Transcripción del resumen del autor. A corrosion study of eleven aluminum radiators collected from damaged automobiles withdrawn from service in southern Sweden has been completed. The vehicles had been produced by several manufacturers and had been in operation for between 2 years and 10 years. The radiators contained a variety of material types representing a cross section of those presently in use. Although no radiators had failed (i.e., leaked), examination showed that two units had corrosion penetrating through more than 50% of the tube thickness. One fabricated from 6XXX series alloys and with 10 years of service showed areas of total penetration. Tubes in another showed corrosion beyond mid-thickness after only 2 years in service. In all other radiators the corrosion was shallow. There was no obvious trend toward increased corrosion with increasing service life. Local environmental effects probably predominated. Zinc-rich fins corroded at about the same rate as other fin alloys but protected the tube/fin and tube/header joints. Their beneficial effect upon tube corrosion was not clear. Except with the 6XXX tubes, internal corrosion was negligible and there was no evidence that Zn-rich inner claddings on the tubes provided any protection against internal corrosion. The laboratory seawater acetic acid test (SWAAT) does not replicate faithfully the field external corrosion mode in a Scandinavian environment. More intergranular tube corrosion was found than in North American "snow-belt" service and during SWAAT testing. There was no evidence that the Oyama River (OY) water test, which is widely used for internal corrosion testing, has any relevance to the field performance of reasonably maintained coolant systems.

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