WHEN BEAUTY IS EPOXY SKIN DEEP
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb057163 |
| Published date | 01 January 1981 |
| Date | 01 January 1981 |
| Pages | 12-13 |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
WHEN BEAUTY
IS
EPOXY SKIN DEEP
CONCRETE floors are the most
common for use in workshops, fac-
tories and warehouses. The mixing
and laying of concrete, however, is
often so hit and miss that no-one can
tell until after the concrete has cured
what kind of floor has been laid. We
have all seen or heard of concrete
floors,
for instance, which were sup-
posed to have had a hard wearing sur-
face,
dusting within a very short time
of the commencement of use.
Dusting means that the concrete is
wearing away very quickly indeed and
this will cause loss of the concrete sur-
face thus exposing the concrete
aggregate which will in turn allow the
concrete to disintegrate in worn areas
and even forming pot holes. Even if
the concrete surface is at first adequ-
ate for the purpose it was intended, as
soon as the floor is put into use and
spillages start to occur, the concrete
becomes contaminated and because
concrete is porous, all fluids are
quickly drawn into the surface and the
contamination begins. Many of the
contaminants start a slow and, some-
times,
not so slow erosion of the con-
crete.
For many years, epoxy resin floor-
ing materials have been used to pro-
vide anti-slip and hard wearing, easy
cleaning, long lasting, chemical and
acid resistant, hygienic, colour coded,
etc.
etc. surfaces. All the above
requirements can be built into for-
mulae, especially designed to meet
the rigours of modern industry.
Laboratory tests enable manufactur-
ers to predict very long lasting, hard
wearing surfaces.
However, the whole success of
these carefully tested and laboratory
proven materials depends upon the
adhesion of the new surfacing materi-
als to the existing surface. Epoxy coat-
ings are very expensive and are often
invested in after careful budgeting.
British Rail maintenance engineering
staff,
to whom this new system was
first introduced, explained that, in the
past, they had been almost completely
disillusioned by the failures occurring
with epoxy coatings and these failures
were invariably adhesion failures.
They would choose a material which
was reputed to be able to give the kind
of surface they required. A contractor
would then be invited to tender to
apply the materials and, possibly,
another contractor would be emp-
loyed to clean and prepare the surface
ready for the coating operation. On
many occasions the coating would be
layed and would apparently be quite
satisfactory for a number of months.
However, after a time, there would
begin to be tell-tale signs that the new
coating was lifting from the old sur-
face.
This inter-coat adhesion failure
would then rapidly accelerate until
very little of the expensive surface was
left. Because of the number of people
involved in supplying and laying the
coating, no-one could be found to
take responsibility for the failure.
Each company involved blamed the
other.
When epoxy surface coatings are
successfully laid, the economy
effected is considerable. If unsuccess-
ful,
however, the last state of the floor
is worse than the original and, unfor-
tunately, carefully budgeted money
12 INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT + DATA SYSTEMS
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