Analysis of metal corrosion methods and identification of cost-efficient and low corrosion deicing agents

Deicing agents in winter maintenance are critical in providing safe roads at all times. Sodium chloride (SC) is the most common, efficient and favourable agent but has a drawback of high corrosiveness, thus substantially shortening the service life of metal-based transport infrastructures. This work focuses on corrosion and addresses approaches for the following corrosion test methods that quantify the mass loss of metals for different deicing agents: standardised neutral salt spray test (ISO 9227), salt solution immersion test (ASTM G31-72) and alternate immersion test (ISO 11130). A wide range of different deicing agents with and without corrosion inhibitors are tested on unalloyed steel, and an analytical and visual comparison is made. Results reveal a substantially reduced corrosion effect at reasonable costs by selecting the appropriate deicing agent with or without corrosion inhibitors. For the final selection of deicers, deicing performance and cost-effectiveness are compared.