Disbondment is the loss of adhesion between a pipeline’s protective coating and the steel surface — creating a gap where corrosion can develop undetected beneath apparently intact coating.

Disbondment is the loss of adhesion between a pipeline’s protective coating and the steel surface — creating a gap where corrosion can develop undetected beneath apparently intact coating. Coating disbondment is one of the most significant threats to buried pipeline integrity because it can shield the pipe from cathodic protection while trapping moisture and corrosive agents.

Types of disbondment include:
• Cathodic disbondment — caused by excessive CP current at coating defects, progressively separating coating from steel.
• Adhesion failure — from poor surface preparation, contamination during application, or incompatible coating systems.
• Mechanical disbondment — from soil stress, ground movement, thermal cycling, or impact damage.

Disbonded coatings that shield CP current are particularly dangerous because conventional CP surveys (CIPS, DCVG) may show adequate protection readings while active corrosion occurs underneath.

EMPIT’s CMI technology detects corrosion beneath disbonded coatings — identifying active metal loss that CP surveys cannot see. By detecting the corrosion consequence of disbondment rather than just the coating defect itself, CMI provides actionable integrity data for targeted remediation.