Material & Metalurgi

Surface Preparations
 What is surface preparation?

Why is Surface Preparation Important?

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 Theory of adhesion
“The coating’s resistance to weather, chemicals,
scratches, impact, or stress is only of value while the
coating remains on the substrate”

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 Surface Preparations
• The term SURFACE PREPARATION means the methods of treating the surface
of substrate prior to application of coating (painting, coating and lining etc.)*
• Surface preparation is defined as any operation or series of operations performed
on a steel surface to remove physical defects and surface contaminants in
preparation for subsequent fabrication, repair, and/or painting**
• The preparation process not only cleans steel (The nature of the soil, Oil, grease
etc.) but also introduces a suitable profile for applying protective coating
• CLEANING PROCESSES used for removing soils and contaminants are varied,
and their effectiveness depends on the requirements of the specific application

* Alireza Bahadori, essentials of Coating, Painting, and Lining for Oli, Gas, and Petrochemical Industries, 2015
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* *SSPC Slide - 4
 The important of surface preparations
• The life of any steel coating system is directly impacted
by the quality of the prepared surface.
• The better the surface preparation  the longer the life of
the coating system.
• When selecting surface preparation procedures  always
consider the requirements of the subsequent coating
system.

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 REMOVAL OF COATED MATERIAL RELATED
TO THE METAL (SCALE AND RUST)
Removal of firming adherent scale is only possible with the
following methods:
1) Chemical cleaning
2) Mechanical cleaning: Blasting, abrasive cleaning, ultrasonic
cleaning
3) Manual cleaning

Notes: With each of these methods, only specific surface conditions can be produced and
particular levels of cleanliness achieved. Correspondingly, the appearance of the prepared
surface depends not only on the level of cleanliness, but also on the rust removal
method used.

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 Chemical Cleaning
• Solvent cleaning,
• Solvent materials: trichloroethylene, methylene chloride, toluene, and benzene.
• Method: swabbing, tank immersion, spray or solid stream flushing, or vapor
condensation.
• Emulsion cleaning,
• for example, emulsions of hydrocarbon solvents such as kerosene and water
containing emulsifiable surfactant. To maintain stable emulsions, coupling agents
such as oleic acid ( C18H34O2)are added.
• Phosphoric Acid Etching (H3PO4)
• Phosphoric acid is often used as an etchant for nonferrous metals (such as copper,
brass, aluminum, and zinc) to enhance paint adhesion..

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 Chemical Cleaning
• Saponification is a chemical reaction that splits an ester into
its acid and alcohol moieties through an irreversible base
induced Hydrolysis

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 Chemical Cleaning
•  Pickling
• Reaction Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) with FeO or Fe3O4

• Reaction Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) with Fe (Base metal)

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 Chemical Cleaning
•  Pickling
• Reaction Hydrochloric acid (HCl) with Fe (Base metal)  direct
attach on the oxides through crack in the scale  contribute to
removal process

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 Pickling

Concentration of H2SO4 (% weight)

Effect of hydrochloric acid concentration on Effect of sulfuric acid concentration on pickling time
pickling time at various temperatures. at various temperatures.

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 Advantages of chemical cleaning
• Formulations can be adjusted to meet individual requirements in
removing scale from various ferrous and nonferrous alloys

• Equipment required is simple, relatively inexpensive, materials are

relatively low in cost, and process control usually is not difficult

• Adaptable to products of virtually any size or shape and installations can

be adapted to either low or high, intermittent or continuous production

• Temperatures used will not affect properties of heat treated steel

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 Disadvantages of chemical cleaning
• Hydrogen embrittlement  for carbon and alloy steels of high carbon
content

• Need fume control and disposal of spent acids are major problems

• Excessive pitting may occur in the pickling of cast steels and irons

• Process is likely to deposit smut on cast iron

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 Electrolytic cleaning
• Electrolytic cleaning is a modification of alkaline cleaning in which
an electrical current is imposed on the part to produce vigorous gassing
on the surface to promote the release of soils.
• Electro cleaning types:
• Anodic cleaning  is also called "reverse cleaning,"
• Cathodic cleaning  is called "direct cleaning."
• The release of oxygen gas under anodic cleaning or hydrogen gas under
cathodic cleaning in the form of tiny bubbles from the work surface greatly
facilitates lifting and removing surface soils.
• Effective as a final cleaning process for removing oil and grease from
machined surfaces when extreme cleanness is required

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 Electrolytic alkaline cleaning
It is almost always used for final cleaning before electroplating of items such as precision steel
parts (fitted to ±0.0076 mm, or ±0.0003 in.) in refrigeration and air conditioning equipment.
• Soak in alkali, 45 to 60 g/L (6 to 8 oz/gal) at 77 to 88 °C (170 to 190 °F) for 1 to 2 min. Energy
saving, solventized-alkaline low-temperature soak cleaners, suitable for ferrous and nonferrous
metals are available. Similarly, low-temperature electrocleaners are also used. Both operate at 27 to
49 °C (80 to 120 °F).
• Alkaline clean with reverse current, using current density of 5 A/dm2 (50 A/ft2), same time,
concentration, and temperature as in step 1. Avoid making the part cathodic when cleaning
highstrength steels or titanium to avoid hydrogen embrittlement.
• Rinse in cold water containing chromic acid for rust prevention.
• Rinse in cold water containing ammonia.
• Rinse in hot water containing 0.1% sodium nitrate.
• Dry in hot air.
• Place parts in solvent emulsion prior to manganese phosphate coating.

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 Abrasive cleaning
Process
• Uses small sharp particles propelled by an air stream or water jet to impinge on the surface,
removing contaminants by the resulting impact force.

Applications
• A wide variety of abrasive media in many sizes is available to meet specific needs. Abrasive cleaning
is often preferred for removing heavy scale and paint, especially on large, otherwise inaccessible
areas. Abrasive cleaning is also frequently the only allowable cleaning method for steels sensitive to
hydrogen embrittlement.

Special case
• This method of cleaning is also used to prepare metals, such as stainless steel and titanium, for
painting to produce a mechanical lock for adhesion because conversion coatings cannot be applied
easily to these metals.
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 Advantages and disadvantages of abrasive cleaning
• Advantages
• A variety of equipment and
abrasives is available
• Does not interfere with properties
established by heat treatment
• Size of workpiece is limited only
by available equipment
• A wide variety of shapes can be
blasted
• All metals can be safely blasted
• Adaptable to either intermittent low
or continuous high production
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• Disadvantages
• Some of the metal will be abraded
from workpieces, especially from
corners. May alter dimensions of
machined parts or damaged corners
• If sufficiently drastic to remove scale,
process may cause more surface
etching or roughness than can be
tolerated
• Complex configurations will not
receive equal blasting on all surfaces
without special handling, which may
be too costly
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 Ultrasonic cleaning
A very high frequency sound wave pass through liquid
cleaners, which can be alkaline, acid, or even organic
solvents.

The passage of ultrasonic waves through the liquid

medium creates tiny gas bubbles, which provide a
vigorous scrubbing action on the parts being cleaned.

It is ideal for lightly soiled work with intricate shapes,

surfaces, and cavities that may not be easily cleaned
by spray or immersion techniques.
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 Advantages and disadvantages of ultrasonic cleaning
• Advantages
• Removal of tightly adhering or
embedded particles from solid surfaces
and fine particles from powder-
metallurgy parts
• Cleaning of small precision parts, such
as those for cameras, watches, or
microscopes
• Cleaning of parts made of precious
metals, parts with complex
configurations (when extreme cleanness
is required), parts for hermetically sealed
units, printed circuit cards and electronic
assemblies
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• Disadvantages
• The high capital cost of the power supplies
and transducers that comprise the system
• Part size is a limitation, although no definite
limits have been established.
• The commercial use of ultrasonic cleaning
has been limited principally to small parts.
• The process is used as a final cleaner only,
after most of the soil is removed by another
method.
• Ultrasonic cleaning, in some cases, has
resulted in fatigue failure of parts. Proper
racking and isolation from tank wall will
often solve this problem.
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 Mechanical cleaning
MECHANICAL CLEANING SYSTEMS are available for most industrial production applications to
remove contaminants and prepare the work surface for subsequent finishing or coating
operations.
• Removing rust, scale, dry solids, mold sand, ceramic shell
coatings, or dried paint
• Roughening surfaces in preparation for bonding, painting,
enameling, or other coating substances
• Removing large burrs or weld spatter
• Developing a uniform surface finish, even when slightly
dissimilar surfaces are present
• Removing flash from rubber or plastic molding operations
• Carving or decorative etching of glass, porcelain, wood,
or natural stone such as granite or marble

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 Substrate Considerations
The selection of a cleaning process must be based on the substrate being cleaned
as well as the soil to be removed.
• Metals such as aluminum and magnesium require special consideration because of their
sensitivity to attack by chemicals. Aluminum is dissolved rapidly by both alkalis and
acids. Magnesium is resistant to alkaline solutions with pH values up to 11, but is
attacked by many acids.
• Copper is merely stained by alkalis, yet severely attacked by oxidizing acids (such as
nitric acid) and only slightly by others.
• Zinc and cadmium are attacked by both acids and alkalis.
• Steels are highly resistant to alkalis and attacked by essentially all acidic material.
Corrosion resistant steels, also referred to as stainless steels, have a high resistance to
both acids and alkalis, but the degree of resistance depends on the alloying elements.
• Titanium and zirconium have come into common use because of their excellent
chemical resistance. These two metals are highly resistant to both alkalis and acids
with the exception of acid fluorides which attack them rapidly and severely.

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 SELECTION OF CLEANING METHOD
• INITIAL CONDITION OF SURFACE (RUST GRADE)
• The initial condition of surfaces for preparation
• Determines the choice and mode of execution of the preparation measures and the
relevant reference sample to be used, must be determined.
• NEW CONSTRUCTION (UNCOATED SURFACES)
• Grade of steel, special treatments or methods have an effect on the preparation (e.g., use
of cold rolling or deep drawing methods).
• MAINTENANCE (COATED SURFACE)
• Rust level of coated surfaces according to standards such as DIN 53210 and ASTM D
610
• Type of coating (e.g., type of binder and pigment, metal coating), approximate coat
thickness, and date when carried out
• Extent of blistering according to DIN 53209 and ASTM D 714
• Additional information—e.g., on adhesion, cracking, chemical and other contaminants,
and other significant phenomena
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 Rust grade (uncoated)
(A) (B) (A) Steel surface covered with firmly adhesive
scale and largely free of rust;

(B) steel surface with the beginning of rust attack;

(C) steel surface from which scale has been rusted

(C) (D) away or can be scraped off, but which exhibits
only a few rust pits visible to the eye;

(D) steel surface from which the scale has been

rusted away and exhibits numerous visible rust
pits.

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 The degree of cleanliness (Rust grade of coated
surfaces)

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 Standard Levels of Cleanliness for prepared steel
surfaces (example)

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 DEGREE OF ROUGHNESS (SURFACE
PROFILE)
• Blast-cleaning produces a roughened surface, and the profile size is
important.
• The surface roughness achieved for each quality of surface finish depends
mainly upon the type and grade of abrasive used.
• Unless otherwise specified by the company, the amplitude of the surface
roughness of the steel work should be between 0.1 and 0.03 mm for
painting, coating, and lining.
• Table 1.3 gives the range of maximum and average maximum profile
heights of various abrasives to be expected under normal good operation
conditions (wheel and nozzle). If excessively high air pressure or wheel
speed is used, the profile may be significantly higher

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