Ray Tombaugh

cross hatch tape

Coating Adhesion Testing using Knife/Tape Methods

Introduction Adhesion is an important physical characteristic of applied coating films and systems, and testing is frequently used as an indicator to whether an adequate bond exists between the substrate and primer (first coat) and/or between coats in multiple coat applications.  Adhesion testing may be a requirement of a coating specification, or may be used …

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coating failure

Collecting Evidence at the Scene of the Crime: Sampling Techniques During a Coating Failure Investigation

During any crime scene investigation, there is the collection of samples (evidence) that are subsequently analyzed in a forensic laboratory and used to help solve the crime. This process is very similar (albeit a lot less serious) when a coating fails prematurely. Samples of failing and non-failing coating are gathered as evidence, along with a …

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concrete wall coatings

Treating Exterior Concrete Walls with Coatings

Concrete is widely used in commercial building construction and is present in a number of forms: poured concrete, tilt-up concrete and concrete masonry units (CMU). CMU also comes in a number of different forms: standard block, split-face block and scored block. Because of the dull gray appearance of concrete, however, coatings are usually applied in …

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The Contractor Who Almost Got Floored

Most of the past Cases from the F-Files have focused primarily (although not exclusively) on coating failures on steel. However, coating failures can and do occur on other substrates such as aluminum, wood, and concrete, to name a few. In this case, a warehouse concrete floor coating was exhibiting blistering only a few months after …

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Ethics in Coatings

The Ethics of Coatings Failure Investigations

“The Case of… Three (Consultants),” a two-part F-Files column published in the November and December 2010 issues of JPCL,1 described observations and conclusions reached by three different consultants, each looking at the same bridge coating system. The article pointed out that clients sometimes retain consultants to perform very specific and limited examinations of the alleged failing coatings. …

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