Abrasion testing of organic corrosion protection coating systems with a rotating abrasive rubber wheel

• The abrasion resistance of six offshore coatings is investigated experimentally at two temperature levels (0 °C and 20 °C).
• Abrasion resistance decreases with a decrease in temperature.
• Separation and pull-off of filler particles contribute notably to the material abrasion.
• A model is presented in order to systematize different material removal modes.

The abrasive wear performance of six organic offshore coating systems is investigated at two temperature levels (0 °C and 20 °C) with a rotating wheel abrasion tester. The relationship between exposure time (in terms of number of revolutions) and coating thickness reduction follows a linear relationship: Δh=C1·nR+C2. The reverse of the progress parameter (1/C1) is defined as abrasion resistance. This parameter is found to be sensitive to the testing temperature; it decreases for most of the coatings for the lower temperature. Combined SEM/EDX analyses reveal a number of material removal modes. The separation and pull-off of filler/pigment particles contribute notably to the material abrasion on all coating systems at the two temperature levels. Type, distribution and hardness of filler materials are important design parameters. A model of Bello and Wood (2005) [33] for filled polyamides is adapted and extended in order to systematically register different material removal modes. Image analysis is applied to quantify filler particle distribution and size.