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Challenges of coatings in aerospace, automobile and marine industries

Conference Paper  in  AIP Conference Proceedings · December 2020

DOI: 10.1063/5.0033579

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Challenges of coatings in aerospace,
automobile and marine industries
Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 2307, 020038 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0033579
Published Online: 15 December 2020

O. S. I. Fayomi, O. Agboola, I. G. Akande, and A. O. Emmanuel

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© 2020 Author(s).
 Challenges of Coatings in Aerospace, Automobile and
Marine Industries
O.S.I. Fayomi1,4,a, O. Agboola2, I.G. Akande3, A.O. Emmanuel1
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun state, Nigeria
2Department of Chemical Engineering, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun state, Nigeria
3Department of Mechanical Engineering,University of Ibadan,Ibadan,Oyo state,Nigeria
4Department of Chemical, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria,
South Africa
a ojo.fayomi@covenantuniversity.edu.ng, +2348036886783

Abstract. Coatings are multifaceted having raw materials combined and utilized to a prepared substrate by allowing
it to be dried and cured to obtain effectiveness. Majority of coating challenges occurs in coating manufacturing and
its application in different environment not shielded away from the impact of rain, sunlight, wind, heat, cold, humidity,
and oxygen. Few coatings, including those applied in marine, aerospace, automobile and medical cannot resist some
difficulties arising from corrosion. This paper focuses on identifying the challenges in marine, aerospace and
automobile. In marine, the antifouling coating at the watertight body of the ship destroy organisms before they get
close to it. Tributyltin (TBT), which is released to the ocean or the sea happens to be the most effective compound
used for antifouling coating but its pose serious problems to marine organism due to its toxic substance .In automobile,
application of chromium coating is the main source of exposure for workers leading to sneezing, headache, skin
irritation, ulcers and respiratory disorder because of its ions that comes in contact with the environment in form of
chromate and dichromate anions from the sewage while in aerospace ,movements of a aircraft structural joint would
deform, elongate the coating system making the structural component of the aircraft coating system a major challenge
in determining aircraft joint displacement. The essence of identifying coatings challenges is to find measure of
ensuring substrate are improve in terms of ;appearance, bonding, moisture ability, resistance to wear etc. Hard
chromium coated constituents can now find application in agricultural equipment’s, aircraft industry, automobile,
marine and other industries.

Keywords: Challenges; Coating; Aerospace; Automobile; Marine

Introduction
Coatings are multifaceted having raw materials combined and utilized to a prepared substrate by allowing it to be
dried and cured so as to obtain effectiveness. Majority of coating challenges occurs in its application in different
environment not shielded away from impact of rain, sunlight, wind, heat, cold, humidity, and oxygen. Few coatings,
including those applied in marine, aerospace, automobile and medical cannot withstand some difficulties arising from
corrosion. Challenges encountered from most coatings are not surprising [1] .In aircraft, Corrosion which can reduce
the period of crack constitute serious problem by limiting the thickness of each segment, resulting in the formation of
cracks due to stress concentration [2]. Development in the coating of aircraft for a few years have been a major source
of concern as a result of some challenges which includes, the introduction of high strength materials and corrosion
resistance attack with a mission on finding a better way of protecting corrosion in aerospace [3]. In marine, growth of
unwanted living organisms and various organic and inorganic compound is refer to as biofouling leading to the
problems of hygiene and functional issue in equipment’s. In many instances, biofouling is made of invisible organic
Impurities and other micro-organism. The gathering and sticking together of living organism on a surface, growth and
development is also called biofouling in Marine industry. High temperature water is a suitable environment for

Technologies and Materials for Renewable Energy, Environment and Sustainability

AIP Conf. Proc. 2307, 020038-1–020038-5; https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0033579
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-4043-2/$30.00

020038-1
biofouling because it determines the breeding and growth [4]. When biofouling has metamorphosed in marine
environments together with macroscopic organisms, such as algae and barnacles. This kind of bio-fouling is a serious
challenge that will be difficult to control in submerged structures, such as pipelines, cables, fishing nets, the pillars of
bridges and oil platforms and other water constructions activities. In addition, ships fuel consumption rate also increase
due to bio fouling with micro and macro organisms. A traditional technique of using antifouling to controlling marine
bio-fouling has resulted in the release of toxins that destroyed attacking organism [5].
In automobile industry, there have been different challenges occurring with its coating. It is important to focus
more on building vehicle strength with special attention to coating which is one of the most vital automobile effective
weapons in maintaining the strength of automobile in other to influence its functionality and durability. As automobile
ages, it is continuously exposed to environmental factors that increase the impact of corrosion. Owing to the fact that
some coating measures have been carried out, there are challenges been encountered during coating in a bid to enhance
its operation [6]. For some period of years in automotive industry, vehicles were been coated with varnish-like product
which they sanded and smoothed. Majority of automobile producers used a manual method of coating that resulted to
uneven coating thickness which was not common at the beginning of coating process. The challenges been
encountered after transition from manual to technology using spray and enamels on alkyd resin was the reason for
decrease in drying times and application [7]. This paper will focus on challenges of coating in marine, aerospace
and automobile.
Challenges Of Coating In Marine Environments
Ship watertight body are been coated with paint for protection against corrosion, where anti-fouling coating agent
have always been used to prevent its attachment with marine organism which causes serious problem to their
performance .The antifouling coating at the watertight body of the ship destroy organisms before they get close to it
[8]. Tributyltin (TBT), released to the ocean or the sea happens to be the most effective compound is used for
antifouling coating but its use pose serious problems to marine organism due to its toxic substance .In addition, the
toxicity of TBT paint which is an antifouling coating agent has led to considering copper based paint as substitute
whereas they also have their own environmental impacts and only active with fouling organism having a small size
range[9]. Furthermore the impact of using copper based paint is mostly enhanced by booster biocides which are
dangerous for the environment whereas conventional antifouling coating depend on cytotoxic effects with an objective
to hinder adhesion
Enzymes influence adhesive settlement of organisms and speed up the release of antifouling coating from the top
which might be dangerous since it was produced from the original place making it less stable to conventional biocides
[9]. Enzyme containing antifouling coating widely recognized that inductive nature of warmer waters to cold water
meaning the increase rate of catalytic activity is proportional to the temperature making its effective lifespan to reduce
dramatically in tropical waters.
Furthermore, locating an equilibrium between stability and activity is one of the major challenges affecting enzyme
base antifouling coating; considering the complicated issue of biofouling in marine environments, many who deals
with constant surface in water ,ship sailing through the ocean with a conducive conditions for enzyme to thrive makes
coating difficult except by combination of EPS-degrading enzymes, original generation of dangerous compounds and
enzymatic interference with sensing device [11].
In addition The anti-fouling paint is made of up of three TBT which has an excellent killing impact that can last
for certain period of time .It has been recognized that the harmful environmental impact of this anti-fouling paint is
the leaching out of TBT continuously in sea water which will alter the food chain, destroy the sea organism and affect
the environment. Improved paint toxicity, which is far below tin self-polishing anti-fouling paint, can accommodate
environmental needs and protection. Thus, antifouling coating has been a conventional product for many years. The
kind of paint that could be harmful to the marine environment leading to pollution will be a paint that contains copper
and other metal as constituent.
The consequence of biofouling in ship watertight body is increase rate of fuel consumption because of the increase
in frictional resistance due to biofouling, making the watertight body of the ship rougher and heavier. Also, Time and
coating cost of maintaining watertight body of the ship against biofouling is high due to its frequent packing in wharf
.Moreover, a large percentage of harmful substances are discharged into the ocean during the process of cleaning the
ship .one of the challenges of ship protective coating is its deterioration which has resulted to increasing corrosion and
discoloration of ship water tight body because of some biological processes. Diverse coatings have been examined in

020038-2
other to hinder fouling organism. Few antifouling coating techniques that can affect physical factors have been
developed. Furthermore, the coating leaves a leached layer when submerged in seawater which infiltrate into the film
and causing more toxic materials to be absorbed in water. Thus ship coatings have some limitations which includes
thickness responsible for increasing the content rate of toxic materials and a limited lifespan especially for an insoluble
antifouling coating [4].
Anti-fouling coatings been introduced with metallic biocides in combination with ablative tri–butyl tin coatings
(SPC TBT), led to the belief that fouling was an ordinary problem. Paint roughness then became the predominant
cause of surface resistance penalties with circumstances leading producer of marine coatings to focus its attention on
the performing anti-fouling products on request. Cost of recoating after deterioration have led to majority of paint
industry attempting to improve on their products as a result of ship poor performance measure in terms of speed from
wharf after been coated . Antifouling coatings containing tributyltin (TBT), are widely utilized with greater preference
and benefits on ship since its low initial roughness had resulted in maintenance been neglected for a long period of
time. Nevertheless, TBT has a variety of negative impact on marine environment and has therefore resulted in ban of
different ships for operations having TBT as its coating thereby giving rise to alternative which must also be studied,
well analyzed before use [12]. In addition, Marine bacterial that grows in association with barnacles can result to
heavy pitted corrosion causing the wall thickness of pipeline to decrease thereby accelerating damage to coated surface
[13].
Challenges In Automotive Industries
Automobile industry make use of electro deposition of hard chromium with its application in rotating part of shafts,
moving component made up of pistons, valves, compressor e.t.c in other to reduce metal parts wear. Chromium surface
energy is low thus making it rigid with low coefficient of friction and high corrosion resistance. One of the major
challenges encountered during the application of this coating is the possibility of Inhaling and contact with natural
skin which is the main source of sneezing, headache, skin irritation, ulcers and other respiratory diseases because of
its ions that comes in contact with the environment in the form of chromate and dichromate anions from the sewage,
thus, polluting the air, water and soil to a particular level for plant, animal and human [7]. Apart from the above
challenges, it leads to the formation of infinitesimal cracks in the plating layers, increase the degree of hotness of the
surroundings with a decrease in the stiffness and minimal deposition rates [14, 19].
Dip coating process was frustrated with challenges on safety and processing issues resulting to the establishment
of anodic electro-deposition paints, which were mostly based on maleinized natural oils. Cathodic deposition coatings
have also been substituted for anodic electro-deposition as a result of its inability to compete in coating standard with
the former. Conventional method of spray painting is another issue that required expertise craftsmanship because of
the need in applying enough coating with an even thickness that is independent of the surfaces [7].
More so, automobile coatings are subjected to a number of different environmental situations during their service
life. Degradation of the coating relies on some factors, which includes: formula, environmental intensity and duration.
Exposure of automobile coating to the sun, heat, and humidity constitute a long-term effect depending on the weather
situations. Challenges associated with primer and topcoats includes; small crater-like blemishes in the finish caused
as result of Inadequate cleaning of the surface due to the presence of silicon,; lifting or wrinkling i.e. a swelling or wet
film is as a result of Ineffective drying from the previous coating; coating not sticking properly to the applied surface
due to the slow drying of paint sprayed over wax, oil, or grease; settlement of dry paint dust onto a previously painted
area due to rapid spraying of Paint [15]. After the spraying of paint atomized by the applicator only a few portions of
the paint droplets coat the surface of the vehicles. Challenging issues with painting in automotive include: efficiency
of paint transfer; amount of coating deposited; energy consumed; efficiency; monitoring of the quality of final surface;
and the safety of the environmental. Challenges that deal with the finished quality can be analyzed by examining the
designs of the atomizer, formation of paint and its composition for necessary modification. Automotive spray painting
is among the most advanced and controlled industrial painting operations currently performed with only few
percentage of the paint delivered to a paint atomizer is reached and left on a vehicle. Paint transfer efficiency is a basic
issue in automobile when it is low and locating means of increasing it so as to achieve high finish standard which is a
difficult task that has attracted so much attention for decades .Furthermore, increase in amounts of excessive spray of
paint over automobile vehicle as resulted in an increase in the both airflow requirements leading to high cost of energy
[7].

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 Challenges Of Coating In Aerospace
The most common and cost effective method of protecting aluminum aircraft structures from corrosion in-service
environments is through any paint system in which the possibility of having the criteria of physical and chemical
properties including aluminum substrate adherence for effectiveness constitute a major problem. Moreover, there are
possibility of coating failure through weak interface, small crack thickness and been acted upon by compressive stress
under a complicated load; these coating failures causes functional failure and ultimately enhance the failure of its
component through cracking giving rise for moisture to penetrate into the aircraft component leading to pitting
corrosion which becomes an intricate issue in structural component of the aircraft. In addition, majority of failures
from coating depends on the factor of ultraviolet exposure together with the functionality of heat and moisture [16].
Degradation of coating as a result of exposure to ultraviolet is a concern for polyurethane topcoat which has limited
impact on the underlying epoxy primer, whereas the water heat has a damaging impact on both topcoat and primer;
both impact resulted in a continuous chemical reaction in the polyurethane topcoat, leading to deterioration in
mechanical properties of coating whose process can be catalyzed by water presence and high temperature. The
corrosion of a polyurethane topcoat can be ascertained through its impact on coating appearance and mechanical
properties with Common challenges such as discoloration, embrittlement, tackiness, surface gloss loss, surface
chalking [2].
More so, Aircraft joints, under operation of loads, perform cyclic movements, with the joint directed to applied
strain into separate position which includes the end of the exposed sheet and fastener head locations. It is certain that
these movements of a aircraft structural joint would deform, elongate the coating system making the structural
component of the aircraft coating system is a major challenge that is been determined by the aircraft joint location
displacement [2].
Intensities of laser beam affect safe operations during flight. The application of photo responsive nanocomposite
coatings may probably decrease the intensity of laser beam illuminating on the windscreen of an aircraft but cannot
eliminate it. Formulations of nanoparticle coatings find it difficult in reducing the intensity of laser beam during flight.
When photo-selective coatings are been used, pilots find it difficult to identify colors in the flight environment. In
addition, coatings application to windscreens of aircraft for Safe flight operations is dependent on pilots concentration
in the flight environment [17]. Challenges encountered by military aircraft have increase as a result of coating
negligence in design and the inability of the component parts of the aircraft to occupy early lapses and prevent contact
between different metals. Safe guarding military aircraft against degradation is based on the appropriate choice of
coating materials due to the problems associated with vulnerable of structural components of aircraft to degradation.
Also, majority of coatings applied on the aircraft from inception has resulted in poor performance against degradation,
although some coatings were found to possess excellent physical properties [18].
Conclusion
In this paper the challenges of coating in aerospace, automobile and marine have been summarized .The essence
of identifying coatings challenges is to discover another measure in ensuring substrate are improve in terms of;
appearance, bonding, moisture ability, resistance to wear etc. Hard chromium coated constituents can now find
application in agricultural equipment’s, aircraft industry, automobile, marine and other industries. In solving the
challenges in aerospace, one of the keys is to engage further testing regarding the effect of environmental factors on
the corrosion resistance together with the lifespan and its durability in the flight environment by considering the
temperature differences, exposure to ultra violet and other external basics. Furthermore, more findings is required in
terms of knowing the best method in reducing laser in platform of an aircraft carrier environment used for takeoff and
landing and also improved technologies of minimizing its threat. Chromate based anodizing process should be
examined for possible replacement with sealants in other to be used in the maintenance and production of aircraft.
Also in the case of marine ,the modern marine antifouling should be able to replace the conventional method which
performed the followings; energy conservation and protection from environmental degradation because most
researcher focus less on the new method .The modern anti fouling coating have provided solutions to the problem of
effectiveness and minimal lasting period of conventional anti-fouling coatings. The recommended marine anti fouling
that will be best for subsequent development should be composite because of its popularity.

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 Acknowledgements
The author acknowledges Covenant University for the financial support offered for the publication of this research.
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