Abstract
In offshore context, maintenance coatings do not aspire to “high durability” status. New construction protective coating processes, aspiring to such status, often fail to deliver it. The “high durability” aspiration, still, produced a divide between surface tolerant materials for maintenance and new construction coatings: different materials, surface preparation methods and pre-qualification protocols. Four questions may come to mind of an optimistic coating formulator or a demanding offshore owner: 1) can a tolerant maintenance coating deliver high durability despite the less favorable conditions in which is applied? 2) could such tolerant coating be applied in new construction to improve the chances of a “high durability” outcome? 3) why? 4) how? The main contribution of this paper is affirmatively answering the first two questions and explain why and how. The answers are based on evidence built for 15 years over more than 15 million square meters of steel, witnessing the testing, selection, application and real life performance of a specific surface and humidity tolerant coating technology in marine and offshore maintenance and new construction projects. New data is shared on tolerance to poor surface profile, flash rust and damp & cold conditions and on cost impact when associated with water jetting as surface preparation method.
