Factors influencing coating selection

摘要

There are many factors that must be taken into consideration when selecting a coating system. Examination of these will assist the specifier in reducing the large number of possible coating systems for a given structure to a manageable number. While structural design decisions can be based on precise quantitative data, the choice of a protection system is largely based on qualitative factors. This is because many of the variables affecting the decision, from environment through to differences in products from different manufacturers, cannot be precisely defined. As a result, there is unlikely to be only one system that will satisfactorily provide the desired features. It is tempting for the specifier to base selection on one of the few quantifiable factors, namely price, rather than consider the less definable features. This is unfortunate because cost is usually of lesser importance. Some of the factors in no particular order, which must be considered by the specifier are described in the following paragraphs. Some other factors that may also determine the optimum coating selection will be addressed in forthcoming issues of Corrosion & Materials.