Coating Glossary & Terms – Maden Industrial Ltd.

Abrasive – Mineral or man-made granules used to clean and/or roughen a surface. For industrial applications, the abrasive is propelled against the surface using air pressure
Adhesion – The ability of a coating to bond to other coating layers and/or to the underlying surface.
Adhesive Strength – A measurement of the bond between coating layers and/or between the substrate and the first layer.
Alkalinity – A condition where the pH is greater than 7.
Ambient Conditions – The prevailing conditions on the project site, including air temperature, relative humidity, and dew point temperature.
Amine Blush – A surface exudate on epoxy coating films caused by a reaction of amine co-reactant with a carbon dioxide and water to form amine carbamate.
Anchor Pattern – The average peak-to-valley depth generated by some power tools and by the abrasive blast cleaning. Resulting surface “anchors” the coating system to the substrate. Also known as surface profile.
ASTM – American Society for Testing Materials
Bar – A measurement of pressure. British equivalent to pounds per square inch (1 Bar = 14.50377 psi)
Base Metal Reading (BMR) – A measurement of the effect of surface profile or anchor pattern on a coating thickness gauge.
Calibration – The controlled and documented process of measuring traceable calibration standards and verifying the results are within the tolerance of the gauge.
Calibration Adjustment – The process of aligning the optimizing a gauge’s readings to match a known thickness.
Centimeter – One hundredth of a meter. One centimeter = 0.39 inch.
Chloride – A compound of chlorine with another substance (e.g., with sodium, sodium chloride)
Dry Film Thickness – The thickness of a coating film after it has dried or cured
Ferrous – A magnetic surface such as carbon steel. Also known as ferromagnetic.
Ferrous Iron – Iron irons in an aqueous solution
Flash Rusting – Surface rusting caused by exposure of prepared steel to moisture prior to application
Holiday – A skip or missed area of coating film that exposes the underlying coating or substrate.
KiloPascals (KPa) – A measurement of pressure. Metric equivalent to pounds per square inch. (1 KPa = 0.1450377 psi)
Knife Adhesion – A measurement of the adhesion of coating layers to one another and to the underlying substrate using subjective probing with the tip of a knife blade.
Microgram – One millionth of a gram.
Micrometers or Microns – A measurement of surface profile depth and or wet and dry film thickness. Metric equivalent to mils (25.4 microns = 1 mil)
Micrometer – An instrument used to measure the thickness of a material, or the depth of surface profile.
Microsiemen – A measurement of the conductivity of a solution. 1 microsiemen = 1 micromho.
Mil – A measurement of surface profile depth and/or wet and dry film thickness. English equivalent to micrometers (1 mil = 25.4 microns).
Mill scale – A cathodic, blue/gray oxidation layer that naturally forms on hot-rolled carbon steel during the hot-rolling and cooling process in the steel mill.
Milliliter – One one-thousandth of a liter. 1 milliliter = 1 cubic centimeter. 1 milliliter = 0.034 ounce.
NACE – NACE international, formerly National Association of Corrosion Engineers.
NIST – National Institute of Standards and Technology
Non-conductive – The inability of a coating film or substrate to conduct electricity.
Non-ferrous Metal – A non-magnetic metal surface such as aluminum.
Osmotic Blistering – Blistering of a coating film due to liquid migration through the film. Typically caused by entrapment solvents in the film or soluble contamination on the substrate beneath the coating film.
pH – The measure of the acidity or alkalinity of an aqueous solution.
Pinhole – A tiny void in the coating or lining that penetrates to the underlying layer or through all coating layers to the substrate.
Pinpoint Rusting – Minute corrosion sites caused by exposure of the steel substrate to moisture through the coating film.
Pitting – Section loss of a substrate in a small area caused by a lack of corrosion protection.
Pounds per Square Inch (psi) – A measurement of pressure. English equivalent to Bar, KiloPascals (KPa) and Megapascals (MPa). 91 psi = 0.06894757 Bar KPa; and 0.006894757 MPa).
Pull-off Adhesion – An evaluation of the adhesion properties of a coating or coating system measured by applying a perpendicular, continuous, incremental loading of force. Measured in psi, Bar, MPa or KPa.
Relative Humidity – The ratio of the amount of moisture present in the air to complete saturation of the surrounding air (expressed as a percentage).
Rust – Corrosion products present on a carbon steel surface.
Rust Inhibitors – Chemicals or chemical solution added to water to prevent the formation of surface rust.
Solids By Volume – The non-volatile or non-evaporative volume content of a content of a coating, (e.g the resin, pigment and additives). Typically stated by percentage.
Specification – A legal document that governs a painting project, detailing what is to be done, and what methods will be used to verify that the work was done correctly.
SSPC – Society for Protective Coatings (formerly Steel Structures Painting Council)
Surface Cleanliness – The level or degree to which rust, paint, mill scale and other surface contaminates are removed prior to coating application.
Surface Profile – The average peak-to-valley depth generated by some power tools and by abrasive blast cleaning. Resulting surface profile “anchors” the coating system to the substrate. Also know as anchor pattern.
Theoretical Coverage Rate – The theoretical number of square feet that can be coated with one gallon of coating material at the recommended dry film thickness.
Thinner – A solvent that is added to a coating during the mixing process to reduce the viscosity of the coating and/or improve the application and flow-out characteristics.
Verification of Accuracy – Obtaining measurements on a reference standard prior to gauge use for the purpose of determining the ability of the gauge to produce reliable values, compared to the combined gauge manufacturer’s stated accuracy and the stated accuracy of the reference standard.
Watterjetting – A process of coating removal and/or surface preparation using water under various pressures.
Wet Abrasive Blast Cleaning – A process of coating removal and/or surface preparation using abrasive with water injected into the blast nozzle. Also known as slurry blasting.
Zinc-rich Paint – An industrial protective coating containing a high loading of zinc powder or dust.
SSPC Guide 15 – Field Methods for Retrieval and Analysis of Soluble Salts on Steel and Other Non-Porous Substrates.
SSPC VIS 1 – Guide and Reference Photographs for Steel Surfaces Prepared by Abrasive Blast Cleaning.
SSPC VIS 2 – Standard Method of Evaluating Degree of Rusting on Painted Steel Surfaces.
SSPC VIS 3 – Guide and Reference Photographs for Steel Surfaces Prepared by Power and Hand Tool Cleaning.
SSPC VIS 4/NACE VIS 7 – Guide and Reference Photographs for Steel Surfaces Prepared by Waterjetting.
SSPC VIS 5/NACE VIS 9 – Guide and Reference Photographs for Steel Surfaces Prepared by Wet Abrasive Blast Cleaning.
SSPC PA 2 – Measurement of Dry Coating Thickness with Magnetic Gages.
SSPC AB 1 – Requirements for Selecting and Evaluating Mineral and Slag Abrasives.
SSPC AB 2 – Cleanliness of Recycled Ferrous Metallic Abrasive.
SSPC – AB 3 – Requirements for Ferrous Metallic Abrasives.
SSPC – AB – 4 – Recycled Encapsulated Abrasive Media (i.e. sponge)