The paper will present two recent developments illustrating how coatings containing glass flake are used in new applications based on improved protection of both the substrate and the environment. Traditionally Glass Flake coatings have been used in high performance coating systems for aggressive environments e.g. C5 and C5M. Recently a number of major engineering projects including the, the Forth Rail Bridge and road bridges on the A1, M1 and M6 motorways in the UK have shown the cost and performance benefits of using glass flake in broader ranger of applications e.g. C4 and C3. These new glass flake systems are now fully approved for use on UK road and rail bridges. The protection of road and rail bridges in these environments has traditionally been achieved with low solids multi-coat micaceous iron oxide systems offering services lives of only 7-15 years. The paper uses independent laboratory (CAPCIS, Manchester UK) results to compare the performance of Glass Flake and micaceous iron oxide pigmented systems in terms of: Cathodic Disbondment Electrical impedance spectroscopy Abrasion resistance Reverse bend impact tests. Actual coating systems will then be compared to highlight costs savings of up to 30% in applied cost that can be achieved using appropriate glass flake systems. Once applied high solids low VOC glass flake coatings offer significantly longer services lives to first maintenance, systems are available offering service lives to major maintenance of 25 years. These offer significant savings in the overall coat of corrosion protection over the life of the structure. In a separate development a glass flake coating has been successfully utilised as a biocide –free antifouling coating offering significant environmental benefit over traditional TBT systems, whilst improving the long-term protection of the substrate.
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