The Corrosion Performance of Automotive Trim Systems

A proving ground trailer test was conducted on twenty trim materials mounted to three different body panel substrates. The trim materials tested include a detailed stainless steel evaluation, chrome flashed and nickel/chrome plated stainless steels, stainless steel bilaminates, bimetal, and plated rolled zinc. The body panel substrates were cold rolled steel and 60G60G and 70G70G electrogalvanized steel. The trim materials were tested in grounded and isolated conditions to determine the galvanic interaction with the body panel substrates. The test data has been correlated to field surveys in Detroit and Montreal for further validity (1)*.