Comparative Studies on the Thermal Ageing of Some Painting Materials

This paper presents a comparative study with respect to the behavior of some painting materials, used mainly for decorative and protective industrial applications, exposed to a controlled accelerated ageing process by using thermal storage and successive thermal cycles. The evaluation of the structural changes, as well as those concerning the dielectric loss were carried out in a comparative manner, on the initial samples, before any exposure to thermal stresses and during the ongoing process of the thermal treatments applied. As analysis techniques coupled thermal analysis and dielectric impedance spectroscopy have been used. It was found that there is a clear correlation between the structural changes of the investigated materials, particularly in the case of the epoxy materials subjected to the applied thermal treatments and the evolution of the dielectric losses in the material. As a result of these investigations, one may determine the characteristic acceptable zones for the thermal stresses (up to 1300 h of storage and 1500 thermal cycles), anything above these boundaries leading to strong increases in the dielectric losses and hence the deterioration of the materials rendered unfit to be used for the intended purpose.