News Application Areas
ACE coatings: Robustness ensures long-term value
With agricultural and construction machinery becoming ever more digitalised and expensive, the durability and robustness of coatings are critical. Birgitte Weber, Byk, highlights why resilient coatings are indispensable and why colour matching between liquid and powder coatings remains a major challenge. Interview by Bettina Hoffmann
How important is the long-term appearance of the paint in the field of agricultural and construction machinery?
Birgitte Weber: Today, agricultural and construction machinery are digitalised and often equipped with high-tech features, leading to increasing acquisition costs. With such high investments, the longevity of the machine and the highest possible resale value are crucial purchasing factors. Therefore, the robustness of the paint with high demands on long-term appearance plays a significant role.
Coatings that have an optimised performance portfolio through the selection of suitable additives not only offer an appealing long-term appearance but also bring a whole package of additional properties that support the preservation of the appearance. They protect the machines from mechanical stress such as stone chipping, scratches, and abrasion marks. Additionally, they offer good corrosion resistance, are yellowing-resistant, and withstand weathering as well as chemicals such as lubricants or fuel. This combination of properties extends both the high-term appearance and the lifespan of the machines and therefore reduces the need for frequent repainting.
How challenging is colour matching with different paint application methods and the various house colours of manufacturers?
Weber: Powder coatings and liquid paints are not directly comparable. Colour matching is particularly challenging with powder coatings, as their composition is less customisable than in conventional liquid paints, so it is not feasible and therefore requires more effort in advance. The metamerism between liquid paints and powder coatings also plays a significant role. Here, precise fine-tuning by the powder coating manufacturer is necessary.
Therefore, these processes are common practice and are adhered to within tight specifications, regardless of whether they are RAL colours or house colours. In the field of liquid coatings, the use of modern computer colour matching systems and well-formulated pigment concentrates allows for accurate colour adjustments. Given the higher flexibility in wet paints, these can be adjusted in medium-term use before application, ensuring deviations from set specifications are corrected by design standards from the start.
When using powder coatings, the selection of pigments and raw materials is restricted. The use of inorganic and organic pigments is limited, and concentration cannot be varied freely. In order to guarantee that the desired colour shade can be reproducibly achieved, strict quality management systems and processes are essential.
