In recent years, with ever increasing environmental and economic constraints, a diverse range of alternative surface preparation methodologies to abrasive blasting has emerged. With this shift from traditional methods of surface preparation, the use of state of the art chemical strippers is gaining acceptance in industrial and marine applications.

Generic types of chemical strippers are discussed, the two that have been classified by convention as bond breakers and caustics, and the third and newly classified generic type known as selective adhesion release agents. The latter is the focus of this paper and is represented by the recent invention of SARA (Selective Adhesion Release Agent) technology. A 3-phase coating removal mechanism for this type of stripper has been elucidated.

Different chemical stripper types were screened for efficacy on steel, rust, concrete and gel coat. Top performers were further evaluated for stripping (a) several generic coating types from abrasive blasted steel, and (b) surface tolerant penetrant sealer coatings applied to rusted steel, and mature and green concrete.

Candidate coatings for (b) were epoxy penetrant sealers, moisture cured urethanes, high-build epoxies, a polysiloxane and a modified methyl methacrylate. Their penetrant and adhesion characteristics on various substrates were investigated, and they were then removed by different SARA strippers. The coatings were subsequently reapplied to the stripped substrates and their performance compared. Scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy, viscosity measurements and pull-off adhesion tests were employed in this research.

Select case histories demonstrate where SARA chemical strippers were very effective on steel, concrete and gel coat substrates.

Subject
Paint removal, Coating removal, Coating application, Steel surfaces, Coatings, Substrates, Concrete surfaces, Paint strippers, Stripping, Epoxy coatings, Concrete coatings, Epoxies, Concrete
© 2000 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. This work is protected by both domestic and international copyright laws. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
2000
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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