Wash Interval Optimization to Prevent Atmospheric Corrosion of Korean Aircrafts Made of Aluminum Alloys

摘要

It is a common practice to conduct periodic washes at designated intervals in order to prevent the atmospheric corrosion of aircraft. The wash interval depends on the atmospheric conditions, but the wash intervals set by the U.S. Air Force were widely adopted in Korea without detailed knowledge of the background data. Therefore, it is necessary to determine our own wash intervals representing the atmospheric and geographical conditions in Korea. This study analyzed previous wash interval algorithms and atmospheric data in Korea. New wash intervals are then proposed based on the corrosion rate equation in ISO-9223:2012. Atmospheric corrosion testing was conducted using 7075 and 1050 aluminum alloy specimens to verify the accuracy of the corrosion rate equation in ISO-9223:2012. Test results showed a reasonable agreement with the corrosion rates predicted by the equation.