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ADHESION
Adhesion is the tendency of dissimilar particles and/or surfaces to cling to one another. The adhesive strength of paint and coatings are of crucial importance to enable the material to meet the basic functions of protection and decoration.
APPEARANCE
Appearance is the common situation where surface influences meet visual differences in perception of gloss and color. The impact of different gloss levels does have a great influence on a product as well on its color. The surface quality of a coated surface is often assessed by measuring gloss. Poorly applied coatings or cured paints will show a variety of gloss levels.
Climatic Conditions
Temperature, humidity and related climatic parameters are important to many industrial processes and the application of paint and coatings is no exception to that rule. Measuring and controlling of climatic parameters such as relative humidity, air-temperature, dewpoint and moisture is vital to a successful application of high-end coating systems. Incorrect climatic conditions during pre-treatment and application often lead to premature failing coatings systems.
Corrosion / Weathering
Corrosion and weathering are both major contributors to overall costs. Globally around 5 tonnes of steel are lost every second due to corrosion. Causing huge global costs and a significant influence on environmental conditions. Around 30% of this staggering €17.5 billion price tag can be prevented by basic corrosion testing. Not only the impact of corrosion on the environment is essential also it’s influence on insurance costs and installation off time’s.
Deformation Resistance
Physical properties of paint and coatings play an important role in the quality control. Depending on the application a coating is supposed to be extremely hard and rigid such as for example the coating on the hull of an ice-breaker. Automotive coatings however require a certain flexibility since the thin sheet metal of a car body is not fully rigid and a slamming hood should not cause the paint to break. Coil coated steel that is to be formed into products such as white goods or cladding should have excellent forming properties.
Density
The density of paint will depend on their ingredients in the paint. Density is also known as specific gravity or mass per unit volume.
Dispersion
A dispersion is a process of dispersing a dry powder (or pigments) in a liquid medium in such a way that the individual particles of the powder become separated from one another and are reasonable evenly distributed throughout the entire liquid medium.
Drying Time
The drying time of paint depends on the various stages during curing. During the drying process of films various stages are easy to detect but difficult to define in terms of chemical and physical principles.
Film application
Film application in coating industry includes a broad range of different devices and instruments which are an absolute necessity for testing or evaluation.
Film Thickness
A correct paint- or coating thickness is an important parameter in the surface treatment industry. The performance of a coating system is based upon correct application of this system following the paint manufacturers specification sheet. Each layer from primer to topcoat and individual intermediate layers are exactly specified with a minimum and maximum coating thickness. Often both a dry and wet film thickness is specified. Although the dry film is the leading parameter often the wet film is measured during application in order to give the operator an indication of the applied wet film thickness. Measuring wet film thickness during application identifies the need for immediate correction and adjustment by the applicator The relationship between dry and wet film thickness depends on the volume of solids in the coating. The applied wet film thickness depend on many variables such as the type of coating, application method (air pray, brush, roller, airless spray, electrostatic, tribo gun, etc.), equipment quality, operator, substrate material , the size and shape of the part etc..
Hardness / Scratch Resistance
Hardness / Scratch Resistance The property of a substance that is resistant to repeated rubbing or scratching. In general, it meant the resistance of a (coating) layer or surface against mechanical friction.
Laboratory Equipment - Misc.
Laboratory equipment delivered by TQC is commonly used in paint manufacturing, testing, application and general laboratory. A variety of tools is available to perform an experiment or to take measurements
MATERIAL THICKNESS
Material thickness is often confused with coating- or layer thickness. With layer thickness we speak about one or multiple layers attached to a substrate. With material thickness we speak about the actual thickness of the substrate itself.
Miscellaneous
A lot of instruments used in this chapter and in the field of coatings are not direct related to a specific paint job or coating product but still of interest for improved and saver work in this type of industry where coatings are applied
Moisture
The term "Moisture is often confused with "humidity". Humidity or better relative humidity is defined as "the ratio of the partial pressure of water vapour in the mixture to the saturated vapour pressure of water at a prescribed temperature." Products to define humidity and other climatic parameters are presented in our section Climatic Conditions. Moisture refers to the presence of a liquid, especially water, often in trace amounts. The moisture content of materials to be coated is an important parameter. Fresh concrete for example has a very high moisture content.
Optical Inspection
Optical or visual tools for the inspection of surfaces or constructions in the field of protective coating application are a major help to determine the need for further or better preparation of the surface before a coating is applied.
PH / Conductivity
Acidity and conductivity are two of the most measured parameters. From simply checking the quality of a fishpond to testing medicine, foodstuff or the composition of paint; Both parameters are these days the basics of Quality control. pH pH is the abbreviation of Hydrogen potential in an aqueous solution. The pH scale for pH measurement runs practically from 0 to 14. Pure water
Porosity
Coatings applied can have irregularities due to different circumstances. Surface uncleanness, paint differences and dust or air bubbles enclosed can cause pinholes, thin spots, cracks etc. To prevent an early breakdown of the coating system causing corrosion underneath, tests has to be made to find the weak spots and action can be taken before problems occur over time.
Publications and Standards
To make application of coatings successful, knowledge of methods and products play an important role. Information about preparation, methods, and measuring equipment can be obtained by reading a variety of standards and publications.
SURFACE CLEANLINESS, -PROFILE, -ROUGHNESS
A clean and well prepared surface is crucial for a successful coating performance. The pre-treatment process of an industrial coating job often consumes more time and budget than the actual paint application itself. Surface preparation There are various methods and systems to prepare a surface prior to the coating application. Depending on the project and job specifications one could choose for hand cleaning like
Temperature
Temperature is one of the most important parameters in about every process. It is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot. Quantitatively, temperature is measured with thermometers, which may be calibrated to a variety of temperature scales.
Viscosity
Viscosity is a fluid’s property for resistance to flow or deformation. The higher the viscosity of a product the more it will resist to flow. Using or modifying viscosity is becoming a hot item. Paints are engineered to be non-Newtonian these days and often chemically modified.
