Carbon Steel

Introduction

Over the course of Madison’s thirty-five year history, steel has been our most common substrate. Our polyurethane, epoxy, acrylic and polyurea coatings have been used on literally tens of millions of square feet of steel, everything from sheet metal to the heaviest plate. Typical end uses include storage tanks of all sorts (above and below ground, shop fabricated and field erected), pipelines, power poles, water/wastewater infrastructural, marine, petrochemical, wind towers and structural steel. Service conditions run the gamut from atmospheric to embedded and immersion applications. Our coatings are in service from Alaska to South Africa, from Taiwan to Abu Dhabi.

Atmospheric Service

For atmospheric service, a number of formats and systems are used, depending on the industry and the anticipated service conditions.

For many applications, a single coat of direct-to-metal aliphatic polyurethane will provide the desired service life; check out our AcrylaThane line. For longer service or more hostile environments, the applicator can start with one of our corrosion primers, either a barrier type for moderate service (CorroPrime) or Zinc rich for severe service (AlumiZinc ‘S’), either on their own or topcoated.

For fast turnaround, consider our plural component aliphatic product, TufSheen II. For maximum service life, start with a plural component aromatic product from our CorroCote line and, if UV stability is a priority, finish with an aliphatic topcoat.

Madison now offers waterborne products as well. These low odour, low VOC, user friendly products are ideal for light to medium duty. Check out our FusionClad family of polyurethanes and acrylics.

Embedded and Immersion Service

For embedded and immersion service, there is a wide variety of choices. Check out the various products in our CorroCote line. Some are plural component, instant-setting: CorroCote II Classic, CorroCote II Plus, CorroCote II Ultra and CorroCote II PW are a few examples. Others are Mix-and-Apply products, such as CorroCote ‘S’, a paint-like polyurethane or our MG series of solvent-free epoxies that offer ease of use with zero VOC’s and outstanding performance.

Madison coatings enjoy a wide variety of approvals that relate to end uses such as potable water immersion and pipeline applications. Listings include UL 1746, NSF 61 and ISO 12944.

The ISO approvals are the latest in our arsenal. So far, seven of our products qualify for medium and heavy duty infrastructural applications from wind towers to petrochemical.

Application and Performance Advantages

Madison product ranges are very broad and, as such, offer a wide array of choices in terms of both application characteristics and performance attributes.

Some of the leading edge handling characteristics you can expect include¹:

• Curing at virtually any temperature, winter and summer
• Instant setting
• Non-flammable, solvent free and intrinsically safe
• Self-priming, direct to metal, one coat systems
• Application in a single multi-pass coat
• Setting times from seconds to hours
• Choice of formats: Plural Component, Mix-and-Apply and PreCatalyzed
• Easy touch-up and repair
• D.O.T. rated as “non-hazardous”
• High build
• Excellent edge retention and easy touch-up and repair
• Surface tolerant
• No-Blast technology

Important performance advantages include:

• Superior adhesion
• Excellent wet adhesion retention
• Resistance to chemical attack
• Resistance to gouging, abrasion and impact
• Flexibility and resistance to embrittlement
• UV stability
• Inert when cured; no risk of ‘tainting’ water supply
• Impermeability
• Resistance to disbondment and undercutting
• Several national and international approvals
• Low water absorption
• Low permeance
• Special versions with anti-microbial and/or ceramic modified modifications for additional performance protection

(1) Not all the above features apply to every product

Surface Preparation – Traditional

Traditional surface prep has been the norm and is still the most widely accepted. The level of preparation for Madison products is comparable to other generically-similar products. This ranges from a commercial blast to a white metal blast. The preferred blast media are traditional, with garnet, steel grit and sand being excellent choices. Non-angular grit and slag-based grit are discouraged. The amount of surface preparation is discussed in specific Technical Data Sheets, Application Instruction Brochures and project specifications.

Surface Preparation – Breakthrough

The coating of steel and other metallic structures is now faster and easier than ever before, thanks to Madison’s industry-leading surface-preparation technology. Madison’s No-Blast chemistry offers an inexpensive, non-invasive, easy-to-use alternative to traditional abrasive blasting for the vast majority of industrial and commercial applications.

Surface preparation consists simply of spraying Madison FerroGrip Surface Conditioner over the surface, leaving it for 30-45 minutes and power washing it off with ordinary water. FerroGrip is a completely non-hazardous, soap-like compound that looks like car wash foam. Upon contact with metals, it immediately goes to work, literally dissolving mill scale and oxidation, while removing contaminants and depositing a layer of Madison’s proprietary AP-50 Adhesion Promoter, all in a single step. When the surface is then coated with a Madison primer or coating containing the same AP-50 Adhesion Promoter, the synergy between FerroGrip and the topcoat provides adhesion comparable to a commercial abrasive blast.

Everyday Industrial Applications

The actual topcoat for a particular application is chosen based on the intended service and the desired life expectancy of the coating system. For routine exposure to normal commercial and industrial environments, Madison’s FusionClad series offers easy to use, water dispersible coatings that handle and apply similarly to latex paints. FusionClad Primer is fortified with AP-50 Adhesion Promoter. It is topped with one of two available finishing coats, FusionClad TC (acrylic-based) and FusionClad TC Ultra (polyurethane-based).

A high-build, paint-like, one-coat solution for routine applications is AcrylaThane 55, a solvent-dispersed self-priming aliphatic/acrylic polyurethane. This quick curing, robust product is ideal for shop environments where quick throughput combined with paint-like handling characteristics are desired.

Heavy Duty Applications

For heavy duty applications, including embedded or underground structures, there are many choices. Where Mix-and-Apply is the format of choice, consider starting with one of two solvent-dispersible primers, CorroPrime (a single component, general purpose corrosion primer) or AlumiZinc “S”(the next generation of high performance Zinc Rich Primer). Both of these primers contain AP-50 Adhesion Promoter. Topcoat with any suitable Madison product. For aqueous immersion (e.g., water storage tanks), our MG-120 Epoxy can be teamed up with No-Blast technology. We’ll help you choose the right coating system based on the anticipated service conditions.

Severe Service

For more severe conditions such as immersion in fluids other than potable water, abrasive blasting is still the best choice but our new technology will still provide a performance advantage. Any Madison primer or topcoat containing AP-50 will achieve adhesion values about 50% higher than one would normally expect compared to a coating not containing this unique additive.

Madison offers a wide array of robust coatings in three different formats: plural component, Mix-and-Apply and PreCatalyzed. The charts below provide guidelines.