In this “Never Again” article, Jon Cavallo explores whether the role of solvents and/or thinners is simply to control viscosity. As part of this review, an investigation of observed bridge coating failures near Panama City, Fla., was conducted on several fronts.

After confirming an amine blush problem, the contractor determined that the amine exudate needed to be removed effectively to ensure the adhesion of subsequently applied coating materials. They also had to closely watch the atmospheric conditions going forward, to make sure that the heater didn’t cause further troubles.

After finding a water leak from its holding tank, the owner/operator of a town water tower reached out to Total Access Solutions Co. (TASC) to request an inspection. One TASC got on site, investigators were able to deduce more information about the potential cause(s) of the premature failure.

In this case study, significant corrosion was observed on lines supplying air handling units and swimming pools at a Dubai hotel. According to the client, the chilled water application system was installed three years prior and initially handled by a maintenance contractor before being handed over to the asset owner.

Just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, the best coating systems are only as good as the substrate to which they are applied. In this case, a soft joint compound was easy to apply and sand and had a smooth, uniform finish, but it was a poor substrate to apply additional material.

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When the new topcoat on a bridge’s primer started to delaminate, the asset owner laid blame on the contractor. But could it have been caused by something else?

At a coal-fired power project in South East Asia, our team was asked to look at the cooling water pipe during the shutdown of a unit. It had been in service for six months.

When it came time for the final inspections of visual appearance and dry film thickness, everyone on the project was amazed. The structural steel looked like a spotted cheetah!

Our procedure under these conditions is to pin the garage above the threshold to minimize contaminate blow-in on a calm day. We then tidied up and departed the site, leaving instructions with the owner to keep vehicles off the floor for three days

When a coating fails, it can adversely affect the performance of the part it was intended to protect and result in corrosion damage, blistering, or possibly the initiation of fatigue cracking from a pit.

Various experts including metallurgists, corrosion engineers, fatigue analysts, and welding examiners were able to somewhat agree that the cause of the structural failure was improper weld repair in various areas

When it came time for the final inspections of visual appearance and dry film thickness, everyone on the project was amazed. The structural steel looked like a spotted cheetah!