Why Test in Florida?
Florida has high-intensity sunlight, year-round high temperatures, high annual rainfall, and high humidity. When combined, these factors create the harsh climate that makes Florida the ideal location for testing exterior durability. Q‑Lab Florida, located south of Miami, is the only true subtropical region in the continental United States, and has more specimens on test than any other outdoor weathering facility in the world. We offer natural outdoor exposure testing, accelerated laboratory testing, and specimen evaluation services at Q‑Lab Florida.
Florida Corrosion Testing
Florida is the internationally-recognized benchmark location for outdoor weathering exposure testing. Although Q-Lab Florida is far enough inland to avoid being a true marine environment, the high-intensity sunlight, high annual UV, high year-round temperatures, abundant rainfall, and very high humidity still cause rapid outdoor property changes.
Florida exposures can test for corrosion behavior of paints, coatings, anodization, galvanization, and other protective strategies for metals.
Florida Corrosion Exposure Techniques
Direct Exposure
Direct exposures are used to test many exterior-use materials, such as industrial coatings. Specimens are securely mounted with their front surface facing the sun. Different exposure angles and mounting methods are used for different applications.
Salt-Accelerated Outdoor Corrosion
Direct exposures with salt spray can produce fast and realistic corrosion, particularly for coated metals. Specimens in salt-accelerated corrosion tests are sprayed with a salt solution twice per week to better simulate marine environments.
Additional Resources
Industries and Applications
Learn about the broad range of industries and applications for which corrosion testing is critical.
Document Library
Browse Q-Lab’s extensive library of corrosion testing literature and technical content.
Standards
Review setup and performance information on key international and OEM test standards from ASTM, ISO, SAE, JIS, GB, and more.