Flooring Coatings

Introduction:

There is a wide range of products for coating floors and many applicators. Most of the products used for floor coatings have high chemical and mechanical resistance. Undoubtedly the choice of floor coating shall depend on the environmental and operating conditions, but a good result will depend on the applicator.

Description of alternative products

Polymer Mortar is a mix of epoxy or vinylester resin with granulated solids of diverse mesh sizes performed in a mixer and then applied with conventional masonry techniques.

The most relevant properties are high resistance to compression and abrasion.

Its only disadvantage is low traction resistance, a condition which appears when environmental conditions change significantly.

As an example, the tabulation below shows the mechanical properties of this type of flooring coat.

Mechanical Properties of Polymer Mortar

The Chicken Feed type coating consists basically on wetting the substrate with vinylester resin and then sprinkling the surface with granulated solids of a certain mesh size. This procedure is carried out in stages or layers, achieving considerable thickness.

Its advantage is a very high resistance to compression and abrasion, it can be applied quickly and is not so demanding on applicator ability.

Its major disadvantage is the high coefficient of thermal expansion due to its high resin content, which added to a very low resistance to traction make this type inadvisable for outdoor application and spaces where there are many changes in direction and/or points where stresses converge.

As an example, the table below shows the range of mechanical properties for this product.

Mechanical properties of the Chicken Feed type coating

Both types of floor coatings have been carried out by our firm FIBRA S.A. in areas where the objective has been to protect floors from corrosion and high traffic and compression loads and where temperatures are stable. It is known to applicators and formulators worldwide that many floor coatings have shown cracks as a result of the low traction resistance that these possess, finally breaking the floor coating due to traffic.

High efficiency Coating

In spaces where there exists corrosion, heavy traffic and significant temperature variations, another scheme is applied, which basically consists of adding traction resistance properties to the systems previously described.

GRADE I

Application of a vinylester resin primer formulated with elastic agents, so as to seal the concrete substrate and to which the covering shall be chemically anchored,
Application of a mix of vinylester resin with high silica content (75%) and agents that reduce surface tension between the silica and the resin, reducing the viscosity of the whole and making application easier. Its main characteristic is the lower coefficient of thermal expansion. (14x10-6/°C).
Finish with a Top Coat of surface agent of vinylester resin with high silica content. The thickness of this protection is 0.5mm.

GRADE II

Application of a vinylester resin primer formulated with elastic agents, so as to seal the concrete substrate and to which the covering shall be chemically anchored
Application of a layer of multidirectional fiberglass of 450 gr/sq.mt plus another, bidirectional, of 600 gr/sq.mt and another of 450 gr/sq.mt of multidirectional fiberglass all impregnated with vinylester resin plus a high content of silica.(40%) . These layers provide traction resistance to the covering , maintaining a low coefficient of thermal expansion.
Application of vinylester resin with high silica content, and, before the curing process begins, a layer of solids of a certain mesh size by the Chicken Feed method so as to attain resistance to abrasion and compression.
Finally a Top Coat of vinylester resin with surface agent is applied.
The nominal thickness of this coating is 5mm.

GRADE III

Application of a vinylester resin primer formulated with elastic agents, so as to seal the concrete substrate and to which the covering shall be chemically anchored
Application of a layer of multidirectional fiberglass of 450 gr/sq.mt plus another, bidirectional, of 600 gr/sq.mt and another of 450 gr/sq.mt of multidirectional fiberglass all impregnated with vinylester resin plus a high content of silica.(40%) . These layers provide traction resistance to the covering , maintaining a low coefficient of thermal expansion.
Application of vinylester resin with high silica content, and, before the curing process begins, a layer of solids of a certain mesh size by the Chicken Feed method so as to attain resistance to abrasion and compression.
Application of a second coat of vinylester resin with high silica content before the curing process starts, a layer of solids of a certain mesh size by the Chicken Feed method so as to confer resistance to abrasion and compression.
Finally apply a Top Coat of vinylester resin with surface agent with a high silica content.
The nominal thickness of this coating shall be 7mm.

GRADE IV

Application of two layers of multidirectional fiberglass of 450 gr/sq.mt impregnated with vinylester resin of high silica content (40%) . This layer confers traction resistance to the coating, while keeping a low coefficient of thermal expansion.
Application of surface fiberglass veil type C of 30 gr/sq.mt impregnated with vinylester resin of high silica content so as to increase the watertightness of the coating, as it shall be permanently immersed.
Finally a Top Coat of Vinylester Resin with surface agent and high silica content is applied.
The nominal thickness of this coating is 3mm.

GRADE V

Application of a primer of vinylester resin with elastic agents to seal the concrete substrate and to which the rest of the coating shall be chemically anchored.
Application of bidirectional fiberglass of 600 gr/sq.mt plus two layers of multidirectional fiberglass of 450 gr/sq.mt , all impregnated with vinylester resin and high silica content (40%). These layers confer traction resistance to the coating, while maintaining a low coefficient of thermal expansion.
Application of surface fiberglass veil of 30 gr/sq.mt impregnated with vinylester resin of high silica content, so as to increase the watertightness, as it shall be permanently immersed.
Finally a Top Coat of vinylester resin with high silica content.
The nominal thickness of this coating is 4mm.

GRADE VI

Application of a primer of vinylester resin with elastic agents to seal the concrete substrate and to which the rest of the coating shall be chemically anchored.
Application of bidirectional fiberglass of 600 gr/sq.mt plus two layers of multidirectional fiberglass of 450 gr/sq.mt , all impregnated with vinylester resin and high silica content (40%). These layers confer traction resistance to the coating, while maintaining a low coefficient of thermal expansion
Finally the application of a Top Coat of surface agent and vinylester resin of high silica content.
The nominal thickness of this coating is 3mm.

GRADE VII

Application of a primer of vinylester resin with elastic agents to seal the concrete substrate and to which the rest of the coating shall be chemically anchored.
Application of multidirectional fiberglass of 450 gr/sq.mt , a bidirectional fiberglass of 600 gr/sq.mt plus a layer of multidirectional fiberglass of 450 gr/sq.mt , all impregnated with vynilester resin and high silica content (40%). These layers confer traction resistance to the coating, while maintaining a low coefficient of thermal expansion.

Application of vinylester resin with high content of silica and, before the curing begins, solids of a certain mesh size by the Chicken Feed method, so as to attain resistance to compression and abrasion.
Application of a second layer of vinylester resin with high silica content and, before the curing process begins, a layer of solids of defined mesh size through the Chicken Feed method so as to attain compression and abrasion resistance
Finally a Top Coat surface agent of vynilester resin with high silica content.
The nominal thickness of this coating is 5mm.

As an example, the values below show mechanical properties of those products described which contain fiberglass structure.

Properties of High Efficiency Coatings

To aid in comparison, the coefficient of thermal expansion of concrete, is 13x10-6/°C

Structure to be protected.

All concrete surfaces considered should be protected. The level of protection shall be in agreement with the degree of exposure defined for each particular surface. In case of doubt, the Technical Inspector of Works should be consulted and he shall define the surface and Grade accordingly.

Below are the different surfaces and their degrees of exposure:

Grade I: Cell supporting structures. Perimeter supports of electro-winning building on their three exposed faces.

Grade II: part of the electrowinning nave not subject to forklift traffic or laminate preparation.

Grade III: Floors of operation areas for cathode crop, including protection borders.

Grade IV: Drainage channels and pits in flooring in all inside areas of Electrowinning building.

Grade V: Drainage channels from Electrowinning to collector tank on tank farm. Drainage channels between heat exchangers.

Grade VI: Perimeter drains between mixer-decantators and channels and pits between these and solvent extractors.

Grade VII: Floors and drains at pumping stations for rich solution and refined solution in SX plant.

Summary Chart