Salt ions are an invisible threat to surface coatings and they are virtually everywhere and on every surface. There are many kinds of salts and the ionic compounds formed may be comprised of chlorides, sulfates, nitrates and other chemical compositions. The basic nature of salt is hygroscopic, meaning that when salts are exposed on a substrate they attract moisture that can lead to flash rusting.

All coatings permeable and in immersion surface generally contain 1% to 3% water. The build up of water between the substrate and the coating combined with soluble ions may create an electrolytic cell — leading to corrosion. Osmotic blistering exposes the substrate, accelerating corrosion and leading to possible premature failure and possible structural failure.

SaltSmart™ was developed over a 5 year program with funding from the US Navy to find a better solution than those that existed on the market. The goals were to find a technology where measurement results would be less operator skill dependent, better accuracy, less chance of contamination, something that would work on all surface geometries including small parts such as vents or gratings, and technology that would support a paperless QA environment where all records could be kept electronically in an electronic archive.

SaltSmart™ is a patented breakthrough in the measurement of soluble surface salt contamination.

• The contact area of the sensor is approximately 1.5 cm by 2.0 cm and does not require sealing to the substrate. This allows for testing of curved or irregular surfaces, including very localized testing of objects such as gratings
  
  
• The solvent (de-ionized water) is in pre-measured ampoules and requires no measuring or handling and since a fresh one is used per test, virtually eliminates any chance of cross contamination
  
  
• No residue is left on the surface after testing - no cleanup required
  
  
• Sensor requires no manual manipulation while developing, allowing multiple sensors to be affixed for testing enabling faster testing of large areas saving time and labor
  
  
• Measurements may be stored in the meter for later USB download. Allows archiving of accurate measurement data for maintenance or build history and supports paperless QA systems
  
  
• Patented Continuous Flow Extraction Method supports high extraction efficiencies to remove salt samples from the test substrate