The effect of chemical treatment on the adhesion strength and structural integrity of the epoxy coatings

This research aims to investigate the effect of chemical treatment on the integrity of the epoxy coating on mild steel substrates. Grit blasted steel samples were chemically treated in 10 vol.% NaOCl solution, 10 vol.% CrCl3 and 30 vol.% H3PO4 - 5 vol.% HNO3 solutions prior to coating application. Post-cleaning surface morphology and chemical composition revealed the formation of oxidation products on steel surface. Under optimized conditions, a dry film thickness of 135 ± 3 m of epoxy coating was achieved. The CT2 sample (pre-treated with CrCl3) presented higher coating adhesion strength (4.12 MPa) and the lowest rust area of 0.03 % compared to other chemically treated samples during 720 hours of immersion in 5 wt.% NaCl solution. The coating degradation mechanism was evaluated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) after 24, 48, 72 and 120 hours of immersion in 3.5 wt. % NaCl solution. EIS analysis of the coated samples pretreated with NaOCl and CrCl3 solutions exhibited low water uptake and limited corrosion due to hindrance in the diffusion of ionic species through the coating. However, coated steel samples pretreated in acidic solutions displayed appreciable corrosion damage as confirmed from saly spray and immersion tests. For instance, the delamination of the CT3 and CT4 (acid pre-treated) coatings was confirmed from the EIS analysis., which represented the formation of a double layer and occurrence of faradaic (corrosion) reactions as the coating-substrate interface, resulting in 15 – 30% delamination in 120 hours of exposure.

A STUDY INTO THE COATING THICKNESS OF SHIP BALLAST TANKS

Ballast tanks are expected to be coated according to the IMO Performance Standard for Protective Coating regulations (PSPC15), in addition to the paint application requirements of the paint producer. In general, a coating system should consist of minimum two spray coats of light-colored epoxy coating on flat surfaces with a Nominal total Dry Film Thickness (NDFT) of 320 μm and 90% of all thickness measurements greater than, or equal to the NDFT and none of the remaining measurements below 0.9 x NDFT (the “90/10 rule”). Allegedly, the value of 320 μm in this PSPC15 rule may be misconstrued as a benchmark for coating application on flat surfaces, eventually leading to a non-PSPC15 compliance due to the resulting variation in coating thickness violating this 90/10 rule. This study indicates that over the years, the arithmetic mean in-situ DFT appears to be 498±18 μm and that too high and low thicknesses, below 288 μm and above 800 μm, were noted in the field. Analysis of a survey of ballast tank coating performance of ships indicates that too low thicknesses appear to be negatively impacting the average theoretical ballast tank performance. However, when an application mean DFT benchmark of 525 μm is used, the coating will almost surely comply to the 90/10 rule and the risk of falling below the 288 μm threshold is small, less than 2% in most cases. Consequently, using 320 μm as a mean DFT benchmark could result in a non-PSPC15 compliance with the in-situ ascertained coating thickness variation as this does not exclude coating thicknesses below 288 μm, which may then result in a significantly less than average theoretical coating performance. If the coating application is performed very evenly, the benchmark may be reduced to 429 μm with a probability of falling below 288 μm reduced to 0.1%. It should therefore be emphasized that the PSPC15 requirement is a coating system framework description, and that the requirement should be broadened to include a mean DFT as a coating applicator benchmark together with a clearly specified minimum and maximum DFT, in order to avoid any misinterpretations.

Ship Painting Process Design Based on IDBSACN-RF

The painting process is an essential part of the shipbuilding process. Its quality is directly related to the service life and maintenance cost of the ship. Currently, the design of the painting process relies on the experience of technologists. It is not conducive to scientific management of the painting process and effective control of painting cost. Therefore, an intelligent design algorithm for the ship painting process is proposed in this paper. Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN) is used to form categories of painting objects by cluster analysis. The grey wolf optimization (GWO) is introduced to realize the adaptive determination of clustering parameters and avoid the deviation of clustering results. Then, a painting object classification model is constructed based on the random forest (RF). Finally, the recommendation of the painting process is realized based on the multi-objective evaluation function. Effectiveness is verified by taking the outer plate above the waterline of a shipyard H1127/7 as the object. The results show that the performance of DBSCAN is significantly improved. Furthermore, the accurate classification of painting objects by RF is achieved. The experiment proves that the dry film thickness qualification rate obtained by the painting process designed by IDBSCAN-RF is 92.3%, which meets the requirements of the performance standard of protective coatings (PSPC).

OPTIMIZATION OF POWDER COATING PROCESS PARAMETERS IN MILD STEEL (SPCC-SD) TO IMPROVE DRY FILM THICKNESS

This study presents a comprehensive review of the improved optimization for powder coating process variables in mild steel (SPCC-SD). The effective thickness of the dry film thickness (DFT) keeps a significant influence on the critical protection of mild steel against rust. In the powder coating process, the variable thickness is one of the primary and difficult objectives to accurately control the desired consistency. This empirical study properly uses RAL 7040 epoxy-polyester with the required thickness between 70-100 microns. This empirical study aims to reasonably achieve the optimal value of the effective thickness of the powder layer from specific combinations of specified process criteria. Practical experiments were properly conducted out manipulating an orthogonal Taguchi L16 array of independent variables; program, distance, application method, and the number of layers. This optimization method has been successfully upgraded. The average thickness of the powder coating layers reaches 84.85 microns. For a given limit, the application-method of typically preventing the determined cause correctly examined efficiently provides the most significant effect on effective thickness with an S/N ratio of 0.91. In the future, the relevant research may use our corresponding results to improve the powder coating procedure for other significant impacts.

Interactions of Coating and Wood Flooring Surface System Properties

Parquet flooring is one of the most common types of flooring, the surface of which can be covered with various coatings. To avoid possible damage to the parquet during use, it is necessary to test the surfaces before installation according to various non-standard and standard protocols. The present study provides an overview of the interactions between the properties of selected waterborne coatings (solids content, hardness, resistance to cracking, tensile strength) and the properties of oak wood flooring surfaces (dry film thickness, coating adhesion, resistance to scratching, impact, abrasion and cold liquids). The tests conducted showed that the performance of the surface systems was highly dependent on the coating formulations, as they were either one- or two-component systems. Although no major differences in surface resistance to cold liquids were found, there was a correlation between coating thickness, hardness and tensile strength. The harder coatings had higher tensile strengths and lower elongations. The coatings with higher tensile strength and better hardness achieved better adhesion properties. The coatings that exhibited ductile behavior showed the worst scratch resistance. A statistically significant relationship was found between the higher resistance of the flooring systems to impact stress and the improved abrasion resistance. The obtained results provide potential end users of surface coatings with valuable information on the quality that can be expected in wood flooring.

A Study into the Coating Thickness of Ship Ballast Tanks

Ballast tanks are expected to be coated according to the IMO Performance Standard for Protective Coating regulations (PSPC15), in addition to the paint application requirements of the paint producer. In general, a coating system should consist of minimum two spray coats of light-colored epoxy coating on flat surfaces with a Nominal total Dry Film Thickness (NDFT) of 320 μm and 90% of all thickness measurements greater than, or equal to the NDFT and none of the remaining measurements below 0.9 x NDFT (the “90/10 rule”). Allegedly, the value of 320 μm in this PSPC15 rule may be misconstrued as a benchmark for coating application on flat surfaces, eventually leading to a non-PSPC15 compliance due to the resulting variation in coating thickness violating this 90/10 rule. This study indicates that over the years, the arithmetic mean in-situ DFT appears to be 498±18 μm and that too high and low thicknesses, below 288 μm and above 800 μm, were noted in the field. Analysis of a survey of ballast tank coating performance of ships indicates that too low thicknesses appear to be negatively impacting the average theoretical ballast tank performance. However, when an application mean DFT benchmark of 525 μm is used, the coating will almost surely comply to the 90/10 rule and the risk of falling below the 288 μm threshold is small, less than 2% in most cases. Consequently, using 320 μm as a mean DFT benchmark could result in a non-PSPC15 compliance with the in-situ ascertained coating thickness variation as this does not exclude coating thicknesses below 288 μm, which may then result in a significantly less than average theoretical coating performance. If the coating application is performed very evenly, the benchmark may be reduced to 429 μm with a probability of falling below 288 μm reduced to 0.1%. It should therefore be emphasized that the PSPC15 requirement is a coating system framework description, and that the requirement should be broadened to include a mean DFT as a coating applicator benchmark together with a clearly specified minimum and maximum DFT, in order to avoid any misinterpretations.