British Standard Specifications coatings

A great deal of work has been done and is still carried out on the development of environmental tests especially for coatings on glass and plastics for example, US Military specifications, United Kingdom specifications for aircraft equipment, British Standard Institute specifications, German DIN specification, etc. This has already resulted in a number of specifications which are equivalent to the most severe conditions ever likely to be met in both tropical and polar climates. The most often used test specifications are summarized in Table 8a. 

There are a large number of standard test methods available for paints to ensure that specific performance criteria are met. The most widely used standards originate from the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), British Standards Institution (BSI), Deutsche Institut fiir Normung (DIN), and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The methods used will depend on the paint type and intended application. A selection of methods is described below that are likely to be used for water-based coatings. 

Guidance on life to first maintenance is given in BS 5493 (British Standards Institution, 1977), a Code of Practice for protective coating of iron and steel structures against corrosion. The concept is to consider first the time required before maintenance and then choose a system from the alternatives offered for that service environment one looks next at the notes relative to each component of a protective system and then at the product specifications. The full document (BS 5493) gives more details. The tables prepared from this document by AM S Europe are particularly useful and important and are reproduced as Figs. 2.30 and 2.31. 

British Standards Institute, BS 5599 (1993). Specification for Hard Anodic Oxidation Coatings on Aluminium and Its Alloys for Engineering Purposes. 

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