What Does Time Of Wetness (TOW) Mean?
The time of wetness (TOW) refers to the duration required for an applied coating to dry after being painted onto a surface. Time of wetness is often governed by the ambient conditions such as temperature, humidity and precipitation in the immediate environment while applying a coating.
A shorter time of wetness is preferred to better enable metal corrosion prevention.
Corrosionpedia Explains Time Of Wetness (TOW)
The concept and importance of time of wetness is particularly important in the field of atmospheric corrosion. Time of wetness studies allow for the proper classification of certain environments based on their degree of corrosivity (wetness). Such environments include:
- General ambient conditions
- Naturally occurring geographies
- Laboratory (empirical) settings
The basic ideology of TOW is generally agreed upon. However, what is meant by “wet” has remained ambiguous. Its practical determination has widely varied in history and location.