A new, standard laboratory test (SAE J2334) for evaluation of the cosmetic corrosion resistance of autobody steel sheet has been developed through the joint efforts of SAE’s Automotive Corrosion Prevention Committee (SAE/ACAP) and the Auto/Steel Partnership’s (ASP) Corrosion Task Force. Results from this test have been shown to give an excellent correlation with those of on-vehicle tests conducted for five years in Canada at St. John’s, Newfoundland and Montreal, Quebec. To determine how results of the Canadian tests relate to environments in the US, racks of identical materials were mounted on the front
license-plate brackets of cars driven in various locations in the US snowbelt including Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Detroit, Michigan, and Chardon, Ohio. After four-to-five years, these tests show that the US environments produce less scribe creep and more red rust than those conducted in Canada. Similar rankings are obtained for the scribe creep resistance of the various coated steel sheet products when compared at equivalent amounts of corrosion. However, the ranking of materials
changes at longer exposure times in Canada, and for that reason, it is concluded that the five-year Canadian results that were used in the development of the SAE J2334 test provide a better real-world performance standard. Keywords: automotive, steel, cosmetic corrosion, coatings, on-vehicle, scribe creep.