This article presents a comparison of corrosivity between a field study conducted in Detroit Metro area and a proving ground test. As reported 1 ,2 previously, a vehicle microenvironment study using sensor equipped
passenger cars was carried out in the Detroit area and during the Arizona Proving Ground (APG) Total Vehicle Acceleration Corrosion Test. The objective of the study is to develop an improved method for estimating corrosion acceleration factors at various vehicle corrosion prone sites at APG. As with most total vehicle corrosion tests, the APG test subjects the vehicle to a fixed, aggressive macroenvironment for a large fraction of each test cycle. During these periods, the vehicle soaks in a high temperature, high humidity atmosphere after being sprayed thoroughly with salt water. Since the field microenvironments in different locations of the vehicle vary considerably, corrosion acceleration at the proving ground is also expected to vary greatly from site to site around the vehicle. In this study the micro-environment parameters and corrosion rates based on cold rolled steel (CRS) sensors are used to estimate the
corrosion acceleration factors at two generic vehicle locations: the roof top and the underbody.