The fiberglass/epoxy-based shaft coatings commonly used today are quite brittle and not sufficiently flexible to withstand long term shaft flexure resulting from bending and torsional stresses that occur during operation. This failure usually occurs initially at the joint between the coating and shaft liner. Once the coating cracks, seawater often migrates along the shaft resulting in significant non-visible corrosion. This is a major concern with open system propeller shafts and one that is alleviated with the use of ThorShield.
Should ThorShield suffer impact damage, it tends to fail locally resulting in some of the coating remaining on the shaft continuing to offer corrosion protection. If the coating is damaged to the point where corrosion does occur, the corrosion is limited to the damaged area only and will not migrate along the shaft under the coating to unexposed areas. Localized damage can be easily repaired if necessary.
Thordon currently has Class Type Approvals from DNV-GL, BV, LR, ABS and CCS.