Epoxy Surface Plate
" When Accuracy Matters "
™
Target Chip Ganassi Racing Project
Electronic Scales Installed Flush in Plate
Precision Epoxy Products
a division of :
Rock Art, Ltd.
4279 Midway Drive
Douglasville, Georgia 30134
Phone : (770) 489-0340
 In June of 2004 we were
contacted by Ben Bowlby, Designer, Chief Technology Officer and Head Engineer at
Target Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates in Indianapolis, Indiana. We
discussed the possibility for Precision Epoxy to install an Epoxy Surface plate
at the Ganassi Research and Development Facility that would accommodate the
placement of a set of electronic scales flush within the epoxy surface plate and
have the connecting wires routed under the plate and within the concrete
substrate to connect with the scales’ read-out display positioned on an
adjoining computer work bench located beside the plate. After several
discussions regarding this project we were told that if this installation meet
with their expectations, that they would be interested in the same type Epoxy
Plate installation at their Indy Car / Daytona Prototype Car facility in
Indianapolis as well as their new NASCAR facility in Concord, North Carolina. In
addition, the Epoxy Plate was being considered for the remodeling project at the
recently vacated Team SABCO Racing facility to be occupied by FitzBradshaw
Racing. Precision Epoxy worked out the design requirements and application
techniques for the initial project and was ready to proceed.
On July 18, 2004 we completed the Epoxy Surface Plate
installation at the Team Ganassi R & D facility under a mutually agreed upon
Confidentiality Agreement to protect both our proprietary interest. This
experimental Epoxy Plate installation not only had the scales flush in the
plate, the plate was installed flush in the floor. I am not at liberty to
comment on the Team Ganassi R & D Project any further; however, on August
25, 2004 we completed installation of 2 each 12’ x 20’ On-Floor standard
type Pro Epoxy Surface Plates at the FitzBradshaw Racing NASCAR facility in
Mooresville, North Carolina. On October 12, 2004 we completed installation of 1
each 12’ x 20’ Pro Epoxy Surface Plate with Scales Flush in Plate at the
Chip Ganassi Racing Teams NASCAR facility in Concord, North Carolina. On November 23,
2004 we completed installation of 2 each 12’ x 20’ Pro Epoxy Surface Plates
with Scales Flush in Plate at the Chip Ganassi Racing Teams facility in Concord,
North Carolina. On September 26, 2005 we completed installation of 1 each 10’
x 20’ Pro Epoxy Surface Plate with Scales Flush in Plate and Plate Flush in
Floor at the Chip Ganassi Racing Teams Indy Car facility in Indianapolis, Indiana. On
October 24, 2005 we completed installation of 2 each 12’ x 20’ Pro Epoxy
Surface Plates with Scales Flush in Plate at the Chip Ganassi Racing Teams
facility in Concord, North Carolina. That totals 9 Pro Epoxy Surface Plates
altogether.
The Installation of a Pro
Epoxy Surface Plate with Scales Flush in Plate will need recessed areas in the
concrete substrate at desired locations to accommodate the wheel base of the
vehicle or vehicles you will be scaling. The recess areas can be made a part of
a new floor design and installed when the new concrete is poured or for existing
concrete floors, will need to be saw cut and chiseled out. The following is a
design drawing to give an idea for a possible layout. Your needs may vary to
suit your particular project or vehicle and we can accommodate any configuration
you desire.
All measurements above are shown in inches.
The drawing above is for a set-up
plate that has the front scale pads in a fixed position. The rear set of
scale recess areas are rectangular to allow for the scale pads to be moved
forward or backward within the recess area in order to accommodate vehicles
with different length wheel bases. This plate can be used for a NASCAR
Truck, Busch or Cup car.
We found that the above lay-out has
the car centered on the Epoxy Surface Plate when the car is on the scales;
however, for off scale working the plate should have an additional 2 feet or
more of length added to the front. This would have made the plate shown to
the right 12’ x 22’ and the nose of the car would still be on the plate
for needed measurements, etc.
Epoxy Surface Plate Installation
with Scales Flush in Plate
The following is a normal Scales Flush
in Plate installation. The recessed areas for the scales should be at least ½
to ¾ of inch deeper than the height of
the scale pads at the thinnest point within the recessed area. The epoxy
will correct any and all irregularities in the substrate surface. The
recessed areas can either be fabricated into the substrate by the concrete
contractor when the floor is poured or for existing floors, a concrete
contractor is employed to saw cut and removed the existing concrete. If the
removal of the existing concrete is down to or below grade level, then a
concrete footer may need to be installed to support the epoxy scale platform
and scale pad at each of the four recessed areas. The scale pads will
support the entire weight of the vehicle making the recessed areas a crucial
point for proper substrate strength. All other detailing and reconstruction
of removed concrete will be performed by Precision Epoxy.
1) The concrete
contractor has saw cut the desired lay-out and jack hammered to remove the
necessary concrete floor area for the scale pad recess areas and the runs
for the connection cables. This is very noisy and messy work and having a
concrete contractor that understands the nature of this work is well worth
the investment.
It should also be noted that for
normal concrete removal, saw cuts will be made in the corners well past the
‘L’ so that the bottom of the saw blade cuts through to the point of the
90° angle for easier concrete removal. The
remaining concrete floor will treat the saw cut past the ‘L’ as an
expansion joint and will develop a crack that will continue across the
substrate to the adjoining recess area. To eliminate this problem, make sure
your concrete contractor stops each saw cut exactly at the corner of the ’L’
on the top surface of the substrate. The corners of the recessed areas will
then need to be hand chiseled to detail. The chipping of the remaining
substrate at edges is not a big deal but should be minimized as much as
possible.
2) Now we remove the
existing floor coating within the plate area and prepare the substrate.
Mount the temporary aluminum retaining walls at the plate perimeter. Install
the tubing for the cable runs and reconstruct the cable runs with the Santex
and Slurry Coat Systems.
3)
The anchor bolts are installed and the
FP-100 primer coat is applied. These aspects are a part of all our Epoxy
Surface Plate installations as described in the Epoxy Surface Plate
Installation Procedures Section.
4)
The scale pad recessed areas receive a
special custom form work to retain the initial pours of the FP-85 Floor
Plate Epoxy.
5) The
cable run cut-outs and existing expansion joint in the substrate received the
IG-100 Fiberglass System to minimize the telegraphing of the cold joints and
expansion joint back through the epoxy plate. Note the black material around the
form work at the recessed area. That is our SG-25 Structural Gel Epoxy used to
reconstruct the chipped out concrete and to reshape the corner for a positive
seal at the form to retain the base coat pour of FP-85 Epoxy.
 6)
The Base Coat of Floor Plate Epoxy is poured as described in the
Plate Installation Section and allowed to cure. It is then determined that the
plate is level within tolerances to proceed to the next steps of the
installation process. The base coat is prepared, The recessed area forms are
removed, the ‘L’ angle permanent retaining strips are mounted at the
recessed area perimeters. The initial reconstruction of the recess area bottom
is made and the base coat of floor plate epoxy is poured to level the floor of
the recessed areas. The vertical walls of the recessed areas receive their
finish coat of SG-25 Epoxy. The Grounding System grid work is installed. Notice
the brown material in the cable channel outside the plate area. This is the
first application of our Santex System used to fill and reconstruct the channel.
Once the entire area is reconstructed, the original floor coating can be
reapplied to match the existing floor adjoining these areas.
7) Now we are ready for
the Color Coat of Floor Plate Epoxy. The plate in the foreground has had the
color coat poured while the plate in the background has not.
8)
The color coats are allowed to cure and we
make our ¼ ” deep saw cut at the
outer perimeter of the access ramp using the temporary form work as a saw
guide. Then the temporary retaining walls are removed and the perminant Zinc
strip retaining walls are installed at the plate’s outer perimeter. All
remaining existing floor covering within the ramp area is detailed and
removed as needed for proper bonding of the access ramp.
9) The grounding rod is installed through the
on-grade concrete substrate and the Grounding System is completed as
described in the ‘Advanced Grounding System’
section. Now we are ready for the next steps in our installation.
10) The next step is to
bring the scale pad recessed areas to the desired height for the scales to
be flush in the plate. This is accomplished with a special jig and process
designed by Precision Epoxy that measures and marks the difference between
the surface plate plane and the level plane of the
recessed area floor. The scales to be used in the plate determine the size
and depth of the recessed areas. The most common electronic scale pads are
15”x15“x 2½ ” or 15“x 15“x 4“.
Other sizes are also available on the market, so a recessed area that can
accommodate the different size ranges will prove more useful in the future
as your needs and the scale technology changes.
The floor of each recess area is poured individually and
will be perfectly level. The only way to pour them at the same exact height
to each other is if they were connected so that all could be poured with the
same epoxy pour that flowed from one recessed area to the next. Since this
is not the case in our application what we do is get each of the 4 recessed
areas to within 60 mills of the desired height below the surface plate
plane. It will be up to you to shim your scale pads with flat stock steel or
aluminum to have the scales flush in the plate and even with each other to
suit your needs. This will also allow for corrections needed for any
irregularities between the machining of and the actual height between each
individual scale pad which can vary as much as 0.005 inch.
11)
The final Santex
application is made to reconstruct the cable channel outside of the plate
area. The cable tubes are cut flush to the floor and the Santex is sealed.
The floor coating is applied to match the existing floor coating adjoining
the channel reconstruction. The scale pad cables are routed through the
cable tubes and connected to the read out unit at the work station.
12)
The access ramp is hand troweled into
place, any decal graphics are installed, and the final clear coat of FP-80
Floor Plate Epoxy is poured. The clear coat is allowed to cure and the
access ramp is sealed. The final pour is made in the scale pad recessed
areas, a final detailing of the entire project is made and the Epoxy Surface
Plate with scales flush in the plate is complete.
The completed installation is allowed
one week to fully cure and reach its full hardness of 13,500 psi before its
ready to be put into operation. The Epoxy Surface Plate can be cleaned as
you would clean any floor area in your shop. For detail cleaning, use
plastic cleaners that are non-abrasive and offer anti-static and scratch
resistance. The plate will show scratches over a period of time. Avoid
dragging heavy and/or sharp objects over the plate surface. Plastic or
rubber feet for jack stands and plastic, nylon or rubber wheels for jacks
used on the plate will minimize scratching. Scratching of the plate is only
cosmetic and will not affect its primary use as a set-up tool.
Professional 'Turn-Key' Installations generally run
between $125.00 to $195.00 per square foot. Sub strate preparation, location
of job-site, size of project, depth of scale recessed areas in substrate, travel
and/or freight cost, special equipment needed, unusual factors associated
with project, etc. all contribute to the pricing of professional
applications. The application procedures described are for an average
installation scenario. Some projects may require variations from the
outlined application techniques herein due to the condition of the
substrate, location of job site, size of the project, shape of the completed
surface plate, designs and/or artwork in the finish, special equipment
needed, any unusual factors associated with the project, etc. Please note:
Precision Epoxy only offers this type floor surface plate as a professional
installation by Rock Art, Ltd. Some proprietary information has been
deliberately omitted from this installation paper. No one is authorized as a
contractor to represent themselves as able to install this type flooring as
offered by Precision Epoxy Products and Rock Art, Ltd.
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