ISO 4042 Specification

This annex gives information on the salt spray corrosion protection performance of zinc and cadmium coatings with chromate treatment (see Tables B.1 and B.2 ) and of nickel and nickel/chromium coatings (see Table B.3) under the conditions of the salt spray test according to ISO 9227.

Neutral salt spray corrosion protection performance of zinc and cadmium
Designation code for coatings a (System B b) Nominal coating thickness Chromate treatment designation c First appearance of white corrosion product First appearance of red rust
Cadmium Zinc
μm h h h
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 3c1A 3d A 2 24 12
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 3c1B B 6 24 12
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 3c2C C 24 36 24
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 3c2D D 24 36 24
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 5c1A 5 A 6 48 24
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 5c1B B 12 72 36
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 5c2C C 48 120 72
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 5c2D D 72 168 96
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 5Bk Bk 12 -- --
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 8c1A 8 A 6 96 48
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 8c1B B 24 120 72
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 8c2C C 72 168 120
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 8c2D D 96 192 144
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 8Bk Bk 24 120 72
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 12c1A 12 A 6 144 72
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 12c1B B 24 192 96
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 12c2C C 72 240 144
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 12c2D D 96 264 168
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 12Bk Bk 24 192 96
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 25c1A 25 A data not available
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 25c1B B
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 25c2C C
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 25c2D D
Fe/Zn or Fe/Cd 25Bk Bk
a For zinc coatings see classification code in ISO 2081. For cadmium coatings see classification code in ISO 2082.
b For designation code systems, see clause 13.
c Chromate treatments are designated in table B.2.
d Low coating thicknesses impair chromate conversion performance.
Designation of chromate treatments
Class Designation Type Typical appearance Corrosion protection
1 A Clear Transparent, clear, sometimes with a bluish tinge Slight, for example against staining during handling or against high humidity in mildly corrosive conditions
B Bleached Transparent with slight iridescence
2 C Iridescent Yellow iridescent Considerable, including protection against certain organic vapours
D Opaque Olive green shading to brown or bronze
Bka Black Black with slight iridescence Different degrees of corrosion protection
NOTE: This table is modified from ISO 4520:1981 by the addition of black treatment.
a Black coatings in addition to types A to D possible.
Salt spray corrosion protection performance of nickel and nickel/chromium coatings
Designation code for coatingsa (system Bb) First appearance of red rust on significant surfaces
Copper or copper alloy base Ferrous material base Neutral salt spray test (NSS)e Copper- accelerated acetic acid salt spray test (CASS)
Nickel c Nickel + chromium c,d Nickel c Nickel + chromium or copper + nickel + chromium c,d
Cu/Ni 3b Cu/Ni 3b Cr r Fe/Ni 5b Fe/Ni 5b Cr -- --f
Cu/Ni 5b Cu/Ni 5b Cr r Fe/Ni 10b Fe/Ni 10b Cr
Fe/Cu 10 Ni 5b Cr r
12h --f
Cu/Ni 10b Cu/Ni 10b Cr r Fe/Ni 20b Fe/Ni 20b Cr
Fe/Cu 20 Ni 10 b Cr r
48h --f
Cu/Ni 20b Cu/Ni 20b Cr r Fe/Ni 30b Fe/Ni 30b Cr -- 8h
Not recommended Cu/Ni 30d Cr r Not recommended Fe/Ni 40d Cr -- 16h
a For nickel coatings see classification code in ISO 1456:1988.
b For designation code systems see clause 13.
c "b" refers to bright nickel deposits and "d" refers to duplex nickel deposits.
d "r" refers to regular (conventional) chromium, minimum thickness 0,3 µm.
e Neutral salt spray tests (NSS) are not usually specified for Ni/Cr coatings.
f Performance times in copper-accelerated acetic acid salt spray test (CASS) for the lower grades of coating would be too short to be meaningful.