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Often there is a lot of confusion when paint consumption is going to be calculated. The
various paint manufacturers arrive at different volumes, and thereby also different costs,
when giving quotations for a specific job. It is not possible to find the true coating costs
without a uniform method of calculating. The following requisites are necessary for
calculating the correct quantity and coating costs:
Percent volume solids is the volume percentage of solid material in the coating. The
remaining volume percentage consists of volatile solvents or thinners (See also “What is
paint”). The solids are the film forming portion of the coating that will remain on the surface
after drying or curing. Percent volume solids is the only true basis for calculating paint
volumes required. Solids content quoted by weight is a figure that for most coatings and
applications is meaningless. The percent volume solids is found in the technical data sheet
(TDS), but can also be found or verified by standardised tests.
The dry film thickness (DFT) of an applied coating can be determined if the percent volume
solids (% VS) and the wet film thickness (WFT) are known. This information can be obtained
from the manufacturer’s Technical Data Sheets. The equation for calculating the dry film
thickness is:
The wet film thickness can be determined if the percent volume solids (%VS) and the dry
film thickness (DFT) are known. This information can also be obtained from the
manufacturers Technical Data Sheets. The equation for calculating the WFT is:
Example 2:
A coating is to be applied at a dry film thickness of 100 microns. The percent volume solid is
65 %.
The coating must be applied in a WFT of 154 microns since 35% of the paint is solvents that
will evaporate.
If the coating is thinned 20 % to adjust the viscosity for application the solid by volume will
change, it decreases. The new volume percent solids can be calculated or found in a table
(See tables in section 16.2).
Example 3:
If one litre of a coating with 65 percent volume solid is thinned 20%, the total volume of the
coating will increase to 1.2 litres. The new percentage by volume of solid is:
The new WFT, to get a DFT of 100 microns after adding 20%, is:
Example 4:
Another way of calculating the new WFT after thinning is given by the formula:
New WFT : DFT x (100 + % added thinner) = 100 microns x 120 = 185 microns
% VS 65 % VS
See also the Table in section 13.3: “Solids content after thinning”.
The theoretical spreading rate (m2/litre) is the area covered by one litre of paint for a given
dry film thickness. Thus, the spreading rate can be determined if the percent volume solid
and the desired dry film thickness are known. The equation for calculation is:
The theoretical consumption of a coating can be determined if the area (m2), the percent
volume solid (% VS) and the desired dry film thickness (DFT) are known. (Practical
consumption is given in sections 13.1.7. and 13.1.8.). The equation to get the theoretical
consumption is:
or
The constant 10 is a correction factor for the different units included in the formula and
derives from the following:
First, let us calculate the paint consumption in m3. Here we have to include the correlation
factor for transforming from metres to microns. We know that 1 m = 1.000.000 microns,
and get the following equation:
However, we would like to order the paint in litres and not in m3. Then, we have to convert
by introducing that 1 m3 = 1000 litre, and we get the equation:
Paint consumption in litre = area (m2) x DFT (microns) x 100 % x 1000 l/m3
% V.S. x 1 000 000 microns/m
The above example assumes that there is no loss of paint during the job and that every drop
of paint is applied to the surface. In a real situation some of the paint will be lost:
• The coating may miss target due to strong wind, very complex geometry of the
structure or by poor application technique.
• Overspray due to complex geometry of the structure or by poor application
technique.
• Some material will be left in the pump, the tins or in the container.
• Dead volume: See section 16.1.8.
Such paint losses are usually in the range of 25 – 40 %, but may accumulate to as high as 50
percent of the total theoretical volume. Loss of paint must always be included when the
total paint consumption is calculated. Further, it is important to calculate the volume of
paint to order in the correct manner. If the theoretical amount of paint needed is 100 litres
and the loss is 40 %, only 60 % of the actually paint is left on the surface after painting. The
loss factor is 0.6. The equation for calculation is:
Example 6:
The same figures as for Example 5 are used, but now a loss of 40% (loss factor of 0.6) is
included. The correct amount of paint to order will be:
Blast-cleaning will increase the surface roughness and thereby increase the surface area.
The roughness will depend on the abrasive used. However, the consequence is that more
paint is needed to cover the increased area. “The dead volume” is the amount of paint
needed to fill in for the roughness (profile) on the blast-cleaned steel. (From the bottom to
the top of the valley). The amount of paint (l/m2) needed to fill in the roughness is indicated
below:
The equation for calculating the paint consumption, including loss and dead volume is:
Total paint consumption (litre): Area (m2) x dead Volume (l/m2) x 100
% VS x loss factor
NB! The “dead volume” is only a factor which effect the paint consumption for the
primer or the first coat of a paint system.
Example 7:
Here example 6 is taken one step further. The loss is 40%. The surface of 500 m2 is blast-
cleaned to Sa 2 ½ with a roughness of 60 microns. A roughness of 60 microns gives a dead
volume of 0,04 l / m2 (see table above).
The paint consumption with loss, calculated in example 6, is:
As Epoxy mastic is used as a first coat we have to include the dead volume:
The total need of Epoxy mastic is: 39 litres + 196 litres = 235 litres
As the dead volume will have no influence on the topcoat the volume of the Polyurethane is
the same as in example 6:
Table 13.2.2
Dead volume as function of surface roughness.
Table 13.2.3
Volume solids (%VS) after thinning.
PRESSURE
Bar p.s.i kPa mPa Bar p.s.i kPa mPa
Atmosphere (lb/sq.in.) Atmosphere (lb/sq.in.)
(Kg/cm2 ) (kg/cm2 )
100 1420 10000 10
1 14.2 100 0.1 110 1560 11000 11
2 28.4 200 0.2 120 1710 12000 12
3 42.7 300 0.3 130 1850 13000 13
4 56.9 400 0.4 140 1990 14000 14
5 71.1 500 0.5 150 2130 15000 15
6 85.3 600 0.6 160 2280 16000 16
7 99.6 700 0.7 170 2420 17000 17
8 113.8 800 0.8 180 2560 18000 18
9 128.0 900 0.9 190 2700 19000 19
10 142.2 1000 1 200 2840 20000 20