Accelerated Corrosion Testing of Centaur A27L (MBT) under a Simulated Museum Environment and Cyclic Neutral Salt Fog

摘要

The Tank Museum Bovington, United Kingdom, has various types of military tanks in their collection, ranging from the very first, Little Willie, and into the modern era. Corrosion damage to their structures is a serious concern, and many tanks have severe structural and material degradation. An experimental study was conducted on the Centaur A27L main battle tank (MBT) to evaluate corrosion damage and predict structural deterioration. This study used simulated environmental test and a test of cyclic neutral salt fog, to evaluate material degradation. Results revealed surface corrosion accumulation on the samples in the simulated environment after 125 hours of exposure, whereas exposure of only 48 hours in the cyclic neutral salt fog showed severe corrosion. The simulated environment, which consisted of controlled temperatures and relative humidity similar to that of an ideal museum environment, showed some degree of corrosion resistance. Image analysis was conducted to measure corrosion accumulation, and corrosion products were characterised by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy x-ray dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The framework for a sustainable controlled environment is being developed for The Tank Museum Bovington to diminish and prevent progressive corrosion problems of their collection.