This presentation will present and discuss the results of a NAVSEA funded program investigating the effects of common surface preparation methods on the material thickness loss of Navy substrates. The substrates used in this program were two high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels, a 5000 series aluminum, and a 6000 series aluminum alloy. The surface preparation methods studied included abrasive blasting with multiple media, two types of wet abrasive blasting, waterjetting at two pressures, and power tool preparation with 8 distinct tool options. The preparation methods were used in one of two applications. The first application was removing a typical Navy epoxy nonskid coating system to bare metal. Material loss of test samples was measured via weight loss, UT measurement, and micrometer measurement. Production rates and resulting surface profiles were also recorded. Samples were then recoated, and this testing performed for a total of 5 cycles to determine the effect of multiple instances of surface preparation on the material. Second, bare metal samples were subjected to constant surface preparation by each of the methods for progressive periods starting at 30 seconds to 10 minutes. This was used to determine the risk of substrate material loss through incorrect and excessive preparation.
