What is epoxy paint? How to use it? What are the applications?
Epoxy paint is one of the most widely used industrial coatings, primarily used as an anti-corrosion coating in pipelines, oil and gas, petrochemical industries, and industrial sites. it has unique properties such as resistance to corrosion caused by chemicals, easy cleaning, excellent adhesion to all types of surfaces, and sealing ability. Epoxy paints are one of the hardest and most durable paint materials with many use fields.
What is solvent-based Epoxy Paint?
Epoxy paints that can be purchased through industrial paint stores are mainly products with a 1:5 mixing ratio with polyamide hardener and contain solvent in their formulation. As mentioned, they are used for the main application as a protective coating or industrial liners. This product is two-component, and since mixing with polyamide hardener, there is a limited time to apply it to the substrate.
Epoxy paint is generally applied to the surface in thicknesses less than 200 microns using a wool brush or a roller.
Epoxy paint can be applied on various surfaces such as concrete, mosaic, stone, and metal due to its excellent adhesion. Note before applying, the surface should be cleaned of any grease, dust, and dirt.
But the point is, we hear a lot that the term epoxy paint is used to refer to epoxy flooring. Are these two products the same? Can it be used as a floor coating?
The difference between epoxy paint and epoxy floor coating
As mentioned, the main use of epoxy paint is as a protective and anti-corrosion coating and industrial linings. This product is based on epoxy resin and polyamide hardener and contains solvents.
Despite the good properties of epoxy paint, using this product as a floor coating is not recommended. Because in the mentioned uses as a protective coating, the resin paint surface is generally not exposed to mechanical forces and severe shocks. Whereas epoxy floor coating is exposed to continuous traffic, wear, and possible impacts in the floor coating applications. In addition to properties such as adhesion, chemical resistance, and protection, it must show high mechanical strength. However, due to its formulation designed for use as a protective coating, this product does not have sufficient mechanical strength to be used as a floor coating, and if used, it will need to be repaired or recovered in a short time.
Epoxy floor coating
However, epoxy floor coating is a product based on epoxy resin and polyamine hardener. The formulation of this product is designed in such a way that it has much higher mechanical properties than epoxy paint and shows excellent abrasion resistance against the traffic of people and wheeled vehicles.
Epoxy floor coating is mainly applied in two to 3 layers, and its thickness varies from 200 microns to 1 mm. For applications where a heavy-duty system is required, then using epoxy flooring with +1mm up to 5 mm can be used.
also click: installation of Epoxy Flooring