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On the Road with Prepaint

Prepainted metal is all around us. You are probably familiar with its many uses in the building and construction and appliance markets, but you may not be aware that prepainted metal is also important in the transportation sector.

Think “transportation,” and your mind typically leaps to cars and trucks—and from there to the beautiful body panels that are an aesthetically important part of these vehicles. Spoiler alert: Painted automotive body panels require specialized coatings and application techniques and, as a result, are not ideally suited to the use of prepainted metal. Nonetheless, there are plenty examples of coil-processed material used in the transportation sector.

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Coil Coating: Then and Now

image1Announcer: There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly, and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. Continue reading →


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NCCA to Present at the22nd Galvanizing and Coil Coating Conference, September 12-13, 2017


NCCA Technical Director David Cocuzzi is scheduled to present a paper and conduct a 1.5-hour seminar on prepainted metal at the Galvanizing and Coil Coating Conference to be held September 12-13, 2017, in Abu Dhabi.

This area of the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, UAE, etc.) has experienced a surge in development over the last few decades. It’s easy to assume that oil revenue explains it all, and we know that a lot of money is being spent to build towers and islands, so why bother talking about coil coating? As these economies develop, each country has to grapple with their own unique set of conditions, not the least of which is that they cannot depend on an endless supply of oil. Each country must look to branch out into other areas of business that make the most sense for their economy while also studying what other global economies are doing. Continue reading →


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Tips for Prepainted Metal Maintenance

For most buildings, the exterior is designed to be its most important eye-catching feature. While we’re wired to be extra mindful of the cleanliness and maintenance of the interior of our homes and offices, we sometimes neglect to remember to give the outside of our buildings the proper care. One of the biggest advantages of prepainted metal is its easy maintenance, but there are a few easy steps to make your metal panels shine bright.

Rinse the surface with water.

This sounds like a no-brainer, but this is one of the easiest ways to clean coated metal panels. Dirt and debris built up over time can affect the quality of the panel’s appearance and potentially reduce the lifetime of the coating. Simply rinsing the surface with a garden hose or pressure spray system will clean most buildups on a coating surface, allowing the panels to look brand new.

Clean with soap or water for difficult areas.

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Science and ASTM

ASTM logoYou may think that that standards development in ASTM is a slow process—as it tends to be in most associations with volunteers. You may think ASTM-ers talk endlessly about the stickiness of tape or the problem with the precision of the pencil hardness test. Yes, there is plenty of that. There is also the development of new standards when new technology becomes established.

Anyone developing a piece of testing equipment in the paints and coatings industry—or the medical industry or the building and construction industry—can see the value of having an ASTM standard available to clarify its use and to describe its precision. While all of these things are important, I have found that ASTM is also the one association where science can “happen” most readily. Hard to believe? Read on! Continue reading →


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Accelerated Weathering: Part Two

Part One of this blog described some of the difficulties associated with accelerated corrosion testing. The chemistry is complex. There are many microclimates to consider. And the list goes on. There is good news, however. We are not alone. Extensive amounts of research across all coatings areas is done and reported routinely.

french-corrosion-instituteAs a Part Two blog on accelerated corrosion testing, here is a sampling of work done by the French Corrosion Institute, an organization that has done a great deal of work in the past with the European Coil Coating Association. The bullet points following the titles and attributions are my own comments from reading the documents: Continue reading →


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The Growing Popularity of Metal Roofing in the Residential Market

The Metal Roofing Alliance estimates that more than 750,000 U.S. homeowners chose a metal roof to protect their families in 2015. The Metal Roofing Alliance reports that demand for sustainable, eco-friendly and energy-efficient home improvement materials continue to grow in North America.

According to a new study conducted by Dodge Data & Analytics, the residential metal roofing industry saw a big jump in market share last year, moving from approximately 8 percent in 2014, to 11 percent in 2015. The independent survey showed that between 2014 and 2015, the total demand for metal roofing increased from 11.7 million squares to 17.7 million squares. This is the second time residential metal roofing has achieved double-digit market share in the re-roofing segment. Metal roofing is second only to asphalt shingle roofing in the remodeling market. Asphalt market share dropped 2 points overall, and it now makes up 78 percent of the U.S. market.

When the Metal Roofing Alliance began its national consumer awareness campaign in 1998, metal only made up 3.7 percent of the re-roofing market. The organization’s consistent effort to educate consumers about investment-grade metal roofing has helped to build this market.

Survey Data Continue reading →


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Accelerated Weathering: Part One

“Not this topic again,” you might say. By “this,” you probably inferred that you are about to read a few hundred words describing the difficulties of meaningfully correlating accelerated weathering to real-time performance. Rest easy; that old topic is kids’ stuff compared to understanding the meaningfulness of corrosion testing.

The performance of coil coatings over the lifetime of a product is of paramount importance. Of the markets served by prepainted metal, the building products market poses the greatest challenges. During a recent NCCA meeting, there were plenty of conversations about accelerated corrosion testing, and this got me thinking about the similarities—and distinct differences—when comparing accelerated corrosion testing and accelerated weathering. Of course, corrosion is a form of weathering, but the term “weathering” commonly refers to what happens to a product’s appearance properties (chalk, fade, gloss retention) when exposed to sunlight, heat and moisture.  On the other hand, corrosion refers to the degradation of the metal substrate.

Great progress has been made over the last 20 years to understand how to model an accelerated weathering test to better simulate the environment in which a product will be placed. We now have a better understanding of the need to duplicate the solar power distribution, the unrealistic effects of <295 nm UV wavelengths, and, most recently, the importance and necessity of coating moisture imbibition in the physio-chemical degradation of coatings. This level of understanding is mostly absent when it comes to accelerated corrosion testing.

What makes corrosion testing so difficult? Let’s start with the chemistry of corrosion versus accelerated weathering. Don’t worry; I do not intend to get into the chemistry and physics. We’ll leave that to the researchers, but it is important to know that these researchers are always striving to duplicate in an accelerated test cabinet the same chemistry that is taking place in the real world. When done effectively, new products can be introduced with an assurance that they will perform suitably in the field.

As demanding as it is to understand the degradation reactions of an organic coating during typical weathering, understanding corrosion reactions is way more convoluted! Continue reading →


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Securing Coils for Shipping and Related Requirements

The U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) provides specific requirements regarding shipping of products, including metal coils. The complete FMCSA requirements can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations. The following provisions of the code relate to securing cargo and safe loading:

  • Shifting or Falling Cargo: FMCSA, 49CFR393.100
  • Safe Loading: FMCSA, 49CFR392.9
  • Rules for Securing Metal Coils: FMCSA, CFR393.120

It is typical for shipping companies to properly secure cargo. Carriers assume responsibility for complying with DOT regulations, and coil coaters do not accept liability for the carrier’s responsibility to properly secure loads. Some companies require their carriers to acknowledge their familiarity with the federal shipping requirements and to agree to abide by the DOT regulations.

Some companies also include signs in their facilities to make drivers aware of their responsibility to be aware of the applicable regulations. An example of such a sign in a coil coating facility follows:

Notice of U.S. Department of Transportation Shipping Regulations: Continue reading →


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Nine Ways to Get the Most from Your NCCA Membership

 

You already know the tremendous benefits of coil coating metal, but do you know just how much there is to gain with your NCCA membership? Below are just nine ways that the more than 100 industry leaders involved with NCCA get the most from their membership.

Strength in Numbers – One company has limited influence on the media, regulatory agencies and legislatures. When many companies speak with one voice, you command the attention of movers and shakers at the federal, state and local levels. Acting as a unified industry, we speak more effectively and more cost-effectively through NCCA.

Cutting Edge Technology Resources – Through cutting edge technology resources, networking opportunities, educational materials and advanced training tools, NCCA provides critical resources to companies and allows them to grow the market for pre-painted metal. Continue reading →