The effects of grooming on a copper ablative coating: a six year study

Abstract

More than 90% of US Navy Ships are coated with copper ablative paint. These ships may spend long periods of time pier-side, which makes them vulnerable to fouling. Hull grooming has been proposed as a means of maintaining the coatings in an operational condition. This study investigated the effect of grooming on a copper ablative coating exposed statically for six years. Grooming was performed weekly or monthly with controls left ungroomed. The fouling community was visually assessed, dry film thickness measurements were taken to monitor coating loss, and the copper leaching rates were measured. It was found that weekly and monthly groomed surfaces reduced fouling, and the ungroomed surfaces became fully fouled. Coating loss was similar for weekly, monthly and ungroomed surfaces. The results suggest that grooming is a viable method for maintaining copper ablative coatings in a fouling-free condition without adverse increases in the total copper output.

Keywords:

• Hull grooming
• copper leaching
• dry film thickness (DFT)
• navy ship hull
• copper ablative coating
• antifouling

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the staff and students at the Center for Corrosion and Biofouling Control, John Trefry and Robert Trocine for operation of the ICP-MS, the NAVSEA (Naval Surface Warfare Center – Carderock) for guidance, and SeaRobotics Corp.