Fusion-bonded epoxy is sprayed onto steel already heated to around 450 to 480 F, where it melts, gels within seconds and cures with the part's own heat. Films are thick, often 10 to 25 mils, and are checked with a high-voltage holiday detector. FBE is the workhorse external coating for oil and gas pipelines and the green coating on epoxy-coated rebar.
Joint coaters are short on FBE, so the field welds sit bare until the next truck shows.
FBE crews judge application temperature by how fast the powder gels on the pipe, and a cold pipe shows up later as holidays and poor adhesion.
Also heard as
- fusion-bonded epoxy
- fusion bond
Related terms
Epoxy powder
Powder based on epoxy resin, prized for chemical and corrosion resistance but weak in sunlight.
Holiday
A skip, void or pinhole in the coating where bare metal is exposed.
Fluidized bed
A tank of powder kept airborne by air blown up through a porous floor, used to dip preheated parts.
Anchor profile
The peak-to-valley roughness that blasting cuts into steel, giving the coating something to grip.