摘要: |
Provisions of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 will put new restrictions on the use of high-solvent-content paints beginning in 1997. This will require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to find alternatives to some coatings now used to protect steel from corrosion in civil works applications. Furthermore, defense acquisition reform will mandate the use of commercially available products in place of most (or all) military paint specifications. To address this new requirement, the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories (USACERL) investigated the performance of several commercially available coating systems to help the Corps develop performance-based criteria documents for purchasing commercial products. This report documents USACERL's laboratory evaluation of the performance of commercially available zinc-rich epoxy primers and epoxy topcoats. The evaluation comprised salt water immersion, fresh water immersion, and cyclic corrosion weathering tests. Exposed test panels were evaluated for rusting, blistering, and rust undercutting. The Corps-standard zinc-rich epoxy primer and epoxy topcoat system was used as an experimental control. Based on the findings of this investigation, several commercial products are viable alternatives to the Corps-standard system. |