Above: Almost any visual image can be achieved through the use of prints or film.

Innovative coatings add personality and performance to industrial, architectural and consumer goods

April 2019 - Selection of an optimal metal coating system depends upon many factors, including the desired appearance and function. Metal substrates are already formable, durable and sustainable.

In addition to color, coil coatings can provide metals with texture, imagery and decoration. Coatings can have metallic, color changing, gloss and matte finishes; emulate natural materials; add dimension through surface texture and embossing; incorporate images or logos; or create a distressed or weathered appearance.

Coatings can also offer architects and designers solutions for demanding conditions and difficult forming processes, providing barriers to weather, noise, vibration, heat and contaminants; aiding in forming, joining, sealing and assembly of products; protecting against fingerprints, graffiti, dirt and ultraviolet rays; and enhancing conductivity, cleanability, slip resistance and antimicrobial properties.

Colors and textures can provide a house with a personalized look. Photo: Western States Metal Roofing

Finding a match

The team at Precoat Metals, St. Louis, Missouri, knows this list encompasses a dizzying array of choices and that sorting through the possibilities can be a daunting task for any architect, specifier, product designer or purchasing agent. In fact, sometimes desired attributes may not be yet available, requiring product development, engineering and collaboration to create a new coating that can satisfy aesthetic and performance requirements.

“We are the design partner to help customers sort through all the options,” says Steve Johnson, Precoat’s director of marketing and planning. “Often, it is a process of matching product performance attributes with the end-product’s performance requirements. However, Precoat is able to come through even when specific coating attributes aren’t readily available.

“In those cases, our Innovation Team’s skill sets, connections and resources are often able to create something new,” Johnson says.

Precoat formed its Innovation Team in 2003, dedicating people and resources to new product and process development. Each team member has expertise in coatings, film laminates and treatments, the coating process, print technology and print design, product forming, fastening and assembly, market development and logistics.

As a focused independent toll coater, Precoat is situated at the crossroads of suppliers, markets and applications. This market position provides an objective perspective to assist customers in making the best choices for their specific project, according to Johnson.

Precoat’s Innovation Team can help customers find the best fit for their aesthetic objectives and performance criteria.

Product families

For over 50 years, Precoat has worked closely with customers and suppliers to develop aesthetic and functional, standard and specialized coatings. In 2018, the company broadened its offerings by introducing four new brand families: PCM Dimensions, PCM Mimics, PCM Xtremes and PCM Foundations.

Coatings from the PCM Dimensions line are already in place throughout the country. For example, the Emma and Georgina Bloomberg Center at Cornell Tech features a color changing coating. This project design won the Metal Construction Association 2018 Chairman’s Award for Overall Excellence.

“The opportunity for PCM Dimensions extends beyond the construction market,” says Duane Drew, Precoat’s Innovation Team manager. “Entry doors, office furniture, home appliances and elevators are some of the applications where the features can provide value and differentiation.”

PCM Dimensions coatings and laminates “pop when you see them,” Drew adds. “These systems demonstrate interesting visual effects, textures, and sometimes both.”

Beyond pearlescent or metallic finishes, depth of image can be applied to create optical illusions and multidimensional appearances. Applied coatings can exhibit a change in color depending on one’s viewing angle or the position of the light source. The effects can be triggered by a stimulus, like temperature or light. Tactile properties can add texture or create surfaces that meet specialized needs.

Customers that want to achieve a certain look but want the benefits and durability of metal can also turn to the PCM Mimics line. Bidirectional wood grain prints are increasing in popularity for residential garage doors. “These types of prints exhibit both horizontal and vertical wood grain orientation that accurately emulates the panel patterns found on traditional wooden garage doors,” Drew says.

Precoat creates many of the designs for the Mimics line in house. Patterns are generally categorized as wood, stone, materials or nature. Patterns and colors can represent man-made products, too, such as roofing products (shingles, shakes and tiles), concrete, stucco, brick and metals (new, brushed and weathered). Nature patterns include grasses, woodlands and camouflage patterns.

“We also produce customized logos, text and striping,” adds Drew. “We have coated a wide variety of patterns that can be seen in applications like metal roofing, deer stands, window wells and gas station canopies.”

Coatings can provide a vintage patina without investing time in an aging process. Photo: Western States Metal Roofing

Accept the challenge

Sometimes, projects require not only beauty but also brawn. For tough environments, Precoat developed PCM Xtremes, a line of coatings and laminates that “are resilient and perform in highly aggressive and harsh environments,” Drew says. Formulations were developed for exposure to ultraviolet rays, moisture, high temperatures, corrosive environments and aggressive substances, like contaminants in the air, water or soil.

“There is huge potential in these types of applications,” Johnson says. “Building structures that contain corrosive industrial processes present the types of challenges we are attempting to address with these systems, and animal confinement environments are another potential market.”

Coatings can add warmth and character to applications by emulating natural materials, such as wood.

Everyday objects

The applications for PCM Foundations coatings are not typically visible or apparent, Drew says. “They are task-oriented systems that can protect a part, augment assembly of a final product, improve performance in the field and even enhance maintainability.”

PCM Foundations coatings can be found in applications from aerosol cans to dry erase boards and home appliances. The line includes dry film lubricants, weldable primers, adhesives and sealants. Some offer antimicrobial, non-slip, insulative, anti-fingerprint and conductive properties.

Precoat continually receives new requests, ideas and challenges from its customers, which helps push the development of the next generation of innovative coatings.

“We interact with our supply chain partners in development activity,” Drew says. “We monitor emerging technologies and processes and are regularly involved in the early stages of development.” Discovering new application opportunities, enhancing processes and formulations are key tasks for the team and the brand families, he continues. “Our new brand structure now allows richer conversations with all stakeholders.” MM