Corrosive gas environmental testing for electrical contacts

Corrosive gas environmental tests are used to predict reliability of electrical connectors used in data system products under conditions found in business office environments. IBM´s corrosive gaseous environmental acceleration test, called G1(T), were evaluated for variations in testing conditions, in particular for those which differ from outside testing standards used in the connector industry. The purpose was to determine those features of various acceleration tests which could be recommended for adoption into an industrywide testing standard. Copper, nickel, and porous gold coupons (electroplated gold over nickel over copper) were used to determine the effects of each corrosive gas test environment. The corrosion of copper was quantified by coulometric reduction, whereas that of nickel was evaluated by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis. The porous gold coupons were visually examined for the presence of pore and creep corrosion, which allow the degree of environmental exposure to be quickly ascribed. Results for various test conditions are presented and evaluated