Degradation of epoxy coatings exposed to impingement flow
A recent study is devoted to an epoxy coating exposed to the vertical impingement flow of a 3.5 weight percent NaCl solution at various flow rates.
Organic coatings are widely used for the corrosion protection of metals. Despite a wide range of work on the degradation of organic coatings, few studies have contributed to understand the influence of the fluid flow on the degradation of organic coatings.
In a new study, an epoxy coating was exposed to a vertical impingement flow of a 3.5 wt% NaCl solution with a variety of flow rates. The coating degradation was monitored by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Equivalent circuit models were employed to interpret the EIS spectra. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was employed to study the influence of fluid flow on the surface topology of the coating samples.
Barrier property deteriorates
The researchers found that the coating’s barrier property deteriorates more drastically when exposed to higher flow rates for impingement flow. Coating thickness and surface roughness are significantly affected by the fluid shear and the flow rate. It is concluded that the impingement flow substantially impacts the barrier properties of epoxy coatings.
The study has been published in Journal of Coatings Technology and Research, Volume 18, 2021.
