Results of paint coating full-scale tests for coastal and ship structures in the tropical climate of Vietnam
Full-scale tests are widely used to reliably evaluation the service life of paint and varnish coatings by assessing changes of their protective and decorative properties. Four-year exposure program was carried out in the tropical marine climate in South Vietnam (Dam Bay climate station of the Tre island, Nha Trang) of alkyd, chlorinated rubber coatings on low carbon steel, as well as epoxy coatings of various thicknesses with zinc-rich primer, urethane and acrylic outer layers. The tests were conducted on the base of the existing standards in the field of paints and varnishes intended for coastal and ship structures and were accompanied by the data collection and analysis of the meteorological factors for the classification of the area according to the degree of corrosiveness of the atmosphere. The change in the decorative properties of paint coating was assessed by visual and instrumental methods. The protective efficiency of the coatings was assessed by the time of occurrence of the first local defects or complete destruction of coating layers. According to the results of the conducted field tests, it was found that paint coating combinations correspond to expected lifetime in tropical climate from 2 to 5 years. A typical group suitable for a given climate is a two-component epoxy paint with an acrylic topcoat. A zinc-containing primer is recommended as an anticorrosive undercoat.