive gases and drying)
between the original method and the modification.
Table 1: Weekly dose of each parameter in hours

ISO 21207 Method B

(SP-method 2499 B)
SP-method 2499 B*
Difference

NSS (Neutral
Salt Spray)

Gas

Drying

Total

120

44

168

6
+50%

156
+30%

6
-86%

168
-

In order to achieve drying of the samples in shorter time, the drying temperature was therefore
increased. Another parameter, the temperature which the samples are subjected to during exposure
to corrosive gases, can also be varied. Table 2 summarises the parameters that were varied during
preliminary testing of reference coupons.

Table 2: Tested temperatures in C

Td (drying
temperature)
Tg (gas
temperature)

Original

Mod. I

Mod. II

Mod. III

Mod. IV

23

35

50

35

50

25

25

25

30

30

3.1.1.2 Results
Reference coupons of copper and zinc were exposed to the original method ISO 21207
Method B and to the 4 different variations of the original method as exposed in Table 2. The
exposure times varied between 1 and 4 weeks. Figure 1 and 2 summarise the results from the
exposures of copper and zinc, respectively. Two series of the Modification II were performed.

800

700

Weight loss (mg/dm2)

600

500

400

300

200

100

0
0

Modification III

Modification IV

Time (weeks)
ISO 21207 Method B

Modification I

Modification II

Modification II

Figure 1: Corrosion of copper during exposure according to variations of the original testing
method

1800
1600

Weight loss (mg/dm2)

1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
0

Modification III

Modification IV

Time (weeks)
ISO 21207 Method B

Modification I

Modification II

Modification II

Figure 2: Corrosion of zinc during exposure according to variations of the original testing
method
The figures 1 and 2 show that the 4 modifications I-IV of the original method ISO 21207
Method B resulted in an increased corrosion rate for both copper and zinc compared to the
original method. In both cases, the increase in corrosion rate was about 30% of the weight
loss. However, there was no large difference between the corrosion rates of the different
modifications. Therefore and for practical reasons, the modification that was chosen for the
following corrosion tests is modification I, that involves gas exposure at 25C and drying at
35C.

3.1.2

Corrosion tests

The overall goal of the project was to develop a corrosion testing method for electronic units
with higher acceleration factor than the existing ISO 21207 Method B. In order to achieve this
goal, several different objects including electronics were tested according to the original ISO
methods and a variant of it. The results of the exposure of the objects are exposed in chapter
3.2. In order to monitor and measure the corrosion rate of the atmosphere while testing the
objects, reference panels of the following metals were exposed simultaneously: copper,
carbon steel, zinc, aluminium and stainless steel. In this chapter, the results of the corrosion
rate for the reference panels during 4 different tests are presented.

3.1.2.1 Test methods

The four different tests are presented in table 3.
Table 3: List of the corrosion tests performed
Testing method

Weekly
dose
NSS/gas

Td (C)

Tg (C)

Test 1

ISO 21207 Method B

(SP-method 2499 B)

4/120

23

25

Test 2

ISO 21207 Method B

(SP-method 2499 B)

4/120

23

25

Test 3

SP-method 2499 B*

6/156

35

25

Test 4

SP-method 2499 B*

6/156

35

25

Gas mixture
10 ppm NO2
5 ppm SO2
5 ppm NH3
0,1 ppm NO2
0,1 ppm SO2
10 ppm NO2
5 ppm SO2
5 ppm NH3
0,1 ppm NO2
0,1 ppm SO2

Exposure
time
(weeks)
5
6
3
6

Test 2 is a variant of the original test method ISO 21207 Method B that was developed to
satisfy the needs of the project participant DeLaval, in order to simulate atmosphere from a
stable. Therefore, it was only used to test objects from this company. For the same reasons, a
variant of the modification SP-method 2499 B* was developed with the same gas mixture
used in test 2 and used to simulate stable atmosphere.

3.1.2.2 Results reference panels

The comparison of the corrosion rate of copper, zinc, carbon steel, aluminium and stainless
steel during the test 1 and 3 can be seen in Figures 3, 4 and 5.
3000

Weight loss (mg/dm2)

2500

2000
Copper Test 1
Zinc Test 1
Copper Test 3
Zink Test 3

1500

1000

500

0
0

Time (weeks)

Figure 3: Comparison of test 1 and 3 for copper and zinc.

7

7000

Weight loss (mg/dm2)

6000

5000

4000
Carbon steel Test 1
Carbon steel Test 3
3000

2000

1000

0
0

Time (weeks)

Figure 4: Comparison of test 1 and 3 for carbon steel.

180
160

Weight loss (mg/dm2)

140
120
Aluminium Test 1
Stainless steel Test 1
Aluminium Test 3
Stainless steel Test 3

100
80
60
40
20
0
0

Time (weeks)

Figure 5: Comparison of test 1 and 3 for aluminium and stainless steel.

The difference in corrosion rates of both copper and zinc during test 1 and 3 are negligible.
This means that for these 2 materials, the method SP-method 2499 B* does not appear to
accelerate the degradation of pure metals significantly more than the original method ISO
8

21207 Method B. However, in the case of carbon steel and aluminium, the weight loss due to
the corrosion attack was significantly higher after exposure to the modified version of the
original testing method. As for stainless steel, the weight losses were relatively small and it is
difficult to draw any conclusion.
The comparison of the corrosion rate of copper, zinc, carbon steel, aluminium and stainless
steel during the test 2 and 4 is summarised in Figure 6 and Table 4.
1800
1600

Weight loss (mg/dm2)

1400
1200
Copper Test 2
Zinc Test 2
Copper Test 4
Zinc Test 4

1000
800
600
400
200
0
0

Time (weeks)

Figure 6: Comparison of test 2 and 4 for copper and zinc.

Table 4: Comparison of test 2 and 4 for carbon steel, aluminium and stainless steel. Weight
loss in mg/dm2 after 6 weeks exposure
Test 2
Test 4

Carbon steel
5000
4500

Aluminium
19
30

Stainless steel
1
1

This variant of the modified version of ISO 21207 Method B with corrosive gases that
simulate a stable atmosphere did not further accelerate the corrosion rate of copper. In the
case of carbon steel, the difference in weight loss between the original method and the
modification was insignificant. Aluminium and stainless steel did corrode very little and it is
therefore difficult to draw any conclusion about the acceleration factor of the two methods.
The only pure metal that showed significantly higher corrosion rate during exposure to the
modification of ISO 21207 Method B (stable-variant) was zinc, for which the weight loss
was about 50% higher after exposure to the modified method.

3.1.2.3 Influence of choice of corrosive gases

Figure 7 shows the results of weight loss for copper and zinc for the tests 1, 2, 3 and 4, i.e.
compares the corrosion rate between the original method ISO 21207 Method B with the
normal gas mixture and the stable gas mixture, and the modification of the original
method with both gas mixtures.
Copper original method gas 1
Zinc original method gas 1
Copper modified method gas 1
Zink modified method gas 1
Copper original method gas 2
Zinc original method gas 2
Copper modified method gas 2
Zinc modified method gas 2

3000
10 ppm NO2
5 ppm SO2 gas 1

Weight loss (mg/dm2)

2500

5 ppm NH3
0,1 ppm NO2 gas 2
0,1 ppm SO2

2000

1500

1000

500

0
0

Time (weeks)

Figure 7: Comparison of the tests methods with different gas mixtures for copper and zinc.
The figure shows that except for one test (zinc modified method gas 2), the corrosion rate are
similar for the methods with both gas mixtures in the case of both copper and zinc for short
exposure times (up to 3 weeks). After that, the acceleration factor for the methods with the
normal gas mixture seems to depart and is higher that the one for the methods with the
stable gas mixture. These results are consequent for both copper and zinc. Therefore, the
corrosion testing methods using a gas mixture simulating stable atmosphere have a somewhat
lower accelerating factor than the original methods. This was only verified on reference
panels of pure metals. The figure does not show comparison for the other metals carbon steel,
aluminium and stainless steel, but the analysis of the data confirms this conclusion.

3.1.2.4 Conclusions
Copper is one of the metals that dominate in electronic units. The goal of the project was to
develop a corrosion testing method that had a higher acceleration factor than ISO 21207
Method B towards electronic units. Therefore, it was expected that the corrosion tests on
reference panels of pure metals according to the modified method would result in larger
weight loss for copper particularly. The tests revealed that the differences in weight loss were
not significant for copper, but were not negligible in the case of other metals.

10

3.2

Test objects

3.2.1

Selection

An important part of the project was to select suitable electronic units to perform the
corrosion tests according to the two different methods. This was the task of each participating
company to find suitable objects for testing. Suitable objects are electronic units that the
companies preferably have experience about, in order to compare results from the test with
results from real exposures. Moreover, the objects should be suitable for evaluation, either by
visual or microscopic examination, or by performing a functionality test. Finally, the objects
should preferably include some parts made of polymer material, in order to evaluate the
effects of thermal ageing.
The electronic units that were chosen by each participating company are the following:
Autoliv/Tyco
Volvo 3P
DeLaval
Ericsson

EFS (both open and intact)

RSU
Gas pedal
Main switch
Milk meter
Tits sensor (camera)
Metal panels with different surface treatment

The sealed units from Autoliv usually undergo several tests from OEM specifications, among
which a thermal cycling at 150C for at least 1200h followed by a salt spray test for 3 weeks.
The lifetime requirement for this product is 17 years.
The gas pedals from Volvo have a potentiometer sitting at the bottom of the cab in a truck,
where the humidity level can be high at some moments.
The milk meter from DeLaval is a control unit that has been on the field for many years. The
unit is not sealed and fairly warm, so it has not encountered many problems. The camera is
however very well sealed and the experience on the field is limited (max 2 years).
For secrecy reasons, the technical results of the exposure of the test objects will not be
reported here. However, the outcome of the testing will be exposed.

3.2.2

Testing program

Table 5 below shows the testing program for the test objects that were selected. Together with
the test objects, reference panels of different metals were exposed. The results of these
exposures were reported in chapter 3.1.2. Even thin copper threads were exposed
encapsulated. Results from this part of the testing are reported in chapter 3.2.4.
Some of the test objects were exposed to the method ISO 21207 B and its modification but
without exposure to salt spray. Instead, the salt spray moments were replaced by drying, at
23C and 35C respectively. This was the case for the open electronic units from Autoliv.
Because the EFS and RSU units from Autoliv are completely sealed units that are designed
for a lifetime of 17 years, they may not be affected at all by the relatively short corrosion tests
chosen in this project (max 5 weeks testing). For such units, corrosion attack may affect the
electronic components inside the sealed area after a relatively long period. Indeed, diffusion
of gases may take place, even through a very tight seal. In order to identify the weakest link in
11

a product and to be able to improve it, an alternative way of testing sealed units was chosen.
Therefore, some of the units from Autoliv were tested unsealed.
Table 5: Testing program

ISO 21207 B
ISO 21207 B
without salt
ISO 21207 B
gas mixture stable
1. Ageing
2. ISO 21207 B
1. Ageing
2. ISO 21207 B
without salt
1. Ageing
2. ISO 21207 B
gas mixture stable
SP-method 2499 B*
SP-method 2499 B*
without salt

Autoliv/
Tyco
X
X
(unsealed
units)

Volvo

DeLaval

X
X

Reference
panels
X

Reference
wires

X
(unsealed
units)
X
X
X
(unsealed
units)

SP-method 2499 B*
gas mixture stable
1. Ageing
2. SP-method 2499
B* gas mixture
stable

3.2.3

Ericsson

Thermal ageing

Tightness of electronic units is an important parameter in the electronic industry when units
are exposed to corrosive atmospheres. In this project, thermal ageing was performed before
corrosion testing in order to measure the effect of thermal ageing on the tightness of the unit.
Different ageing conditions were used depending on the kind of electronic units and the
atmosphere they are usually exposed to. These are presented below for each test object:
EFS (not open) and RSU
Exposure at 125C for 1008 h. At activation energy of 70 kJ/mol, this ageing time
corresponds to about 3100 hours of use at 105C. At its turn, this corresponds to a using
period of about 9 years.
Gas pedal
Exposure at 110C for 3 weeks. At activation energy of 70 kJ/mol, this ageing time
corresponds to about 8 years of use at an average temperature of 40C.
Main switch
12

Exposure at 110C for 6 weeks. At activation energy of 70 kJ/mol, this ageing time
corresponds to about 7 years of use at an average temperature of 50C.
Milk meter and sensor
Exposure at 85C for 4 weeks. At activation energy of 70 kJ/mol, this ageing time
corresponds to about 8 years of use at an average temperature of 25C.
After thermal ageing, a functionality test was performed on the test units to assure their well
functioning.

3.2.4

Encapsulated reference material of copper

Sealed electronic units are very common in the electronic industry, in order to prevent
humidity and gases to penetrate and possibly damage the electronics. However, seals are
never 100% tight and a certain penetration takes place. Whereas humidity is well stopped by
seals, corrosive gases do penetrate, even if it is at a very slow rate. The testing program of the
project was a perfect opportunity to measure tightness of the seals, by exposing very small
copper panels or thin copper threads encapsulated in units, instead of electronics. Test objects
from Autoliv and Volvo with encapsulated copper material were exposed according to the
modified method SP-method 2499 B*.
Copper coupons of size 1x1 cm were encapsulated by Autoliv during production of a specific
electronic unit. Therefore, the metal panel was placed in the unit before sealing and instead of
the electronic circuit board. The copper panels were prepared by grinding and polishing,
washing, drying and weighting in the same way as the other metal panels. After exposure, the
seals were milled off mechanically and the copper panels were carefully extracted from the
cavity.
The copper coupons were weighted and observed with an optical microscope. No visible
changes at the surface could be observed. Some of the potting material had leaked during
encapsulation thereby contaminating some of the copper coupons. Therefore, the coupons
were washed in acetone and weight again. The results of the weight changes are reported in
Table 6 below. The higher values for coupons 3 and 4 depend on the fact that the potting
material did not leave the surface after washing. The negative values are due to the
uncertainty of the measurements.
Table 6: Weight changes of the encapsulated copper coupons

Coupon 1
Coupon 2
Coupon 3
Coupon 4
Coupon 5

Weight gain after exposure

(mg/cm2)
0,22
0,18
0,10
0,20
0,12

Weight gain after washing

(mg/cm2)
0,01
-0,03
0,05
0,07
-0,03

Thin copper threads were cut to a suitable size, pickled in the standard pickling solution for
copper (see 3.1), rinsed in ethanol and weighted. The copper threads were not weighted
individually but all the threads inserted in one test object were weighted as a whole. The test
objects were exposed without electrical cables, to avoid diffusion of corrosive gases through
them. After exposure, the copper threads were weighted again and the weight gain was
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calculated. In some cases, the copper threads were pickled after exposure to calculate the
weight loss due to corrosion damages. Except for test object 5, the visual observation of the
threads did not reveal any corrosion damage, as the colour of the metal was unchanged. Test
object 5 showed green corrosion products. Table 7 summarises the weight gain for the copper
threads in all the test objects.
Table 7: Weight gain of the encapsulated copper coupons
Weight gain after exposure
(mg/cm2)
Test object 1, reference*
-1,27
Test object 1
-1,11
-0,32
0,16
Test object 2, reference*
-2,76
Test object 2
0
1,27
0,42
Test object 3
4,61
Test object 4
3,13
Test object 5
20,4
* not exposed, stored in a room under conditions 23C and 50% RH
Test objects

For the test objects having unexposed test objects, they determine the uncertainty of the
measurement. Therefore, it can be concluded that the weight gain was negligible in these
cases. Finally, the tightness of the test objects with encapsulation was high, since the copper
threads inside the encapsulation were not damaged by the corrosive environment they were
exposed to.
The weight gain was also very small in the case of test objects 3 and 4. Only in the case of test
object 5, the encapsulation did not appear to be tight enough to protect the electronics (that
were replaced in that case by copper threads) against the aggressive environment.

3.2.5

Results and conclusion about exposure of test objects

Each participant performed an evaluation of the damages on the test objects after exposure to
the two different environments in order to complement the results from the functionality test.
In the case of the test objects from Ericsson (metal panels), the evaluation of the results of the
exposures was done by measuring the extension of the corrosion from the scribe, the edge and
the grid. In most of the cases, the results of the damages after exposure were compared to
results from exposure in real environments. Because of secrecy reasons, the detailed results
for each object could not be reported here, but the essence of the results will be exposed and
discussed.

3.2.5.1 Acceleration factor

For almost all the surface treatments, the extension of the corrosion from the scribe, edge and
grid was larger after exposure to the modified method SP-method 2499 B* than after
exposure to the original method ISO 21207 Method B. Therefore, the modifications operated
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on the original method had in this case the expected effects of accelerating even further the
corrosion rate of the test objects.
Results from the evaluation, both functional and visual, performed on the test objects
containing electronic units, showed that the acceleration factor was about the same for both
testing methods. Indeed, there was no drastic change in the appearance of the test objects after
both tests, and the functional tests did not reveal any failure due to corrosion of electronic
units. In some cases, some error codes were revealed during functionality testing of the
objects. However, and after consultation with the participants, the error codes were most
probably due to corrosion on plugs because of untight cables or to other external factors, but
not to corrosion of electronic units.
As a conclusion and for most of the participants, the corrosion rate obtained by the testing
methods is still low compared to what is needed to simulate the real conditions. Indeed, an
even higher acceleration factor would allow the users to even better predict the lifetime of
their products.

3.2.5.2 Effect of thermal ageing

Any deep analysis of the test objects after thermal ageing was not performed since it was the
combination of the thermal ageing with the following corrosion test that was of interest.
However, the functionality tests performed on the test objects after thermal ageing did not
reveal any faults.
The observation of the test objects after the combination thermal ageing-corrosion test
according to ISO 21207 Method B did not show any unusual corrosion damage compared to
the same corrosion test without thermal ageing or a corrosion test according to the modified
version SP-method 2499B*. The conclusion of these results is that either the acceleration of
this combined test is too low and the quality of the tests objects to high to give any response
to such a test, or the weak link of the tested objects is not the parts with polymer material.

3.2.5.3 Effect of the gas mixture

The acceleration factor of both methods (non-modified and modified with both gas mixtures)
was analysed in chapter 3.1.2.3 when it comes to reference panels of pure metals. The
conclusion was that for short exposure times (up to 3 weeks), the acceleration factors are
similar for the corrosion tests using both gas mixtures. After 3 weeks exposure, the corrosion
tests using the stable gas mixture showed lower acceleration factor than the corrosion tests
with the normal gas mixture.
It is however difficult to draw any conclusion about the influence of the gas mixture on the
corrosion of test objects since the test objects tested with both gas mixtures were different.

3.2.5.4 Agreement between reality and testing

The agreement between field exposure and artificial exposure at laboratory is an important
issue from the fabricants point of view. Indeed the relevance of a corrosion test is
questionable if the corrosion damages resulting are not similar to the damages resulting from
a use in the field.

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The participants that had access to objects in use in field that were similar to the test objects
used in the project could verify that the type and extent of the damages due to the hard
environment combining corrosive gases, humidity and salt during use were similar to the one
obtained after a combination testing according to both variants of the method ISO 21207
Method B. However, the real conditions, often including light, can be even harder and lead to
even more severe damages than the artificial conditions in laboratory. Indeed, in some cases,
corrosion damages that were observed on parts of test objects exposed in field could not be
detected on objects tested in laboratory. Therefore, more effort has to be put to modify testing
parameter to even further accelerate corrosion rate at the same time as the correlation between
reality and testing is maintained.

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Conclusions and recommendations

The goal of the project was to develop a corrosion testing method with higher corrosion rate
than the existing method ISO 21207 Method B and to formulate recommendations for testing
of electronic units to get a realistic picture of a products lifetime in a corrosive environment.
Several different test objects, mostly containing electronic units, were tested according to
different corrosion testing methods, combined or not with thermal ageing. The existing
corrosion testing method ISO 21207 Method B was modified in order to increase the
acceleration factor during the tests.
The exposure of reference panels of different pure metals revealed that the acceleration factor
of the modified method, which had an increased weekly dose of corrosive gases and salt, was
not much higher than the one of the original method, especially for copper. This was
confirmed by the evaluation of the different test objects. However, the modified version of the
original method gave a realistic picture of the corrosion damages obtained in typical
environment for electronic units.
The interaction of the different parameters used during an artificial test is complicated and
each parameter is not to be modified without systematic check over the overall results. In this
case, an increase of the weekly dose of gas exposure by 30% did not lead to the drastic
increase in acceleration factor that was expected for both the reference panels and the test
objects. This showed that, when reached a certain acceleration factor, any further increase in
acceleration is difficult to obtain and a modification of the existing parameters (temperatures,
weekly doses) may not be sufficient. One of the questions that was raised in chapter 2 was
how much it was possible to accelerate a corrosion test in such a way that the environmental
influence gives a reasonable picture of the damages corresponding to the ones in natural
environment. The series of tests performed in this project showed that the acceleration factor
obtained by testing electronic units according to ISO 21207 Method B might be close to the
optimum acceleration factor for an artificial test giving a realistic picture of the corrosion
damages.
Moreover, when performing an accelerated corrosion test of electronic units and in order to
choose a relevant testing method combining several stress factors, it is important to know
what the purpose with the testing is. Indeed, testing can either be chosen to reveal the weakest
link of a product, to evaluate the lifetime of a product, or to get a picture of the damages on a
product after a certain time of use. In the first case, the testing conditions will not necessarily
try to reproduce the real conditions, but they will take into account the parameters in the
environment that affect the part of the product the most. In the 2 other cases, the acceleration
factor of the testing method is determining, as the agreement of the damages between
accelerated test and exposure to real environment.
In order to achieve these goals, the use of reference panels of pure metals is crucial. They
assure the user that the corrosion products obtained during exposure to real environment are
similar to the ones obtained during artificial exposure (this was performed under the
development of the original method ISO 21207 Method B by exposing reference panels to
both real environment and artificial environment and by evaluating the corrosion products).
Moreover, they give a measure of the acceleration factor of the test.
Finally, it can be concluded that the modified version of the method ISO 21207 Method B
with increased weekly dose of corrosive gases and salt can be successfully used, in order to
simulate corrosive environments. The corrosion testing method has a high acceleration factor
giving rise to a realistic picture of the corrosion damages.

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