Erosion–corrosion of thermally sprayed coatings in simulated splash zone

The damage of marine steel structures in the splash zone is very severe. Applying thermally sprayed metal coatings is among the most important protective technologies, but the service life of current coatings is limited. In this paper, arc spray was used to prepare four types of metal coatings, that is, aluminum (Al), zinc bottom coating combined with aluminum topcoat (Zn + Al), aluminum–zinc pseudo alloy (Al/Zn) and aluminum–titanium pseudo alloy (Al/Ti) coatings. These metal coatings were sealed with epoxy priming and aliphatic polyurethane topcoat. Erosion–corrosion experiments were carried out on self-made device by simulating the splash zone working environment of steel structures and protective coatings. The results show that all the sealed coatings could improve the steel resistance to erosion–corrosion, and the aluminum–zinc pseudo alloy is the most excellent coating. In the coating failure process, mechanical erosion rather than corrosion is the key factor causing coating erosion–corrosion in splash zone. Improving the anti-cutting properties could help to prolong the coating life.