Durability Testing for Fouling Release Coatings
Abstract
A brushing apparatus was designed and built to simulate the cleaning processes of ship hulls. Wear was measured with a profile meter. The proposed methodology is valuable to study the processes of wear of the coatings, to screen various materials and to identify parameters, either functional or material, which would directly affect their durability. Two groups of coatings were tested: the EXS series and the NRL series. The EXS samples showed better wear resistance than the NRL samples and showed no dependence on the rotational speed of the brushes. The NRL samples showed that increasing the sliding speed resulted in a decrease in wear. An increase in the applied load resulted in increased wear for both sample series. The bond coat had a higher wear resistance than either of the top coats. One possible cause of the better wear resistance of the EXS coating is the fused silica filler in the coating. The NRL coatings had calcium carbonate filler particles. The wear rates of the top coats was independent of the coating thickness. Therefore, thicker coatings will have longer lives than thinner ones.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 31, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA362839
Entities
People
- Norman S. Eiss
Organizations
- Virginia Tech