This is a practical guide to Surface Science for researchers working in the Shipbuilding Industry.
In this all-new guide you’ll learn all about:
Let’s dive right in.
In shipbuilding, many coating problems start at the surface under the paint. Oil, salt or residue left after blasting stops a coating from bonding, and the failure may not show until the ship is in service.
These are the places where wetting decides yield in shipbuilding work:
The Dropometer portable contact angle kit measures contact angle, surface and interfacial tension, surface free energy and sliding angle with one setup. Its method was validated against a KRUSS DSA100E in two peer reviewed papers. If you are new to the terms, start with wettability.
We use the following surface properties to understand the behavior of Shipbuilding products and improve their quality.
Sample Image taken from Droplet Lab Tensiometer.
Young – Laplace Method
Polynomial Method
Ideally, when we place a drop on a solid surface, a unique angle exists between the liquid and the solid surface. We can calculate the value of this ideal contact angle (the so-called Young’s contact angle) using Young’s equation. In practice, due to surface geometry, roughness, heterogeneity, contamination, and deformation, the contact angle value on a surface is not necessarily a single consistent value but rather falls within a range. The upper and lower limits of this range are known as the advancing and receding contact angles, respectively. The values of advancing and receding contact angles for a solid surface are highly sensitive to many parameters, such as temperature, humidity, homogeneity, and minor contamination of the surface and liquid. For example, the advancing and receding contact angles of a surface can differ at different locations.
Practical surfaces and coatings naturally show contact angle hysteresis, indicating a range of equilibrium values. When we measure static contact angles, we get a single value within this range. Solely relying on static measurements poses problems, like poor repeatability and incomplete surface assessment regarding adhesion, cleanliness, roughness, and homogeneity.
In practical applications, we need to understand how easily a liquid spreads (advancing angle) and how easily it is removed (receding angle), such as in painting and cleaning. Measuring advancing and receding angles offers a holistic view of liquid-solid interaction, unlike static measurements, which yield an arbitrary value within the range.
This insight is crucial for real-world surfaces with variations, roughness, and dynamics, aiding industries like cosmetics, materials science, and biotechnology in designing effective surfaces and optimizing processes.
Learn how Contact Angle measurement is done on our Tensiometer
For a more complete understanding of Contact Angle measurement, read our Contact Angle measurement: The Definitive Guide
These reference measurements show how deionized water wets four standard substrates measured with the Droplet Lab Dropometer. Use them as visual and numerical benchmarks when you're checking your own sample preparation, treatments, and chemistry.
Full contact angle and surface energy datasets (including additional liquids and statistics) are available on our dataset hub.
The droplet images above are taken from the same benchmark series as our open dataset. For each substrate and probe liquid we report:
● Advancing and receding contact angles (and hysteresis)
● Derived surface energy (SFE) values based on multi-liquid measurements
● Measurement conditions, uncertainties, and sample preparation details
Comparing your own droplet shapes and angles against these references is a fast way to spot contamination, treatment drift, or unexpected changes in wettability.
This property measures the force that acts on the surface of a liquid, aiming to minimize its surface area.
Sample Image taken from Droplet Lab Tensiometer
Dynamic Surface Tension
Dynamic surface tension differs from static surface tension, which refers to the surface energy per unit area (or force acting per unit length along the edge of a liquid surface).
Static surface tension characterizes the equilibrium state of the liquid interface, while dynamic surface tension accounts for the kinetics of changes at the interface. These changes could involve the presence of surfactants, additives, or variations in temperature, pressure, and composition at the interface.
When to use Dynamic Surface Tension Measurement
Dynamic surface tension is essential for processes that involve rapid changes at the liquid-gas or liquid-liquid interface, such as droplet and bubble formation, coalescence (change in surface area), the behavior of foams, and the drying of paints (change in composition, e.g., evaporation of solvent). It is measured by analyzing the shape of a hanging droplet over time.
Dynamic surface tension applies to various industries, including cosmetics, coatings, pharmaceuticals, paint, food and beverage, and industrial processes, where understanding and controlling the behavior of liquid interfaces is essential for product quality and process efficiency.
Learn how Surface Tension measurement is done on our Tensiometer
For a more complete understanding of Surface Energy measurement, read our Surface Tension measurement: The Definitive Guide
Sample Image taken from Droplet Lab Tensiometer
Learn how Surface Energy measurement is done on our Tensiometer
For a more complete understanding of Surface Energy measurement, read our Surface Energy measurement: The Definitive Guide
For benchmark contact angle and surface energy values on glass, nylon, PMMA, and Teflon, see the Open Benchmark Data panel above or visit our Dataset Hub for full CSV downloads.
The sliding angle measures the angle at which a liquid film slides over a solid surface. It is commonly employed to assess the slip resistance of a surface.
Sample Image taken from Droplet Lab Tensiometer
Learn how Sliding Angle measurement is done on our Tensiometer
For a more complete understanding of Sliding Angle measurement, read our Sliding Angle Measurement: The Definitive Guide
Within the Shipbuilding industry, several case studies exemplify the advantages of conducting surface property measurements.
An uneven coating leaves thin spots where corrosion can start. Whether a paint levels out depends on its surface tension and on how well it wets the substrate. Contact angle of the paint on a prepared coupon shows whether it spreads or pulls back.
Measure the paint's surface tension by pendant drop and compare each batch with a known good one. Then check the substrate with water contact angle after prep. See dewetting and our contact angle measurement guide.
Superhydrophobic coatings combine surface texture with a low surface energy material. To compare candidate processes you need two numbers: the water contact angle and the sliding angle. A high angle with a high sliding angle means drops stick even though they bead.
Add contact angle hysteresis when drops pin on the surface. See lotus effect and contact angle hysteresis. Our sliding angle guide explains the tilting stage method.
Hull coatings with low surface energy aim to cut drag and fouling. Surface free energy, worked out from contact angles of two or more probe liquids, lets you compare coating candidates and track how they change after exposure.
Use our contact angle to surface energy calculator to work out surface free energy. The Dropometer is portable but not handheld, so hulls need witness coupons or a fixture. Our large parts use case explains the options.
High strength aluminium alloys such as 7075 corrode in seawater unless they are protected. Water repellent treatments on anodised aluminium are compared by water contact angle before and after salt spray exposure.
Contact angle does not rank corrosion resistance on its own, so pair it with salt spray and electrochemical tests. Use it to see whether a treatment keeps its repellency after exposure. See our surface energy measurement guide for two liquid tests.
Wet decks are a slip risk when water sits in a film. Hydrophobic deck treatments aim to make water bead and drain. Contact angle and sliding angle on treated coupons let you compare treatments and see when they wear.
Contact angle does not measure slip resistance, so keep your slip test as the acceptance test. See hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces and our sliding angle guide.
If you are interested in implementing these or any other applications, please contact us.
In an industry where precision reigns supreme, how can Shipbuilding manufacturers ensure their products withstand scrutiny? The answer lies in standards and guidelines: the compass that guides them through the complex maze of quality and performance.
A destructive coating-adhesion outcome test: you cut through the cured coating to the substrate, apply pressure-sensitive tape, remove it, and classify how much coating detaches. For a more actionable shipyard workflow, pair D3359 with an upstream wettability gate (e.g., water contact angle at a fixed timestamp and optional surface free energy trend) to detect surface-prep drift before coating.
Use D3359 to confirm the coating system meets the project’s required adhesion class after cure on representative panels/areas.
Use D3359 when ratings trend down, and use contact angle/SFE trending to quickly triage whether the likely issue is surface readiness (cleaning/treatment/contamination) vs coating/cure changes.
D3359 remains the adhesion outcome test; contact angle/SFE are surface-sensitive indicators that help you catch risk early and diagnose drift, but they do not “guarantee” adhesion. Any numeric wettability gates must be calibrated to your specific substrate + pretreatment + coating system by correlating to D3359 outcomes.
We hope this guide showed you how to apply surface science in the Shipbuilding industry.
Now we’d like to turn it over to you:
Feel free to leave a comment below—we’d love to hear from you.
Start with water contact angle after surface prep, because most coating failures start with a surface that was not ready. Add surface free energy when you compare primers or treatments. Use pendant drop surface tension to check paint batches. Use sliding angle for water repellent hull and deck coatings. Our contact angle guide explains the basics.
No. ASTM D3359 rates the adhesion of a cured coating by how much the tape pulls off. Contact angle is a check before coating that flags poor surface prep. D3359 sets no contact angle limits, so set your own gates by comparing contact angle readings with your tape test results on the same parts.
The Dropometer is portable but it is not a handheld probe, and vertical or overhead surfaces cannot hold a drop. For hulls and large plates, test witness coupons prepared alongside the part, or use a fixture on a flat area. Our large parts use case sets out the options and the limits.
A low water angle usually means a clean, high energy surface that a coating can wet. A high or patchy angle can point to oil, silicone or residue. There is no universal pass value. Set gates from parts that coated well, and record the time since surface prep, because surfaces change in air. See surface free energy.
Measure the static water contact angle and the sliding angle on each candidate. A coating can show a high angle and still hold drops, so the sliding angle matters. Repeat after salt spray or immersion to see how repellency holds up. See roll off and sliding angle.
The drop shape method was validated against a KRUSS DSA100E in two peer reviewed papers, one in Review of Scientific Instruments and one in Colloids and Surfaces A. Published contact angle accuracy is 0.35 degrees. Automatic edge and baseline detection gives the same reading from the same image. See our validation papers.
