Bonding poor substrates

Research and Development Chemist, Jason Horn said, “Over the years, we have had many conversations with engineers across a range of industries who have expressed the need for a quick-curing repair system suitable for a large variety of application situations. This includes problem areas such as water, oil and fuel leaks on storage tanks, pipework, transformers, sumps, etc. In response to this, our R&D team has developed an extremely versatile, easy-to-use system that can be applied in any industry where the repair and protection of machinery, equipment, buildings and structures is required.”

One of the major challenges faced by maintenance engineers across many industries is the extremely limited amount of time in which an urgent repair, such as a pipe or tank leak, must be carried out. In the real world, when a rapid repair is required, ideal surface preparation is not always an option. However many available repair solutions are not always compatible with minimal surface preparation, and therefore can often lead to failure.

Belzona 1212 has been specifically designed to bypass the need of grit-blasting while still providing excellent adhesion to surfaces contaminated with an extensive range of oils and fuels, wet surfaces or even underwater. Following a rigorous series of tests using surfaces contaminated with a selection of commonly encountered oils and fuels, the manufacturers claim that Belzona 1212 demonstrated strong adhesion to non-grit-blasted surfaces.

Many application environments, such as marine and splash zones, require a water tolerant repair system. Belzona 1212 displaces water from the substrate and can be applied to damp or underwater surfaces yielding excellent adhesion (Pull-Off Adhesion (ASTM D4541) 17mpa (2500 psi) in underwater application and cure). Therefore when a corrosion repair is required, for example on a vessel, instead of taking the vessel out of service for dry dock repair, the corrosion spots can be easily and successfully fixed in situ, cutting out unnecessary downtime.

The manufacturer’s research claims that following a 90 minute cure at 20°C (68°F), a one inch square bracket bonded with Belzona 1212 will be able to support a tensile load of greater than 200kg (440lbs). After a 4 hour cure at 20°C (68°F), the same bracket will be able to support a load of greater than 1000kg (2200lbs).

By Jake Frith