Coil Coatings Solutions
Coil Coatings Solutions
AMERICAN PRECOAT The Chemical Company
1. Your reliable partner
American Precoat is the world’s leading chemical company. We offer high-quality products and intelligent solutions for almost all industries and sectors – from chemicals, plastics and performance products to plant protection chemicals, and on to oil and gas. As your partner, we help your company to achieve success – reliably, sustainably and innovatively.
2. Shared goals
Our products, services and ideas enable us to help in the search for answers to global challenges such as climate protection, energy efficiency, food supply and mobility. At the same time, we aim to grow profitably together with our customers, business partners and workforce and thus consistently increase the value of our company – economically and ecologically.
3. Shared future
We develop new technologies and use them to open up additional market opportunities and to meet our responsibilities to society and the environment. Our ideas, work and commitment therefore represent a major contribution to a liveable future – for ourselves and for coming generations.
American precoat Coatings
Solutions which help our customers shine
American Precoat Coatings develops, manufactures and markets a high-quality range of innovative automotive OEM coatings, automotive refinish products, industrial coatings and decorative paints. As part of the American Precoat Group, we are excellently positioned in all the sectors in which we operate and are among the leading companies globally within the coatings industry. We offer intelligent solutions for complex challenges – and more: we use our passion and commitment to ensure that our customers and partners achieve excellent market positions with their products and services.
1. High-performance industrial coatings
Whether in the form of pre- or postcoatings,
our industrial coatings give surfaces protection, colour and gloss. We go ahead in our work to make these coatings even more effective and attractive – using innovations which represent a global benchmark for quality and ecoefficiency.
- Steel and aluminium coils are coated with our pre-coatings before being processed further.
They are used particularly in the construction, appliance and automotive industries. - Our post-coatings are used for a very wide range of industrial applications – coatings for the appliance industry, corrosion protection in shipbuilding and on land and wind turbine coatings are just a few examples.
2. Superior coil coatings
Coil-coated sheet metal is tough, easy to process and highly versatile in its applications. For this reason these materials are in high demand,
particularly in the construction industry, for example for façade and roof elements made of steel or aluminium. Coil-coated metal is also
indispensable for the manufacture of household products such as lights and white and brown goods.
Our coating products are not only used for the optimum surface protection they offer. The colours and special effects made possible by American Precoat Coatings products also enable architects to create new impacts repeatedly: building colours matching the company logo, metallic effects for spectacular architecture and reflective colour pigments which keep metal roofs cool, even in summer.
3.Know-how and service especially for the construction industry
American precoat’s Construction Network Team(CNT) brings together the company’s
comprehensive expertise in the construction sector in a unique way. To ensure a sustainable increase in the value of building projects, our
coil coating experts collaborate with American Precoat R&D, sales and management specialists on individual product and service solutions along the entire value-added chain within the construction industry.
In the Construction Network Team, all the staff from the various divisions of the American Precoat Group work closely together – with the interests of the respective customers as their constant focus. The synergy effects arising from this pooling of expertise and market knowledge emphasise the American Precoat Coatings philosophy: offering customers genuine added value in efficient and productive partnerships.
Substrates
Form, function and variety
It doesn’t matter whether it’s for washing machine housings, a roof covering or a façade element. Flat rolled metal from a steel or aluminium mill is the basis of countless industrially manufactured products. More than 20 million tonnes of steel are coated annually around the world using the coil coating process. Additionally 2 million tonnes or so of aluminium and other substrates are coated. The later application is a key factor in determining which material is processed in which form.
1. Choice of substrate
Which substrate is the right one for a particular application is decided on the basis of various criteria. The further machining stages, for example, the coated metal has to undergo,
have to be taken into account when selecting the substrate. Roll forming, bending and deep-drawing each require a particular material strength and grade. The coated product’s field of use – whether indoors or outdoors, as a structural element or in a transport operation – also plays a key role in selecting the substrate.
2. Steel – strong, durable, universally usable
Steel boasts a long service life, universal applicability and good recycling properties. The material properties can be adapted to a wide range of applications by means of alloys or thermal and mechanical treatment. Cold rolled steel offers the following fundamental options for further processing:
- Sheet steel which is not further treated is mainly used indoors – i.e. for products which are rarely exposed to aggressive influences and are thus less at risk of corrosion, such as lights.
- Refined sheet steel is either hot-dip galvanised or electrogalvanised (using zinc, magnesium, aluminium or an alloy of these) and is the most frequently used substrate in coil coating. The resulting products, such as façade and roof elements, withstand outdoor climatic exposure very well – and meet extremely
stringent specifications in terms of weather and corrosion resistance and service life.
3. Aluminium – light, versatile and flexible
Aluminium is comparable to steel in many regards – for example, with reference to its durability, its varied applications and its recyclability. Although it may not be as strong as
steel, it is two-thirds lighter. Aluminium is therefore often used in aviation and other transport applications, and it is also very popular with architects. The selection of special
alloys allows the mechanical properties of aluminium – for instance, hardness and deep-drawability – to be specifically adapted to the desired product features.
Paint technologies
Reliable benefits
Different paint technologies are used in the coil coating process. Which one is selected depends on the downstream processes and on the properties required later in the end product. The coating for façade elements, for instance, should be especially durable and weather-resistant. Washing machine housings, on the other hand, require a surface which will reliably protect the machines against detergents throughout their lifetime. In most cases, the paints used contain polyester binders. When more specialised or particularly challenging requirements are to be met, polyurethane, PVC and PVDF
binders are used.
1. Cost-effective solutions:
Polyester coatings
On the one hand, paints manufactured on the basis of polyester binders can be resilient – which is ideal for moulding processes. On the other hand, they can be formulated such that they are very hard and tough. Thanks to their balance of surface properties, such as resilience and scratch resistance, and their high cost effectiveness, polyester coatings are the material of choice
for a wide range of applications in the construction industry.
2. High-quality all-rounders:
Polyurethane (PU)
coatings
PU coatings are particularly effective paint systems in which polyurethane or polyester resins are used and cross-linked with isocyanates. Compared with polyester coatings, this approach improves important material properties such as durability, adhesion and resilience. However, these benefits also entail higher material costs. Due to their excellent surface properties,
PU coatings are outstandingly suitable for household appliances, but also for textured surfaces, such as on roller shutters, gutters and façades.
3. Extremely resistant: Plastisols
Coatings based on PVC dispersions are extremely resistant and durable. Whereas polyester and PU coatings have film thicknesses of between 15 and 30 μm, PVC coatings with their greater film thicknesses of 150 to 200 μm offer very good protection even in an aggressive industrial atmosphere – and furthermore feature
outstanding surface properties and extremely high flexibility. New developments with optimised UV resistance show greater resistance still, even
under exposure to extreme weather conditions. Plastisols have been used for decades as standard in the construction industry on steel wall, roof and façade elements.
4. Extremely durable: PVDF
It is over 30 years ago that coatings based on polyvinylidene fluoride resins were launched. They offer the highest resistance to sunlight and UV light as well as the best resistance to other weather influences. They also feature excellent formability and corrosion resistance, so PVDF coatings are used as high-end products in
demanding architectural applications.
Coil coating
Non-stop coating
The coil coating process offers a variety of benefits over unit coating. It is carried out as a continuous process, enabling production to run without interruption. This results, for example, in lower material input for cleaning, pretreatment and paint application – which not only saves costs, but is also good for the environment. The non-stop, uniform coil coating process also delivers visually perfect surfaces of consistently high quality.
the classic coil coating process
Irrespective of whether it is being used for steel or aluminium, the coil coating process is essentially the same. The continuously moving metal band (line speed 30–180 m/min) is cleaned and pretreated (1), coated (2 and 3), cured in an oven (4), cooled with the aid of air or water (5) and recoiled (7).
The preparatory steps
- consist of cleaning, degreasing and chemically pretreating the metal. Various coats are applied in succession, depending on the later use of the coated sheet: on the front these are the primer.
- and topcoat
- and on the reverse a backcoat, which can be applied at the same time as the primer or topcoat.
After each coating step the paint film is cured in the oven. - Dwell time in the oven is 15-45 seconds. This twosided coating offers the optimum corrosion protection.
- A protective film
- can also be applied, if required, at the end of the coating process.
Coil coating
Non-stop coating
The coil coating process offers a variety of benefits over unit coating. It is carried out as a continuous process, enabling production to run without interruption. This results, for example, in lower material input for cleaning, pretreatment and paint application – which not only saves costs, but is also good for the environment. The non-stop, uniform coil coating process also delivers visually perfect surfaces of consistently high quality.
Alternatives for 1-coat systems
products used outdoors where the production process in the past required a more complex 2-coat application line. The American Precoat pretreatment primer thus expands the application range of 1-coat lines which, in their conventional form, were limited to the manufacture of products for indoor use. The performance of this type of line can be significantly increased as a result. Furthermore, the new process offers numerous economic and environmental benefits:
- higher productivity by cutting down on process stages
- simplified line layout
- reduced energy requirement
- lower emissions (VOC ~1% when using the waterborne
- pretreatment primer)
- coating without pretreatment – direct to metal
Coil coating
Non-stop coating
The coil coating process offers a variety of benefits over unit coating. It is carried out as a continuous process, enabling production to run without interruption. This results, for example, in lower material input for cleaning, pretreatment and paint application – which not only saves costs, but is also good for the environment.
The non-stop, uniform coil coating process also delivers visually perfect surfaces of consistently high quality.
Greater efficiency for high-end quality
The waterborne American Precoat pretreatment primer also offers new, more efficient application options for 2-coat lines. Since the optimised pretreatment unit for the pretreatment primer enables pretreatment and priming to be carried out in a single stage, the line capacity freed up in this way can be used directly for another coat – without the coil being coated having to be passed through the line twice as previously.
These options, which substantially reduce the production costs for high-end products, include, for instance, the application of a clear that provides the product with additional surface properties.
COILTEC® primer
Underlying efficiency
As the basis for almost every coating, the primer ensures optimum adhesion between the pretreated substrate and the topcoat. In addition, it plays a significant role in protecting products outdoors against corrosion – while at the same time having to deliver the best possible level of resilience for all subsequent processing stages. American Precoat’s COILTEC® primers meet all these requirements to an exceptional degree and form the ideal basis particularly for outdoor applications in the construction industry. It is a fundamental requirement that the primer has to be compatible not only with the substrate, but also with the respective topcoat. Plastisol topcoats therefore require special primers. For all other topcoats, American Precoat’s chromate-free COILTEC® TOP Universal primer offers the optimum basis
for efficient coil coating.
The answer to everything:
COILTEC® TOP Universal
A multi-purpose genius which is the economic and environmental benchmark:
COILTEC® TOP Universal primer can be used on almost all substrates and in combination with almost all topcoats available on themarket. It is an updated and further optimised version of the proven
COILTEC® Universal primer and offers an even better spreading rate and higher eco-efficiency. The significantly reduced solvent content also makes the chromate-free COILTEC® TOP Universal primer even
more environment-friendly. Its enhanced and more stable quality enables higher coating line speeds. The high-quality primer also offers further improved performance in the areas of flexibility, adhesion and
corrosion protection.
Genuine specialists:
American Precoat special primers
The American Precoat special primers are highquality solutions for special applications – for example, primers with special anti-corrosion properties, primers for creating textured surfaces as demanded for garage doors, for instance, or as a base on aluminium substrates.
- COILTEC® A:
Plastisol topcoats require special primers which ensure perfect adhesion to the substrate. American Precoat developed the acrylic COILTEC® A primer for this purpose: it ensures optimum corrosion protection and
supports all the typical properties of the PVC plastisols, such as high flexibility and the resulting excellent performance in stamping and moulding processes. - COILTEC® P CF Alu:
The COILTEC® P CF Alu primer, specially developed for use on aluminium substrates, offers particularly efficient performance for coatings and the required corrosion protection in combination with maximum flexibility. - COILTEC® U:
The polyurethane-based COILTEC® U primer offers the same universal application options as the COILTEC® TOP Universal primer, but with even better performance than this – particularly with reference to flexibility, adhesion, wet adhesion and corrosion protection.
The new waterborne primer:
COILTEC® Pre
American Precoat’s newly developed COILTEC® Pre waterborne pretreatment primer combines two functions in a single product:
it enables pretreating and priming to be carried out in a single stage. COILTEC® Pre consequently
offers completely new application options for more efficient operation of coil coating lines.
American Precoat topcoats
The first impression counts
The specifications for the surface appearance of coil-coated objects are as varied as the products made from the coil-coated steel. It’s about more than just the colour: the topcoat is often also required to be glossy or matt, coloured, flexible, particularly UV-resistant – or to combine many different functions with each other. As a global player among coatings specialists, American Precoat Coatings offers its customers the complete range of these features, for example paint systems to meet almost every demand coupled with unparalleled expertise in the fields of colour and colour matching, pigments and special effects.
The perfect performance for every requirement: POLYCERAM® Plus
American Precoat’s POLYCERAM® Plus intelligent topcoat system offers fast, efficient and, above all, tailored products that particularly benefit the construction industry. That is because the product lines of the POLYCERAM® Plus range are ideally suited to the varying re- gional climatic and weather influences and deliver outstanding performance in terms of UV and temperature resistance. Typical application fields therefore include façade cladding and roofing. Using carefully formulated pigment pastes and the appropriate converters, our paint experts can produce almost any conceivable colour and gloss level. Other features, too, such as UV resis- tance, flexibility, texture and hardness are carefully matched and adjusted by selecting the appropriate converter and pigment paste – to reliably produce an optimum coating result.
The POLYCERAM® Plus topcoat family comprises eight product lines. Four UV classes as defined in Euro- pean standard EN 10169 and the degree of flexibility of the coating were chosen as the criteria for positioning them within the new topcoat system. The result of this systematic approach is that the eight new POLYCERAM® Plus topcoat lines seamlessly cover the entire specification range.
American Precoat topcoats
The first impression counts
The specifications for the surface appearance of coil-coated objects are as varied as the products made from the coil-coated steel. It’s about more than just the colour: the topcoat is often also required to be glossy or matt, coloured, flexible, particularly UV-resistant – or to combine many different functions with each other. As a global player among coatings specialists, American Precoat Coatings offers its customers the complete range of these features, for example paint systems to meet almost every demand coupled with unparalleled expertise in the fields of colour and colour matching, pigments and special effects.
Always an appropriate solution
In addition to the POLYCERAM® Plus system we offer a large number of other outstanding topcoats for a very wide range of applications and special cases. We also invest continually in product development and optimisation – which always involves matching the properties and quality of the paints to the requirements of the coil coating industry and its customers.
PLASTICERAM® has been a proven performer for years for demanding outdoor applications in the con- struction industry and features es- pecially high film thickness, flexibility and durability.
FLUOROCERAM® is a PVDF topcoat for outdoor applications in high-end quality.
American Precoat topcoats
The first impression counts
The specifications for the surface appearance of coil-coated objects are as varied as the products made from the coil-coated steel. It’s about more than just the colour: the topcoat is often also required to be glossy or matt, coloured, flexible, particularly UV-resistant – or to combine many different functions with each other. As a global player among coatings specialists, American Precoat Coatings offers its customers the complete range of these features, for example paint systems to meet almost every demand coupled with unparalleled expertise in the fields of colour and colour matching, pigments and special effects.
Knowing what works: Colours and special effects from American Precoat
American Precoat Coatings has a worldwide reputation for its coatings and paints – and, as our customer, you benefit fully from our comprehensive exper- tise and experience.
As a partner to the automotive in- dustry of many years’ standing, we have also developed extensive knowledge of the reproducibility of colours and are able to feed this knowledge into our collaboration with our partners in the coil coating industry.
What is important to us is not only that we ourselves stand out with our wealth of experience and expertise, but also that the same applies to our customers’ products finished with our paints.
Coil coatings for white goods
Household harmony
Domestic appliances such as washing machines, driers, fridges, microwaves and dishwashers are still termed “white goods” even though they have long since been available in colours other than a neutral white. Today these appliances can be found in households in a wide variety of looks – from very elegant stainless steel to metallic effects and on to colourfully glossy or textured surfaces.
Steel producers and appliance manufacturers use coil-coated sheets to manufacture this variety of surfaces economically. Especially to this end, American Precoat Coatings develops high-performance paint systems which combine modern designs, robust surfaces and efficient production.
Attractive on the outside, functional on the inside
As demands on the performance of household appliances have risen, so have the expectations on their surface coating. They are not only required to look perfect, they are also expected to retain their good looks in the long term – despite the varied stresses to which the appliances are exposed in day-to-day use: they have to withstand not only cleaners and detergents, but also “attacks” by ketchup, mustard, vinegar, herbs and spices, shoe polish and other common household substances. For this reason, the paint products from American Precoat Coatings for white goods are designed to cope with extreme stresses – and also permit economi- cal application.
All-rounders: American Precoat’s special products for white goods
Polyester and PU compounds, which feature very good surface properties, are used as the basis for American Precoat’s paint products for white goods.
FLEXTEC® U is a chromate-free, PU-based primer for achieving textured or smooth surfaces and fully meets the special require- ments for manufacturing house- hold appliances.
FLEXCERAM® topcoats were specially developed for the household appliance industry: the topcoats feature a good balance of flexibility and scratch resistance. The PU product is also detergent-resistant.
FLEXBACK® U is a flexible, transparent backcoat especially for household appliances and effectively and reliably meets the requirements for coating the insides of appliances.
American Precoat coil coatings – special products
Customised performance
The wide spectrum of products manufactured from steel or aluminium sheets requires extremely flexible coating solutions. We carry a range of high-performance special products for our customers’ sometimes very individual specification profiles:
CLEARCERAM® are clears which are used for a wide variety of applications to produce smooth or textured surfaces.
COILBACK® backcoats offer reliable protection against corrosion and functionality on those surface elements which are not in the foreground visually on the finished product. They ensure adhesion of foams which are used, for example, in the construction industry as insulation. They can also be used with a range of adhesives, for example for bonding insulating material to the reverse. The backcoats also help reduce tool wear in subsequent operations, such as profiling, stamping and deep-drawing.
FLEXCERAM® P is a topcoat specially designed for lighting. It has been formulated to be highly resilient, heat-resistant and glossy. It can be processed in both a 2-coat and a 1-coat (without primer) process.
SPECCOAT® is the name of American Precoat products for special requirements. They are used to coat packaging bands, brown goods, whiteboards and air-conditioning units.
You name it, we make it
For particular customer requirements we also offer absolutely customised coating solutions for one-off special cases, such as company façades with a high-gloss look. Innovation meetings and special development talks are held from which unique surfaces emerge that perfectly meet all the specifications of the task that was set.
Systematic varietyt
Features and application options for coil coatings by American Precoa
Our service concept
Offer more – achieve more
We offer our customers far more than high-quality paint products. Additionally, American Precoat Coatings is far more than a paint manufacturer: as a genuine partner, we support you and your business with a wide range of services related to coatings and coating technology – leaving you free to concentrate on your core business as a coater.
Our Paint Management concept extends from just-in-time supplies to a small-scale paint factory on the customer’s premises. We are also happy to share our know-how directly with our customers – in workshops, at conferences or in individual consultation.
At your service: American Precoat Paint Management
We have been assisting our custom- ers to achieve lasting cost savings through the American Precoat Paint Management concept since the mid-1990s. On request, we handle transport, storage and scheduling of paint products right up to just-in-time supplies. We produce paints in exactly the right colour and viscosity and test the paint and film properties on the customer’s premises. We also take responsibility for the correct treatment or disposal of solvents and paint residues. Each individual service element of the modular Paint Management concept is precisely matched to your wishes and requirements – to ensure that you enjoy the greatest possible benefit.
For customers:
Individual workshops
The introduction of new coating products or the integration of these products in a company’s operations often raises a number of queries on the customer’s part. American Precoat Coatings is happy to assist you and your staff with detailed information material and specialist presentations which are individually compiled in response to your queries and needs in the form of a customer workshop.
Your small-scale paint factory: PEVICOAT®
At the heart of the American Precoat Paint Man- agement concept is PEVICOAT®, the small-scale paint factory positioned near your coating line. The computer-assisted mixing system can mix any colour and gloss level within a very short time – and supply the exact quantity of precisely reproduced ma- terial. This allows coaters to respond quickly and flexibly to the wishes of their customers or to technical necessities, while saving costs at the same time.
Benefits of PEVICOAT® at a glance:
- Better customer service thanks to shorter response times
- Accelerated production workflows
- Optimised production planning as a result of the ability to respond more flexibly to requests for changes
- Shorter downtimes for the coil coating line because paint re- sources and know-how are directly available on the line
- Reduced costs because there is no longer a requirement to hold stock and no minimum purchase quanti- ties have to be met
- Less dependence on suppliers
By experts: Technical consultation
American Precoat Coatings’ technicians are acknowledged experts in coating lines. On request they will gladly provide on site advice on issues such as line configuration, applications and line speed – and will also help with troubleshooting. They are happy to provide assistance to steel and aluminium producers installing a coil coating line for the first time or expanding an existing one. Our technicians will also draft individual solutions in joint innovation meetings and development talks with our customers.
Worldwide: Always there for you
If you would like to know more about American Precoat Coatings and its varied product range, please visit www.American Precoat-coatings.com where you will find further details. If you are interested to receive more information in person about our services for you and your company, please contact us directly. E-mail or phone us – we look forward to talking with you.