CCS Bonders
CCS Injection
Preparation of Surfaces in Bonding, Coating and Flooring
CCS Grouts
CCS Coatings Establishment of a strong bond to the
substrate is one of the most important
CCS Binders
prerequisites for successful
Coating and Crack performance of construction polymers
Quantity Calculator in almost all applications. Failure to
Product Spec Template establish a strong bond during or
disbonding soon after application can
lead to failure in bonding applications
in the placement of fresh (plastic) on
old concrete, external reinforcement
Projects (steel plate bonding), bolt or dowel
Tech Links grouting, in crack repair and in many
other uses. Coatings and other
- FAQ's
surfacings, weakly bonded to the
- Structural Concrete Repair substrate will fail to provide the expected protection, may show the typical failures of
- Crack Injection Specification delaminating, peeling, blistering and cracking and may actually hide destructive actions
> Surface Preparation under the surface, until massive failure occurs.
- Bonding Old-to-New
Concrete
A very high percentage of warranty and other remedial work in construction polymer uses
is necessitated by the fact that the substrate on which these products were placed was not
- Intro to Construction properly evaluated and/or surface preparation was inadequate for the application.
Polymers
- Plate Bonding The strength of the bond to the substrate (or the internal surface of a substrate hole) must
- Coating Guide be high enough to resist the forces the bonded member or object may exert. The bond
and the bonding agent must never become the site where stresses can concentrate.
Stresses must be transmitted by the bonding agent to the substrate where they are
distributed and rendered harmless within the limits of the application. For a successful
bonding application the strength of the substrate surface (as an indicator of its bulk
strength) is equally as important as a clean surface, the absence of contaminants and the
best profile that can be achieved.
Coatings and other surfacings in construction polymer applications are generally used to
protect a substrate from mechanical abuse or chemical attack. In "on grade" concrete floor
applications the forces of hydrostatic pressure cannot be resisted, when a weak bond was
established and/or an unsuitable bonding agent (primer) was used. Design performance of
all products can be expected only when a strong bond to the substrate was established
during application and is maintained in use.
Surface Evaluation
The following tests are recommended to evaluate the surface condition of concrete and
other substrates and the effectiveness of surface preparation.
Strength
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The strength of the surface in direct tension may be determined by a pipe cap pull-off test
(ACI 503 R-93) or with the aid of an Elcometer adhesion tester (ASTM D 4547).
On concrete the preferred method depends on the surface texture. Coarse aggregate
appearing in the surface requires use of the pipe cap pull-off test. Surfaces with sufficient
fine aggregate, steel and wood can be tested with the Elcometer adhesion tester.
For concrete, the pull-off strength should be at least 200 psi. One test should be carried
out for every 200 square foot area. The test frequency should be increased in critical and
in questionable areas. On masonry failure within the substrate surface at values above 50
psi generally indicates adequacy for bonding applications. The pull-off strength on steel
surfaces is generally greater than 1000 psi. For wood surfaces, tearing failure in the wood
grain indicates an adequate bond.
Contaminants
The presence of grease, wax or oils on a concrete surface may be detected by placing a
small amount of muriatic acid on it. No reaction indicates that contaminants are present.
Oils that may have penetrated the concrete may be detected by raising the temperature of
a small area to about 150 F with a heat lamp.
Presence of oil is indicated if the area becomes "greasy" to the touch. The presence of
bond breakers is more difficult to detect and requires use of the tensile pull-off test. Low
bond strength and failure at the concrete/adhesive bond line indicate the presence of a
bond breaker.
On steel and wood surfaces contamination can generally be detected by visual inspection.
In questionable cases a pull-off test is recommended to establish the bondability of a
surface.
Surface Preparation
Concrete
Remove grease, wax and other contaminants by scrubbing with an industrial detergent or
degreasing compound and follow with mechanical cleaning. Remove weak or deteriorated
concrete down to sound concrete by bush-hammering, grit blasting, scarifying,shot-
blasting, water blasting or other suitable mechanical means. Remove dirt, dust, laitance
and curing compounds by sand or grit blasting.
Masonry
Remove dirt dust, laitance, deteriorated surfaces and other contaminants by sand or grit
blasting.
Steel
Remove dirt, grease and oil with suitable industrial grade cleaning and degreasing
compounds.Remove paint, rust, and mill scale by sand- or grit blasting. Follow sand- or
grit blasting with oil-free dry air blasting. The steel surfaces must be cleaned to "white
metal" according to SSPC SP 5.
Wood
Remove all surface contaminants with sandpaper; follow cleaning procedure with air
blasting using oil-free, dry air.
Rubber
Roughen surface to be bonded with coarse sandpaper to remove all surface contaminants
and create a surface for interlock with the bonding agent.
The adequacy of any cleaning procedure should be confirmed by tensile bond adhesion
tests. For concrete surfaces the recommended test frequency is indicated under "Surface
Evaluation". For other surfaces visual inspection generally suffices.
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