Frictional Wear Study of Self-polishing Antifouling Coatings Without Tin Under Deep-Sea Pressure

Deep-sea fouling organisms, such as deep-sea bacteria, can seriously affect the performance of deep-sea equipment. Concurrently, the high-pressure environment of the deep sea can exacerbate the frictional wear of antifouling coatings, which in turn affects the performance of marine equipment. The studied self-polishing antifouling coatings without tin (SPACWT) have excellent antimicrobial effects while having a slow hydrolysis rate in seawater. A friction and wear simulation calculation model is established based on the developed antifouling coating. Based on the Archard wear model, non-linear mesh adaptation is used to improve mesh quality when the model is subject to extensive wear. A grid-independent validation is performed to balance computational resources with the accuracy of the results. The friction and wear performance of SPACWT is investigated at different depth pressures. Material removed due to wear, changes in contact pressure and area due to wear are included. In this study, a new type of deep-sea antifouling coating is proposed, and its friction and wear characteristics are investigated. It can provide new ideas for the design of high-performance coatings for the harsh conditions of deep-sea engineering equipment.