AUTUMN ISSUE 2009

A Curly Job for Dulux Protective Coatings

Working with mild steel presents both design and specification challenges for architects and engineers alike. With the high chemical reactivity in the presence of water, oxygen and ions, the ability to ensure that the steel will be adequately protected from environmental elements becomes complicated. Especially when ensuring the steel will also meet and exceed its design life.

"Great Petition", a new public artwork designed by Melbourne artists Penelope Lee and Susan Hewitt, has been installed in Burston Reserve Melbourne, near the Parliament of Victoria. The sculpture represents the Women's Suffrage "Monster Petition" submitted to Parliament 100 years ago, a petition measuring 260 metres, supporting the right of women to vote.

"Great Petition" appears to be a flowing scroll of paper unrolling across the lawn; a concrete footpath appears to hold down one section of the scroll, allowing people to walk though the artwork.

As the sculpture is entirely fabricated from mild steel, long term protection against the elements is required. And, given the high visibility and significance of the sculpture, the protective coating needs to have high aesthetic appeal and resist defacement by spray paint.

To provide satisfactory protection of the "Great Petition" from corrosion and graffiti, the protective coating specification called for a combination of high quality Dulux Protective Coatings products with: Dulux Zincanode 402 (corrosion control primer), Duremax GPE (high build epoxy intermediate), Weathermax® HBR UV resistant and graffiti resistant polyurethane topcoat.

Dulux Protective Coatings is a proud sponsor of "Great Petition", having provided coating specifications, technical support, samples and coatings in support of this significant public artwork.

Learn more about Mild Steel ►
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Return Trip to Richmond Station

and Graffiti Resistant Coatings

The Richmond Railway Station project was featured in our very first PC Update e-newsletter, launched two years ago. It generated quite some interest, especially among facility managers and architects working on public spaces. We revisit this project after its third anniversary to see how the coating system has stood the test of time (and numerous graffiti attacks).

Richmond Railway Station is a high volume, inner suburban station carrying sports fans and tourists to the Melbourne Park Tennis Centre, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Olympic Park and busy shopping strips.

The project involved a complete visual transformation of ten platforms, under pass and concourse, in readiness for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. The dull, lifeless, graffiti-blighted concrete structure underwent a dramatic change into a clean, slick, superb public art space.

The project design team at Cox Architects and Planners provided mural designs involving distorted matrices of elipses to give the brilliant illusion of curves, waves and movement, whilst bold silhouettes of Australia’s sporting heroes race across the walls. Some of these silhouettes are up to seven meters tall! The Richmond Football Club colours of yellow and Black are echoed in the colour scheme of Richmond Station: Dulux "Sulphur", Dulux "Black" and Dulux "Vivid White" pay tribute to the Richmond Football Club located across the road.

How could the murals be protected from inevitable defacement by graffiti?

A coating system comprising of AcraTex® 955 AcraShield® Matt, Dulux Weathershield® Gloss and Dulux Protective Coatings Acrathane® IF Clear Coat were used for the Brunton Avenue wall.

The platform sidings received similar treatment on one side and a combination of Dulux Protective Coatings Durebild® STE and Weathermax® HBR on the other.

Not long after the Commonwealth Games had concluded, a significant area of wall was attacked with graffiti. An elaborate motif including the face of the Warner Brothers Bugs Bunny was spray-painted onto one of the platform sidings, noted by railway staff to have appeared in stages spanning three nights.

With the plethora of graffiti-removing products available on the market, and the Project Architect’s concern that the graffiti had to be completely removed without affecting the mural, Dulux Graffiti Eraser™ was specified for the job.

What took three days for the creator of the graffiti to complete, took Urban Maintenance Systems only 10 minutes to remove using Dulux Graffiti Eraser™ and a medium pressure water wash. There was no loss of gloss, discoloration or shadowing and no trace of the graffiti at all.

In fact, the before and after shot became the basis of a new and successful print advertisement by Dulux® Protective Coatings.

Graffitist's are attracted to broad wall areas with high visibility, particularly those that are rarely cleaned as these walls present a more permanent showcase for their "art" or tags. It is a well-known fact that where graffiti is removed almost immediately, subsequent graffiti is much slower to appear, as such areas are not deemed to be worth the effort. Also, tags are more likely to appear on walls already carrying tags, as the ego of the graffitist will not allow a rival's tag to remain unchallenged.

So, how are Dulux's Protective Coatings holding up on this iconic railway station after three years? Very well indeed, if you go by the continued absence of graffiti. An impromptu visit to Richmond Station recently found no graffiti at all on any painted areas.

Thanks to Dulux Protective Coatings, Richmond Station continues to delight commuters and visitors unblemished.

Learn more about graffiti and Graffiti Resistant Coatings ►
Learn more about Acrathane® IF ►
Learn more about Weathermax® HBR ►

Tech Note - Millscale

Millscale is often present on raw steel (milled steel) and is frequently mistaken for a blue-coloured primer. Often the smooth and uniform surface deceives the observer into thinking that the steel is perfectly suitable for painting with minimal surface preparation!

Painting over millscale, however tempting, is a futile exercise as the presence of millscale on the steel surface actually accelerates the corrosion of the underlying steel. This corrosion process occurs regardless of any high performance corrosion resistant protective coating systems that may have been applied.

So what is millscale exactly? Millscale is a type of iron oxide that is formed on the surface of the steel during the hot-rolling process. The very high surface temperature combined with high roller pressures result in a smooth, bluish grey surface.

How does millscale cause corrosion? Millscale is less reactive (more "noble") than the steel underneath, and consistent with the behaviour of two dissimilar metals when in contact, the less noble metal will corrode at the expense of the more noble metal. The image clearly shows bluish millscale flaking off the rusted steel underneath under the protective coating.

Learn more about Millscale ►
Learn more about Corrosion Protection ►

Rep In Focus

In this issue, we meet dynamic Dulux Protective Coatings Technical Sales Executive, Malcolm Lunn. Malcolm is based in Adelaide, South Australia.

Q. Hi Malcolm, how would you define your role?
A. Sometimes stressful but as my wife often says... "It's a boy thing"

Q. What has been your most interesting job in your current role?
A. Corrosion surveying Olympic Dam.

Q. What is your favourite PC product, and why?
A. Durebild STE - Our best "fix-it" product as it (almost) does it all!

Q. If you had the opportunity to paint a national icon, what would it be, and with what?
A. AAMI Stadium light poles...with Dulux Weathermax HBR in Crows colours.

Q. What do you do to relax?
A. Read fiction - not technical data!

Q. If you were compelled to write an advertising jingle for Dulux Protective Coatings, what would it be?
A. "Protect now before it's too late."

For more information on Malcolm’s favourite products, visit our Dulux Protective Coatings website!

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