Coatings
Protective coating types and systems, what surface preparation each one needs, and how preparation decides coating life and cost.
-
Start here
Generic Types of Protective Coatings: A Working Guide to the Chemistry
Protective coatings are grouped by generic resin chemistry. Thermosets (epoxies, inorganic zinc silicates, polyurethanes, polyesters, vinyl esters) cure by chemical reaction and...
-
2
Industrial Coatings: Types, Systems, and Surface Preparation Requirements
Industrial coatings are protective systems such as epoxies, zinc-rich primers, polyurethanes, thermal spray metals, intumescents, high-temperature silicones and polyureas. Each family has...
-
3
Performance Coatings: What They Are and What Surface Preparation They Require
Performance coatings are industrial coating systems (high-build epoxies, zinc-rich primers, polyurethane topcoats, thermal spray metals, high-temperature and intumescent coatings) designed for aggressive...
-
4
Corrosion Resistant Coatings: Why Surface Preparation Determines Whether They Work
Corrosion resistant coatings protect steel by barrier, sacrificial (zinc) or inhibitive action, and all three depend on adhesion to properly prepared steel....
-
5
Corrosion Protection Coatings: Metallic, Organic and Conversion Layers Explained
Corrosion protection coatings fall into three families. Metallic coatings such as hot-dip galvanizing and thermal spray add a sacrificial or barrier metal...
-
6
Surface-Tolerant Coatings: When Perfect Prep Isn't Possible — and Why Prep Still Wins
Surface-tolerant coatings, typically aluminium epoxy mastics, are formulated to wet out and bond to imperfect hand- or power-tool-cleaned steel and sound, compatible...
-
7
Intumescent Coatings: What They Are and What Surface Preparation They Require
Intumescent coatings are passive fire protection coatings that swell when heated, from about 200–250°C, into an insulating char that delays the temperature...
-
8
Surface Preparation for Heavy-Duty Coatings: A Substrate-by-Substrate Field Guide
Heavy-duty coatings need two things at the substrate: the cleanliness and the anchor profile specified for the primer. Bristle blasting delivers both...
-
9
The True Cost of Coatings: Why Cheapest Per Gallon Costs More Per Year
The true cost of a protective coating is its installed cost per square foot divided by its realistic service life, not its...
-
10
Blast-Less Surface Prep Tools for Coating Companies
Blast-less surface preparation lets coating companies prepare steel with hand-held impact tools instead of mobilising a blast rig. Bristle blasting gives cleanliness...
-
11
Research study: qualifying offshore-wind repair coatings — and the surface-prep step behind them (RepaKORR)
RepaKORR was a German research project, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and coordinated by Muehlhan, that developed...
-
12
Robots Below the Waterline: Fraunhofer IGP’s ROV Coating Repair Research
At the Wind & Maritim conference in Rostock (May 2026), Fraunhofer IGP presented an ROV-based process for repairing coatings on offshore structures...