Sapa opens corrosion test center in Florida for customers using aluminium tubing

Sapa has opened a corrosion test center in Florida to service customers using aluminium tubing in automotive and industrial heat transfer applications, and in residential air conditioning systems.

Sapa has installed new automated corrosion cabinets in the technology center at its aluminium precision tubing plant in Rockledge to enable customers to carry out Sea Water Acetic Acid Testing (SWAAT, or ASTM G85-A3) and other common standardized tests.

SWAAT has long been used by the automotive market as a helpful tool for product validation comparisons of design changes. The heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) industry has now followed suit and also adopted SWAAT for aluminium heat exchangers.

Further, Sapa’s experts are leading new research within the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) on the development of a new standardized corrosion test for HVAC&R heat exchangers to understand different atmospheric corrosion conditions.

Other services at Sapa’s corrosion test center:

• Quality assessment
• Heat exchanger failure analysis
• Alloy and coating materials selection guidance
• Material characterization
• Extrusion die and profile design
• Semiannual external audits
• Full metallographic services for post-test sample analysis
Sapa has extensive corrosion testing experience with aluminium profiles, round tubes and multi-port extrusions. Moreover, its experience is global, covering different corrosive atmospheres. Sapa’s metallurgical experts are recognized as industry leaders with the know-how to guide proper product selection.

Rockledge is located not far from the Kennedy Space Center and about an hour east of Orlando.