APPLICATOR TRAINING BULLETIN

How Coatings Protect Steel

By Robert Barnhart, Retired from Devoe Coatings Co.
(now ICI Devoe Coatings), Dickinson, TX, US

All generic types of liquid atmosphere while, at the same

industrial coatings are com- ✔ time, maintaining the ease of
posed of three main compo- application.
Last month’s Applicator Training Bulletin
nents: solvents, resins, and pig- discussed the basics of corrosion. It said one Alternatively, higher solids,
ments, as illustrated in Fig. 1. function of a coating is to isolate steel from higher molecular weight coat-
moisture to prevent corrosion. Actually, as ings (with lower solvent con-
Solvents this month’s column explains, there are tents) can be applied by
The primary function of the three ways coatings protect steel: barrier enhanced methods of applica-
solvent is to aid application. protection, inhibition, and sacrificial action. tion, such as preheated or
The solvent enables the Before explaining these mechanisms, two-component airless spray-
painter to get the coating however, some basic information is needed. ing.
material out of the can and A reduction in the amount of
onto the surface. The solvent solvent released also can be
Re
dissolves or disperses the sin achieved by using less paint.
nt
film-forming ingredients. It e This has had an effect on
gm
also places the solid ingredi- Pi So
lve specifications, which might
ents of the coating into sus- nt call for use of paint with high-
pension. In addition, the sol- er film thickness so fewer
vent provides flow-out of the coats are needed. In recent
coating once it is on the sur- years, the economics of pro-
face and contributes to the tecting a steel structure over a
levelling, drying, durability, period of time also has
and adhesion characteristics become an important factor in
of the final film. COATING the number of coats being
The solvent evaporates as specified in a coating system.
the coating dries. Organic sol- To reduce maintenance
vents release volatile organic painting costs, the industry
compounds (VOCs) as they Fig. 1: Three components of a coating
has seen a move toward the
evaporate and thereby con- use of barrier coatings, often
tribute to atmospheric pollution. In recent years, reinforced with glass flake (e.g., epoxy glass flake),
paint chemists have worked to overcome this prob- which are applied at 500–1000 µm thick to provide
lem by formulating coatings with lower molecular long-term protection. These would be applied as sin-
weight resins or water, which is a non-polluting sol- gle or double coats with a topcoat applied only if a
vent, to reduce the amount of VOCs released into the cosmetic finish was required.

10 PCE August 1997 Copyright ©1997, Technology Publishing Company

 APPLICATOR TRAINING BULLETIN

Resins
Surface preparation
The resin is the film-forming portion of the coating.
It is the “glue” that holds the pigment particles togeth- Coatings
er and binds the coating to the surface. The resin plays • Primer
the main part in contributing to the durability, strength, • Intermediate or build coat
and chemical resistance of the final film. People often • Topcoat
refer to coatings by the type of resin in the formulation. Dry film thickness of each coat
So when someone talks about an alkyd or vinyl paint, Application
for example, they are referring to the main resin used Inspection
to make the paint. The liquid portion of the paint is
normally comprised of the resin and the solvent. Fig. 2: Typical coating system components

be interchangeable.
Pigments
However, it is necessary to distinguish between a
The third main ingredient in a can of paint is the pig-
coating system and a coat of paint. A coating system is
ment. It is a relatively insoluble, finely divided powder
more than just the material applied. It includes surface
or mixture of powders. Pigments provide hiding power,
preparation and a number of coats of paint applied
which is called opacity, and colour. They also can
separately, in a specific order and thickness, with suit-
improve weather resistance and corrosion resistance,
able time to allow for drying and curing (Fig. 2). A
increase paint adhesion, decrease moisture permeabili-
coat, on the other hand, is a single application of paint
ty, and control gloss. The pigment and the resin form
applied to form a properly distributed film when dry.
the final film on the surface.
Although a coat is one layer of paint, it sometimes is
The chemical ingredients in each of the components
applied in multiple passes.
vary widely from one generic type of coating to anoth-
The common designation of the series of coats in a
er. Each of the main components (solvent, resin, and
coating system is the primer coat, intermediate coat,
pigment) is usually a mixture of different materials. For
and topcoat. Normally, each coat has properties that
example, a formulation may contain three or four sol-
contribute to the success of the total coating system.
vents, each performing a different function. One sol-
vent may dissolve the resin, while another controls
Function of Each Coat
evaporation, and still another is added only to dilute
Primer Coat
the solution. It is not important that a painter know all
The primer is the first coat applied to the surface. A
the ingredients in the paint formulation. Someone else
main function of the primer is to provide adhesion to
is responsible for determining that the can of paint on
the substrate. If the primer doesn’t stick to the surface,
the job has been tested and is approved for use.
the coating system won’t work. Surface preparation
helps the coating stick by removing contaminants that
Paint, Coatings, interfere with bonding and by creating a profile or
and Coating Systems roughened surface. Many primers for steel also contain
The terms “coating” and “paint” have been used a anti-corrosive pigments that actively assist in the con-
few times already. It might help to explain whether trol of corrosion.
they mean the same thing or not. People have tried to
distinguish between paints and coatings. For instance, Intermediate Coat
to some people, coatings are industrial materials used The intermediate coat is required in some coating
primarily for protection, while paints are used for dec- systems. It may provide one or all of the following
oration. Other people use the two terms to mean the functions:
same thing. That’s how the terms will be used through- • improve chemical resistance,
out the Application Training Bulletin series. They will • serve as an adhesion or “tie coat” between the

Copyright ©1997, Technology Publishing Company PCE August 1997 11

 APPLICATOR TRAINING BULLETIN
Primer
• Adhesion to surface
• Inhibition of corrosion if inhibitive pigments are present
• Sacrificial action if zinc-rich pigments are present
Intermediate Coat
• Additional thickness
• Chemical resistance
• Adhesion between primer and topcoat
Topcoat
• Weather and chemical resistance
• Appearance (colour and gloss)
• Mildew resistance
• Wear or abrasion resistance
Fig. 3: General functions of coats of paint in a coating system
primer and topcoat when the primer and topcoat are
not compatible, and
• increase the thickness of the coating system.
Topcoat
The topcoat is intended to be the final coat applied.
Topcoats are formulated to improve the chemical and
weather resistance of the coating system, and to pro-
vide characteristics such as colour, gloss, and resis-
tance to fungus and wear.
The colour of each coat in the system should be dif-
ferent to help identify the coat being applied. The
colour contrast helps the inspector easily see which
areas have already been covered. Figure 3 reviews the
functions of each coat in a coating system.
Mechanisms of Protection
Now it is time to answer the question: How do coat-
ings protect steel? The three recognised mechanisms
for protecting steel are barrier protection, inhibition,
and sacrificial action (Fig. 4).
Barrier Protection
For barrier protection, as the name implies, a coating
dries to form a film that blocks moisture and oxygen
from reaching the steel. However, all coatings allow
moisture and oxygen to penetrate them to some
degree. This is called permeability. Coatings that pro-
tect by the barrier mechanism have very low moisture
permeability.
12
Barrier protection: Prevention of moisture and oxygen
from reaching steel surface
Inhibition: Interference with the electrochemical
process of corrosion
Sacrificial action: Consumption of zinc pigments in
a primer rather than the steel when
corrosion occurs
Fig. 4: Mechanisms of protection
Typical barrier coatings include two-part epoxies
(epoxy polyamides, epoxy amines, coal tar epoxies,
epoxy mastics, etc., but not epoxy esters), vinyls, chlo-
rinated rubbers, moisture-cure polyurethanes, and
asphaltics. The barrier properties of a coating can be
increased by the use of special lamellar pigments (flat,
plate-like pigments of mica or glass flakes) that align
themselves parallel to the surface as the paint dries and
form a virtually impermeable barrier to moisture.
Inhibition
Coatings that protect by inhibition contain special
pigments to inhibit or interfere with the corrosion reac-
tions on the steel surface. Typical inhibitive pigments
that used to be quite common are lead compounds (red
lead and basic lead silico chromate) and other chro-
mates. However, concerns about toxicity and environ-
mental pollution associated with lead and chromates
have resulted in the development of other anti-corro-
sive pigments that are now being incorporated into
paint formulations.
Anti-corrosive pigments generally are used in oil-
based paints, alkyds, and water-borne paints that do
not have as low a moisture permeability as coatings
that protect strictly by barrier protection.
As moisture passes through the coating film, the anti-
corrosive pigments slowly dissolve and aid in prevent-
ing corrosion.
Sacrificial Action
The third mechanism—sacrificial action—is how
zinc-rich primers protect steel. Zinc-rich primers are
heavily loaded with zinc dust. In last month’s
Applicator Training Bulletin, it was pointed out that a
PCE August 1997 Copyright ©1997, Technology Publishing Company
 APPLICATOR TRAINING BULLETIN
Barrier Pigment
dry cell battery has a casing made of
zinc and a carbon electrode in the
middle. The zinc casing is consumed
when the battery supplies power. Zinc
is also more active than steel. So, if
zinc is in contact with the steel, and
the other elements needed for corro-
sion are present, the zinc will corrode
to protect the steel. The term “sacrifi- Inhibitive
cial primer” comes from the zinc sac-
rificing itself to protect the steel.
Zinc is the most common element used to protect
steel by the sacrificial method. Zinc-rich paints are clas-
sified as either inorganic zinc-rich or organic zinc-rich.
This classification refers to the resins used in the for-
mulation, not the form of zinc. Both types contain tiny
particles of zinc to provide the sacrificial action. The
binder in inorganic zinc-rich formulations is a form of
a silicate, which is similar to glass when the film is
cured. Organic zinc-rich formulations can use any num-
ber of resins, such as epoxies, vinyls, polyurethanes, or
chlorinated rubbers.
Conclusion
The three mechanisms of protection can be used
together in a coating system. For example, the topcoat
Copyright ©1997, Technology Publishing Company
Sacrificial Pigment
and intermediate coats can provide
barrier protection while the primer
can provide inhibitive or sacrificial
protection. In this way, the coating
system can provide maximum protec-
tion to the steel substrate.
No matter what mechanism of pro-
tection is used, proper application of
Pigment the coating system is needed to pre-
serve the steel. It is the specifier’s job
to choose the coating system, match-
ing the surface preparation to the mode of protection
and properties of the coating layers. It is the applica-
tor’s job to ensure that the proper surface preparation
is achieved and that the various layers of coating are
put on in the proper order and to the specified thick-
ness.
(F.H. Palmer of Kemira Coatings, Lancashire, UK, served
as the European reviewer for this month’s column.)
Next month: Basics
of Concrete Deterioration
PCE August 1997 13