Contact Angle Measurements on Aircraft Coatings

Carole Moules, Camtel Ltd

Abstract： Contact angles using water were measuredon five coatings used on aircraft. These coatings are very uniform spatially but do exhibit hydration, meaning their contact angle changes as a function of exposure to the vapor of the test fluid (i.e., water). Therefore each contact angle was measured as a function of time, with t = 0 corresponding to the first contact of the water with the dry surface. Two contact angles can be identified: an initial angle and a steady-state angle. These surfaces equilibrated in about 15 seconds, as can be seen from the representative graphs of contact angle versus time presented below .