| We assist attorneys in lawsuits (plaintiff and defense) due to paint and coating failures in product liability litigation. Expert opinions on completeness of specifications, surface preparation of steel, aluminum, galvanizing, appropriate selection of paint, primer, topcoat, powder coatings; defects, such as blistering, adhesion, peeling, cracking, flaking, dry film thickness, brittle failure, spalling; process controls such as mixing, viscosity, spray gun settings, curing, baking, oven temperatures, packaging, blocking. Specifications: Engineers frequently improperly or inadequately specify surface preparation prior to painting. They might also select coatings that are not suitable for the product and its intended use. We examine the specifications and provide expert opinion on the adequacy of the specification. Process Controls During Painting: Paint dry film thickness might be too thick or too thin. Paint spray guns might be used with too high or too low an atomizing air pressure. Some coatings rely on mixing of two components in the correct ratios, yet painters might have eye-balled the mixture. Similarly, plural component metering and mixing equipment might go off ratio without the painters being aware of it. Too many coats of paint are often applied one on top of the other, but not sufficient drying time between coats is allowed. Coatings that cure by baking in an oven are frequently subjected to high temperatures too soon. Baking ovens are not calibrated, or perhaps they have hotspots where the paints overbake. Quality Control: The majority of paint failures can be prevented with proper quality control procedures that include the following: measuring abrasive blast profile, confirming surface preparation (pretreatment) chemical concentrations, confirming spray gun settings, checking for cleanliness of compressed air, evaluation of incoming paints, coatings & powder coatings, measuring color, gloss, DOI, wet adhesion, dry adhesion, dry film thickness, wet film thickness, mixing ratio’s, complete curing, oven temperature, packaging, blocking. For more paint failure images, see our expert witness paint defects on construction projects page. |
