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ARMORTHANE PROTECTING YOUR WORLD

PROTECTING YOUR WORLD

ARMORTHANE PROTECTING YOUR WORLD

Abrasion
Resistant Coatings
That Last

Which coatings stand up to sliding, gouging and impact wear on chutes, hoppers, truck beds, floors and pipes, how polyurea compares with epoxy, urethane and rubber, and how abrasion is tested.
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  • Equipment or surface
  • Material handled
  • Sliding, impact or both
  • Steel, concrete or aluminum
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D4060
ASTM Taber abrasion test for coatings
ASTM International
Elastic
Elastomers absorb impact that chips hard coats
Industry practice
Thick
Wear life grows with film build
Industry practice
Seconds
Polyurea gel time; equipment back fast
Product data sheets

Abrasion is the slow killer of equipment. Gravel, ore, grain, sand and slurry grind away steel and concrete, and hard coatings chip the first time a rock lands on them. The best abrasion resistant coatings are often not the hardest ones: tough elastomers like polyurea and polyurethane absorb impact and shed sliding wear. This guide compares wear coatings and explains how to choose one for the way your surface actually wears.

Quick answer

An abrasion resistant coating protects a surface from wear caused by sliding, scraping, impact and erosion. For impact plus sliding wear on truck beds, chutes, hoppers and loader buckets, thick elastomeric polyurea and polyurethane linings usually outperform hard epoxies because they flex and rebound instead of chipping. For fine sliding wear and slurries, polyurethane and rubber linings are common; for severe high-temperature wear, ceramic tile or hardfacing may be needed. Abrasion resistance is often compared with the Taber test, ASTM D4060.

What's in this guide
  1. 1Types of wear
  2. 2Coatings compared
  3. 3How it is tested
  4. 4Where it is used
  5. 5Why polyurea
  6. 6FAQ
Start here

Know how it wears

Sliding

Sliding abrasion

Material sliding across a surface: grain in chutes, sand in truck beds.

Impact

Impact and gouging

Rocks and scrap dropping onto a surface. Hard coatings chip; elastomers rebound.

Erosion

Erosion

Slurry and particles carried in fluid, as in pipes and pump boxes.

Traffic

Traffic wear

Wheels, boots and dragged pallets on floors and decks.

Heat

Hot wear

Hot materials soften many coatings; check the service temperature.

Chemical

Wear plus chemicals

Abrasion and chemical attack together, as in mining and wastewater.

Compare

Abrasion resistant coatings compared

SystemHandlesWatch-outsBest fit
Spray polyureaImpact plus sliding wear; thick, seamlessCheck temperature limits and chemical exposureTruck beds, chutes, hoppers, trailers, equipment
Polyurethane elastomerFine sliding wear and slurry erosionMoisture sensitive during curePump boxes, screens, conveyors
Epoxy, aggregate-filledRolling and sliding traffic on floorsRigid; chips under impactIndustrial floors
Rubber liningSlurry and fine particle erosionSeams, bonding and replacement timePipes, tanks, mill liners
Ceramic tile or hardfacingSevere, hot, sharp abrasionWeight, cost, brittle under impactExtreme mining wear points
Typical comparison. Product data sheets and field trials govern.
Hardness is not the whole storyA hard coating with poor impact resistance can fail faster than a softer elastomer that absorbs the hit. Match the coating to the wear type.
Testing

How abrasion is measured

The Taber abraser test, ASTM D4060, spins a coated panel under abrasive wheels at a set load for a set number of cycles, then measures weight loss. Lower loss means better abrasion resistance under those conditions. It is useful for comparing coatings, but it does not reproduce impact or gouging. For heavy-duty linings, field trials and case histories on similar equipment matter just as much.

Compare like with likeTaber results depend on wheel type, load and cycles. Only compare numbers from the same test settings.
Where it fits

Where abrasion linings pay off

Trucks

Dump bodies and truck beds

Rock and gravel loads. See dump truck bed liner.

Mining

Chutes, hoppers and bins

Ore, aggregate and coal sliding and dropping.

Ag

Grain handling

Grain bins, legs and augers. See agricultural coatings.

Equipment

Loaders and attachments

Buckets, decks and fenders on heavy equipment.

Floors

Docks and floors

Loading docks and wash bays with heavy traffic.

Pipes

Slurry pipes and pump boxes

Erosion service; confirm the lining for the slurry and velocity.

Where we fit

Why polyurea for wear

  • Tough and elastic: rebounds from impact instead of chipping.
  • Thick in one visit: build up wear zones in multiple passes.
  • Seamless: no edges for material to catch and peel.
  • Fast: equipment goes back to work the same day in most cases.
  • Noise reduction: elastomers quiet rock drops in beds and chutes.

ArmorThane manufactures polyurea and the equipment to spray it. See polyurea products and our industrial coatings guide.

Wear linings

Line it once, stop replacing steel.

A certified ArmorThane applicator can look at your equipment and quote a wear lining with prep and thickness spelled out.

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FAQ

Abrasion resistant coating questions

What is the most abrasion resistant coating?

It depends on the wear. For impact plus sliding, thick polyurea and polyurethane elastomers usually last longest. For fine slurry erosion, polyurethane and rubber linings are common. For extreme hot wear, ceramic or hardfacing may be needed.

Is polyurea abrasion resistant?

Yes. Polyurea is tough and elastic, so it resists impact and sliding wear well, which is why it is used in truck beds, chutes and hoppers.

Is epoxy abrasion resistant?

Aggregate-filled epoxy resists rolling and sliding traffic on floors, but it is rigid and can chip under impact.

What is the Taber abrasion test?

ASTM D4060 abrades a coated panel with wheels under load for a set number of cycles and measures weight loss to compare coatings.

How thick should an abrasion resistant coating be?

Wear life grows with thickness. Heavy-wear linings are usually much thicker than paint; follow the product data sheet and the wear severity.

AT
Written by the ArmorThane technical team. We have manufactured polyurea, polyurethane and polyaspartic coatings, spray foam and plural-component spray equipment in Springfield, Missouri since 1989. Wear performance varies by product and service; always follow the product data sheet.

Sources

  1. ASTM D4060, abrasion resistance of organic coatings by the Taber abraser. store.astm.org/d4060-19.html
  2. Omega Research, a closer look at Taber abrasion testing. omegaresearchinc.com/a-closer-look-at-taber-abrasion-testing
  3. ArmorThane dump truck bed liner guide. armorthane.com/dump-truck-bed-liner

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