What is shown in the "Cover Photo" is a mild steel disk approximately one foot in diameter which has been one-half coated with Fused Armor with the remainder left as bare steel. This disk was then subjected to three torture tests at the Arizona Proving Grounds (APG) on behalf of the Ford Motor Company. All the tests were extended to 28 cycles which simulates five years of constant exposure to the environment. For example, if the season of summer is being simulated, five years of testing equals the equivalent of five years of constant summer, not five years in which summer naturally occurs for just a few months. The idea behind this kind of standard is that components or coatings which do fine in mild climates and conditions such as inland Mid-Atlantic or inland Northern California might not fair as well in such harsh winter areas as Minneapolis or Detroit or in such blazing sunny areas like Arizona. Components and coatings must do well under all conditions.
In the first test, the sample was repeatedly heated to 1250°F or 677°C and then plunged into ice water (referred to as the Ice-Water Quench Test). This simulates driving through ice water pot holes with a hot engine and exhaust or hot brakes in the freezing winter. The purpose is to see if a coating can take constant thermal shocks without breaking down and allowing any outside elements (water, salt, etc.) to penetrate to the steel substrate. Almost all coatings fail to clear this hurdle. However, if a sample passes this test, as Fused Armor did, it goes on to the second test.
In the second examination, the sample was subjected to a Salt-Spray Cabinet Test. This simulates driving through wet road salt, but it simulates the worst of that condition. Heavy salt exposure is actually less corrosive than a lesser concentration suspended in road splashing, spray and mist. The test simulates five years of constant winter.
For the third and final test, APG mounted the sample on an outdoor sled, exposed to almost constant direct sunlight for 28 additional cycles. This environment is dry with temperatures varying from 120°F or 49°C in the daytime reducing to freezing at night. This exam primarily tests for coating breakdown from UV exposure. Again, the Fused Armor clad portion of the sample came through looking like new.
No other coatings have ever come close to duplicating the performance of Fused Armor in such tests, as evidenced in letters from Ford Motor Company engineers.