The coil coatings and metal coatings industries continue to grow steadily, mainly due to robust growth in the building and construction segment, growing demand from the transportation sector, and steady demand in consumer spending on home appliances. Coatings manufacturers should look to capitalize on this growth of the coated metal market by formulating coil coatings that boast outstanding appearance and superior durability.
Several types of resins can be used to formulate coil coatings. Besides offering toughness, pigment compatibility, and gloss, the best resins for coil coating formulations must also create films with the high flexural durability that metal coils undergo during winding and unwinding. Elvacite® acrylic resins have been used for decades as a film-forming binder in metal finishes and lacquers that exhibits a high degree of resistance to abrasion, weathering, and chemical attack and excellent flexibility, pigment and additive compatibility, and gloss properties. These performance benefits are highly transferrable to coil coatings, where they form durable, corrosion-resistant, and visually stunning coatings for metal coils.
Elvacite® Acrylic Resins for Coil Coatings
Elvacite® acrylic resins are solid-bead polymers based on methacrylate chemistry that are soluble in many common coating solvents. Various available grades are specifically designed for use in metal coil coatings applications. Elvacite® resins can be used in clear and pigmented coatings for a variety of metal surfaces, including aluminum, bronze, steel, brass, and copper. When used as the binder component in metal coatings, they provide a distinctive combination of durability, appearance, corrosion protection, and cost-effectiveness. Several Elvacite® grades offer excellent adhesion to metal coil substrates, and they even perform as direct-to-metal resins that reduce or eliminate the need for applying primers.
Selecting the Proper Grade
Selecting the right Elvacite® grade for coil coatings ultimately depends on the specific performance required by the end-use application. While all grades of Elvacite® provide superior weathering resistance, clarity, and gloss, some grades may be preferred based on other desired properties to be maximized in the formulation or on the substrates to be coated.
Elvacite® 2014 and 2028 offer a good balance of properties when used in metal coil coatings formulations. Compared to competitive resins, they provide better protection of bright metals, such as copper, from discoloration and corrosion caused by exposure to moisture and chemicals.
In applications where Elvacite® 2028 and 2014 do not provide enough durability in the formulation or faster solvent release is desired, Elvacite® 2013 can be used. This resin offers better hardness at the expense of slightly decreased coating flexibility. In coil coatings applications that require high gloss, Elvacite® 2552C may be ideal, as it imparts higher levels of gloss than 2028 and 2014.
When coating aluminum, Elvacite® 4349 and 4345 are recommended. Elvacite® 4349 has been engineered to adhere to untreated and unprimed aluminum, reducing or eliminating the need to apply primers to metal coils prior to coating. Elvacite® 4345 is a highly flexible resin that adheres well to most metals and provides excellent weathering resistance.
Several starting point formulations are available for metal coatings based on Elvacite® acrylic resins, and ChemPoint has product experts standing by to answer your questions. Contact us today by clicking the link below to discuss your metal coatings formulations and request samples of Elvacite®.
