Polymeric Protective Films as Anticorrosive Coatings—Environmental Evaluation

Abstract

The behavior of two polymeric protective paint coatings (epoxy and polyurethane) applied over an epoxy primer coating on steel plates was investigated in this study, focusing on their role in providing anticorrosive protection against various climatic stress factors. Among the numerous climatic factors that can affect the lifetime of anticorrosive coatings, the following were selected for this work: dry heat, UV radiation, humidity, and extreme conditions such as salt fog, marine atmosphere, and alpine atmosphere. The objective was to determine the remaining lifetime of these protective coatings before replacement is needed to prevent damage to the equipment they protect. The behavior of these polymeric materials under the mentioned factors was analyzed based on the variation in the tangent of the dielectric loss angle (tg δ) with frequency. From the interpretation of the experimental results, it was found that the polyurethane paint coating (P2) exhibits superior resistance to climatic degradation compared to the epoxy paint coating (P1). Furthermore, a comparison of tg δ values for the P1 and P2 coatings revealed that the initial (unaged) P2 coating performs better as an insulator (dielectric) than the P1 coating. Comprehensive information is provided to the users of polymeric anticorrosive protection materials, highlighting the extent to which climatic factors can affect the performance of the equipment they protect and determining the appropriate timing for replacing the coatings.