Salt Spray Chamber

The Rtec Instruments Salt Spray Chamber is a unique tribology testing solution that integrates controlled salt spray corrosion exposure directly on the MFT tribometer platform, enabling simultaneous measurement of friction, wear, and corrosion-assisted degradation in a single test. Traditional salt spray testing evaluates corrosion resistance in a static environment — but real-world components are subjected to combined mechanical contact and corrosive exposure simultaneously.

The Rtec salt spray chamber solves this by mounting directly on the MFT rotary tribometer drive, allowing pin-on-disk and ball-on-disk tribology tests to be performed while the sample is continuously exposed to a controlled salt fog (NaCl) environment. This combined tribocorrosion approach provides critical data on how corrosive environments accelerate wear, coating delamination, and friction changes — data that cannot be obtained from static corrosion tests or dry tribology tests alone. Compatible with the MFT-5000 and MFT-2000 tribometer platforms, the salt spray chamber supports rotary tribology configurations across a wide range of loads and speeds. Combined with the MFT-5000’s patented in-line 3D optical profilometer, wear volume, surface topography, and tribological data are automatically captured in real time throughout the corrosive test — providing unmatched insight into tribocorrosion mechanisms. The salt spray chamber is the ideal solution for automotive body and drivetrain coating qualification, marine and offshore component testing, aerospace corrosion-resistant coating evaluation, and any application where friction and wear must be characterized under realistic corrosive service conditions.

What You Can Study

Coating durability and delamination under combined corrosion and mechanical contact, friction evolution in salt spray environments, corrosion-accelerated wear mechanisms on metals and coatings, tribocorrosion behavior of marine and offshore materials, protective coating qualification under simultaneous corrosive and tribological loading, and lubricant performance degradation in corrosive environments.

Primary Applications

Automotive body panel and drivetrain coating qualification, marine and offshore component tribocorrosion testing, aerospace corrosion-resistant coating evaluation, industrial protective coating research, oil and gas downhole material testing, and any application requiring simultaneous corrosion and tribology characterization under realistic salt spray service conditions.