Cavitation resistance of epoxy-based multilayer coatings: Surface damage and crack growth kinetics during the incubation stage

Four epoxy-based multilayer coating systems, with thicknesses of 380±20. mum, 650±10. mum, 720±30. mum and 920±20. mum, were applied manually onto stainless steel samples and subjected to vibratory cavitation tests according to ASTM G32-09 standard. In order to correlate the cavitation resistance of the coating systems with some of their mechanical properties, instrumented micro indentation tests were performed to determine hardness, resilience, total plastic work, among others, as a function of the thickness of the coatings. Examination of the surfaces by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) revealed that the surface damage in all the coatings was caused by incubation and growth of cracks. Statistical analysis of crack growth data allowed determining a behavior law characteristic for each coating system, which was adjusted with proper parameters related to the mechanical properties measured by micro indentation. In particular, a good correlation was obtained among cavitation resistance, coating thickness and hardness-to-Young modulus ratio H/. E. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

cavitation; epoxy-based coatings; h/e ratio; instrumented microindentation; cavitation; cracks; hardness; multilayers; scanning electron microscopy; thickness measurement; cavitation resistance; crack growth data; epoxy-based; good correlations; h/e ratio; micro indentation; micro-indentation tests; multi-layer-coating; coatings

Cavitation resistance of epoxy-based multilayer coatings: Surface damage and crack growth kinetics during the incubation stage Articles