2005 Volume 54 Issue 10 Pages 476-482
We developed original corrosion sensors, an in-situ measurement type corrosion sensor and an electrical resistance type corrosion sensor, to evaluate the corrosiveness of installation environments for electronic equipment. The in-situ measurement type corrosion sensor measures the approximate corrosion thickness using the difference between a non-corroded metal color and a corrosion film color. The sensor does not require any professional instrumental analysis knowledge. The electrical resistance type corrosion sensor accurately measures the continuous corrosion thickness using electrical resistance change coupled with the metal electrode cross-section. In this paper, we constructed trial corrosion sensors made of silver film used extensively in electronic devices. First, we investigated the corrosion behavior in silver film of corrosion sensors and in the conventional silver coupon. As the silver film was corroded by the same mechanism as the silver coupon was corroded when exposed to a mixed corrosive gas, we can measure corrosion thickness of silver film exposed to a corrosive environment with the corrosion sensors instead of the silver coupon. Next, we used the corrosion sensors to investigate the corrosiveness of the environment in a heavy industrial plant and an office with a computer installed. The in-situ measurement type corrosion sensor is suitable for investigating the corrosiveness of severe corrosive environment, while the electrical resistance type corrosion sensor is suitable for investigating the corrosiveness of weak corrosive environment. We proved that these corrosion sensors are effective for evaluating the corrosiveness of installation environments for electronic equipment.
