EB/UV treatment of protective coatings for porous materials

A method for improving surface properties of porous inorganic materials is presented. The method is particularly tailored to cement-based materials in order to obtain properties suitable for mechanical applications such as di es manufacturing, where hardness, abrasion resistance and low friction are requested. The coating system is based upon using two coatings of different characteristics. The underlying base coating layer is infiltrated in air o n three different formulations of hardened cement composite. Two different bi-component resins, one relatively soft and the other relatively hard, wer e tested as underlying surface coating. The outer surface coating, based up on a bicomponent resin characterized by high hardness, is added after harde ning and curing of the first layer. Both coatings were chemically hardened and then cured with EB, UV curing is also suitable for the outer surface co ating. An experimental campaign was carried out in order to evaluate the in fluence of radiation processing as curing treatment with reference to parti cular investigated materials. Hardness and resistance to peeling of coating systems have been measured and are presented. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevi er Science Ltd. All rights reserved.