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 dies 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 on three different formulations of hardened cement composite. Two different bi-component resins, one relatively soft and the other relatively hard, were tested as underlying surface coating. The outer surface coating, based upon a bi-component resin characterized by high hardness, is added after hardening 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 coating. An experimental campaign was carried out in order to evaluate the influence of radiation processing as curing treatment with reference to particular investigated materials. Hardness and resistance to peeling of coating systems have been measured and are presented.