The Environmentally Responsible Choice
Reducing Rebar Repercussions - The top 5 rebar coating issues
(and realistic, responsible and resourceful coating solutions for your repertoire)
Rebar has an incredibly important job to do and worrying about the coating should be the last thing the construction team have on their minds. Our rebar experts have seen it all over the years and have taken these 5 most common rebar coating issues into account in the careful design and manufacture of IFS Pureflex FBE. Read on to discover the 5 most common rebar coating concerns – and why now you don’t have to worry about most of them.
1. Let’s start with the big one; corrosion. Rust, corrosion, whatever you want to call it, is a problem. It causes premature cracking or spalling of the concrete, which then requires early repair of the bridge deck, column, or pad. Pureflex FBE delivers excellent corrosion resistance to extend the life of all structures using epoxy powder coated rebar.
2. Next up; coating flexibility. Fabricating epoxy coated bars can be challenging in cold weather, (sometimes even in warm climates too), and causes some coatings to crack at the bend. These cracks must then be repaired with an approved two component touch up material to prevent corrosion at the point of the crack. Enter Pureflex FBE, flexing its muscles. Pureflex has been formulated to offer excellent coating flexibility regardless of the weather or bend radius.
3. Our next issue is cobwebbing. Sometimes called “cotton candy” (though to be honest, that sounds much nicer than this issue really is, so we’ll stick with the more grim sounding cobwebbing), this phenomenon occurs in the powder coating booth at the tips of the application guns if the powder has not been manufactured properly. The cobwebs create clogging in the filters and can also cause film thickness inconsistencies – both a pain in the proverbial to sort out. Pureflex is formulated and manufactured to very precise standards to prevent this common coating issue.
4. Moving to the job site, next up is field damage. Unfortunately, this is very common at the job site. Improper handling, for example dragging a coated bar across other coated bars, may remove small amounts of coating from the bars. This damage must then be repaired with an approved two component touch up material to prevent corrosion at the damaged site.
“Make the rebar harder!” I hear you shout from the sidelines. Seems like the obvious answer right? Unfortunately because of the flexibility required for fabrication (remember the bend etc.), it prevents the powder manufacturer from formulating a harder surface coating which would reduce the issue at the job site. In this case, only correct handling of the bars will stop the damage from being created.
5. Last, but very definitely not least, film thickness. Applying the correct, and consistent film thickness is imperative in this market. While the specification requires 7-12 mils of epoxy, some states have an eight mil minimum. Epoxy coating standards require constant monitoring to maintain the proper film thickness. Pureflex is manufactured with a precise particle size distribution curve to allow applicators ease in maintaining this coating range.
Like we said, rebar has an incredibly important job to do and worrying about the coating should be the last thing the construction team have to think about. With Pureflex, they don’t have to.