Pull-off strength of fibre-reinforced composite polymer coatings on steel substrate

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on the manufacturing and quality evaluation of fibre-reinforced polymer matrix composite coatings deposited by hand lamination on DC04 steel substrates. Two matrices (polyurethane and epoxy resins) and four different reinforcement materials were considered (glass, carbon, aramid, and carbon-aramid hybrid fabrics). Various methods of surface preparation and roughness development were used in order to enhance the adhesion: cleaning with acetone, abrasive blasting with F80 alumina or GH40 cast steel shot. Manufactured samples were subjected to roughness and coating thickness measurements, wettability analysis, and pull-off strength tests. Afterwards, the microscopic analysis of cross-sections of the samples and the identification of type of the failure were performed. The increase in surface roughness was beneficial, to some point, for the coating’s adhesion. The highest pull-off strength values were obtained for polyurethane coating reinforced with glass fabric after abrasive blasting with the use of F80 alumina (5.78 MPa) and epoxy resin with aramid reinforcement (5.20 MPa) after pretreatment with GH40 cast steel shot.

KEYWORDS:

• Polymer coatings
• functional layers
• pull-off strength
• adhesion measurement

Declaration of interest statement

There is no conflict of interest.