Improvement of Stripping Ship Bottom Paint Efficiency by Adjusting Adhesion Strength of Ship Bottom Paint

Abstract

The main purpose of using bottom paint is to maintain the speed and hull condition of the vessel by preventing marine life from attaching to the bottom of the vessel.

When a ship is at sea for a long time, marine organisms are attached to vessel hull below the water line. The problem with removing the paint is that it takes a lot of time and effort, as the attached marine organisms must be removed manually with a spatula or similar tool. The purpose of this research is to improve the efficiency of peeling work by proposing the use of layered paints with different adhesive strengths as ship bottom paint. Adjusting the adhesive strength reduces the effort required for peeling work when docking. First, we confirmed that the proposed paint thickness could be used for multiple coatings. The t-test was performed for each coating thickness group, and it was confirmed that the coating could be applied in different thicknesses based on significant differences. Next, the cross-cut method was used to check the relative adhesion strength, and since most of the adhesion strength was rated 0, it was possible to demonstrate that the adhesion strength was suitable for practical applications.

A pull-off method was performed to investigate the adhesion of the proposed coating method in more detail. From the relationship between the measured adhesion and film thickness, it was found that sufficient adhesion can be obtained when the undercoat/topcoat film thickness is 0.5. In preparation for future practical use, we plan to examine resistance to sunlight and seawater.