Method for the establishment of a crack resistant epoxy paint coat and paint compositions suitable for said method

A method for the establishment of a crack resistant epoxy paint coat at the surface represented by the interior of the angles formed between structural elements of a ballast-tank of a partly or fully submersible structure, said method comprising:

• (i) applying a paint composition comprising an epoxy-based binder system onto said surface thereby forming a curable paint film on said surface, wherein the epoxy-based binder system comprises (a) one or more epoxy resins selected from the group consisting of bisphenol A and bisphenol F and (b) one or more polyamidoamine or Mannich base curing agent, and
• (ii) allowing said curable paint film to cure at ambient temperature thereby forming the epoxy paint coat;
• wherein the paint composition has a viscosity of at the most 140 KU and comprises:
• 35-80% by solids volume of the paint of an epoxy-based binder system having a ratio between the hydrogen equivalents and the epoxy equivalents in the range of 60:100 to 120:100, and
• 0.5-30% by solids volume of the paint of one or more mineral fibres
• having an average length, of at the most 250 μm.