Kokon

Development of new thermal-spray coatings for the protection on offshore wind power structures

The use of thermally sprayed metals, namely zinc, aluminum and Zn/Al alloys is standard in many industries, and it has a high potential for the corrosion protection of offshore structures. Governing factors for a successful application include appropriate surface preparation, carrier gas selection, and the structure of the solidified metals. Cold-spayed metals have not been investigated yet for the corrosion protection of marine structures.

The following results are achieved:

• A less thorough steel substrate cleanliness degree (Sa 2½ compared with Sa 3) did not compromise the performance of thermally sprayed coatings under offshore testing conditions.
• The use of N₂/active gas as a carrier gas improved the performance of thermally sprayed duplex systems.
• The utilization of cold sprayed AlZn duplex systems delivered promising results even with low coating thickness values.