Thursday, December 6, 2007 - 10:00 AM

Low/No VOC Touchup for Small Areas

David Ellicks, US Air Force; Michael W. Surratt, Mandaree Enterprise Corporation; Kimberly Andrews, AF Corrosion Office

Specially designed paint spray booths and ventilation system are lacking at many locations where coating touchup operations take place.  Due to limited paint spray booths, approved ventilation systems, and personnel trained in paint spray gun applications, in many cases the standard approach of touchup spray painting small repair areas has resulted in ineffective material selection, mixing, and usage.  This ineffective approach, in many cases, resulted in the selection and use of substandard, non-qualified, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) pressurized paint spray cans.  Selection and use of these types of materials usually results in a mismatch in authorized/qualified coating applied to the equipment.  Additionally, the non-qualified COTS materials noted in field surveys usually provide very limited corrosion protection, and ultimately results in premature coating/corrosion failure that requires a repeat of the ineffective touchup repair cycle. 

 Of significant concern are the limited storage capabilities and long lead times from procurement to delivery of paint related materials to the highly erosion/corrosion prone areas in Southwest Asia (SWA).  This limitation severely restricts the types of coatings that are available for maintenance requirements.  Where coatings are eroded to the metal substrate, the substrate is exposed to the high mineral content of the sand/dust and limited wash capabilities. In the SWA Area of Responsibility maintaining the integrity of an effective coating system is the keystone of an effective corrosion prevention and control program.  Repackaging qualified coatings in smaller, environmentally compliant, easy to use, touchup kits will provide the technician better methods of maintaining the coating systems on assigned equipment.

 This paper addresses the actions the Air Force Corrosion Prevention and Control Office has taken to influence new packaging of qualified coating materials.


See more of Corrosion Resistant Materials II
See more of The 2007 Tri-Service Corrosion Conference (December 3-7, 2007)