Accelerated Testing of Antifouling Coatings for Use on Offshore Structures

The need to develop a suitable antifouling coating for offshore structures is discussed. Existing methods for the evaluation of potential antifouling candidates are described and attention is drawn to their inadequacies. A new method for accelerated testing of antifouling coatings is presented. This system ages the coating under highly aerated and agitated seawater conditions before exposing the samples to biofouling under static immersion at a seawater exposure site. Results of some preliminary tests are given.