Exciting portfolio (CP 2/2009)

Synergies are more productive. Such synergies are generated by the Construction Network Team of the BASF Group, to which BASF Coatings also belongs. The latest innovations were presented at the BAU construction trade fair in January 2009.

Façades and roofs: A broad field of application for BASF’s coil coatings.

This was the first time that BASF Coatings participated in the BAU trade fair, which is held every two years and regarded as Europe’s leading trade fair for the construction industry.

Being there was all the more worthwhile since the trade fair broke all records once again this year. Over 210,000 visitors informed themselves at the trade fair booths of more than 1,900 exhibitors from 151 countries.

At the joint BASF stand, the Construction Network Team of the BASF Group had an excellent platform from which to present the innovative products of the individual partners along with their joint developments.

For BASF Coatings, the main emphasis was on the coil coatings sector. “The construction market, which enjoys a share of almost 70 percent for steel and almost 80 percent for aluminum, is the largest market for coil coatings,” says Dr. Wolfgang Kranig, responsible for BASF’s coil coatings business in Europe and Africa, explaining the reason for his company participating in this trade fair.

Coil-coated thin sheets of metal are proven, versatile materials and constitute the basis of a large number of construction products in the areas of roofing, façades and windows as well as doors and gates. Such aspects as technology, cost-efficiency, functionality and last but not least aesthetics speak in favor of products made of steel and aluminum – particularly when they are used in major building projects for designing entire roofs or façades of buildings.

System solution

The latest developments in coating materials for precisely such applications were presented at the trade fair by BASF Coatings, for example, the third and enhanced generation of chromate-free primers for coil coatings, a segment in which BASF Coatings paves the way as a market leader.

The new product COILTEC® Universal P CF harmonizes with every pre-treatment, spreads well and is ideal for deep-drawing. As a white and homogeneous system solution, it offers both smooth and textured topcoats excellent properties and prevents rust on galvanized steel panels. COILTEC Universal P CF can be used for all galvanized substrates and topcoat technologies, which both simplifies and speeds up production. Enhanced resistance to adverse weather conditions, particularly at low temperatures and in UV radiation, is just one of the characterizing features of the new generation of the plastisol-based topcoat PLASTICERAM® Top.

BAU 2009: BASF Coatings set up a booth for the first time.

Its protective qualities have been proven in extensive long-term test procedures – including a 1000-hour salt spray test as part of an anti-corrosion test and a 4,000-hour test exposing the coating to the influence of adverse weather conditions and UV radiation.

These advantages, coupled with their property profile, make coil topcoats containing plastisol an important material for modern architectural designs, which PLASTICERAM Top additionally supports with metallic effects and individual color schemes in line with the requirements of the designers.

The high performance of PLASTICERAM Top is combined with the further enhanced environmental compatibility. The coating does not contain any heavy metals and is phthalate-free.

It is quicker to apply and cures faster, which significantly increases the efficiency of the application process and thus the sustainability as well.

Since its market launch last year, PLASTICERAM Top has been highly successful. References include the Porsche showroom and the BASF Energy House in Nottingham (described in Coatings Partner 1/09).

As the third highlight, BASF Coatings presented flooring with finish foil, a wood décor paper coated with a clear coat (foil coating).

In contrast to laminate, these finish foils use less energy and material during production, and – like real wooden flooring – also have a “warm touch” due to their structure, which laminate does not offer.

It was only the development of a special coating formula that made it possible to efficiently produce finish foils for flooring even on standard production equipment.

Combined fields of expertise

“Our products are highly promising and have successfully won visitors over,” says Anne Heimes-Scheller, Industrial Coatings Marketing Europe, summing up the trade fair presentation by BASF Coatings.

The joint presentation as part of the BASF Construction Network Team highlighted the performance of this association for experts and guests attending the fair.

How the innovative products of individual divisions of BASF are combined to produce synergetic solutions was demonstrated by various applications such as sandwich elements and complete external wall insulation systems.

Different fields of expertise within the BASF Group were drawn upon to devise a coherent and highly productive complete solution in terms of construction physics.

www.basf-coatings.com