The aim of this work is to study the adhesion strength
of Amphibalanus amphitrite in the İzmir
Bay and
compare the results with the pseudobarnacle adhesion test. Normally,
adhesion tests are performed to evaluate the performance of the antifouling
coatings, but the test results can also be used to predict biofouling
cleaning process efficacy. The biofouling process is highly dependent
on environmental conditions. For this reason, laboratory tests are
required to perform the performance tests on self-polishing coatings
in cases where living organisms cannot be reached. For this purpose,
different self-polishing antifouling coatings have been formulated.
Field tests for the coatings were carried out in the Aegean Sea for
10 weeks. After 10 weeks, barnacle and pseudobarnacle adhesion tests
were conducted on coatings. When the results were compared, similarity
was observed between the adhesion strength of barnacles and pseudobarnacles
with 10 mm diameter on coating with the rosin/xylene/BaSO4 (40:40:20 w/w %). The adhesion strength of barnacles and pseudobarnacles
on the coating 12 was found to be 0.46 and 0.45 MPa, respectively.
In conclusion, the present study exhibits the first data related to
the adhesion strength of A. amphitrite on rosin-based self-polishing coatings in the Aegean Sea. Moreover,
based on field tests, a pseudobarnacle adhesion test methodology was
developed to mimic barnacles and the correlation between barnacle
and pseudobarnacle tests was examined.