Architectural Powder
Coatings
Michael Withers
Axalta Coating Solutions
Agenda
•  Comparing liquid / powder
•  Powder Coating manufacturing process
•  Who uses architectural powder coatings
•  Who is AAMA? Powder coatings designed to meet AAMA
•  Voluntary specification for coatings on aluminum
•  Differentiation between AAMA 2603, AAMA 2604 and AAMA
2605
•  What are the differences between them?
•  Anodized and metallic effect coatings and application
characteristics
•  Can these coatings be applied to steel?
•  Certified Applicator Program and Warranty
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Composition of a thermosetting powder coating
vs liquid paint
POWDER Coating
LIQUID Paint
100
100
50
50
0
resin +
hardener
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Volatile Organic
Components
0
pigments
additives
solvent
Powder coating manufacturing process
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Who uses Architectural Powder Coatings?
•  Aluminum Extrusion Manufacturers
•  Curtain Wall Manufacturers
•  Fencing Manufacturers
•  Residential and Commercial Window and Door
Manufacturers
•  Lighting Manufacturers
•  Metal Office Furniture
•  Job Shops specifically serving the Architectural Market
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AAMA – what is it?
American Architectural Manufacturers Association
Since 1936, AAMA has stood as a strong advocate for manufacturers
and professionals in the fenestration industry with respect to:
• product certification
• standards development
• education and training
• legislative regulations
• building and energy codes
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Industry standards
AAMA 2603 – powder has significant market share – primarily residential
– white, bronze and black are primary colors – market is primarily
standard durable HAA polyester
AAMA 2604 – powder has significant market share – high end residential
and commercial applications – anodic look, white, bronze and now more
colors – market is primarily super durable HAA polyester
AAMA 2605 – powder has small market share – highest growth potential
to convert liquid to powder – metallic, white, bronze and other colors –
these will be fluoropolymer based
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What is TGIC Polyester, HAA Polyester, Super
Durable and Fluoropolymer?
•
TGIC Polyester – industry standard in USA for decades for exterior applications – cured with
triglycidyl isocyanurate – recent legislation regarding use/labeling
•
HAA Polyester – industry standard in Europe – newer technology to USA – more worker
friendly – cured with hydroxylalkylamide - no legislation regarding use/labeling
•
Super Durable – higher performing resins/pigments – no performance standard defined - if
properly formulated it can meet AAMA 2604 requirements – increases cost/pound
•
Fluoropolymer – powder offset to Kynar resins in liquid coatings – Meets AAMA 2605 –
highest weathering performance powder coatings available – significantly higher cost/pound
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American Architectural Manufacturers Association
Test
AAMA 2603-13
(Polyester)
AAMA 2604-13
(Superdurable
polyester)
AAMA 2605-13
(Fluoropolymer)
Dry film hardness
Dry film adhesion
Wet film adhesion
Boiling water resistance
n/a
Impact resistance
Abrasion resistance
n/a
Muriatic acid resistance
Mortar resistance
Nitric acid resistance
n/a
Detergent resistance
Window clearner resistance
n/a
Humidity resistance
1500 hrs
3000 hrs
4000 hrs
Salt spray resistance
1500 hrs ASTM B117 3000 hrs ASTM B117 2000 hrs ASTM G85a5
South Florida weathering
1 year
5 years
10 years
Color retention
Slight fade
< 5 Delta E (Hunter) <5 Delta E (Hunter)
Chalk resistance
Slight chalk
< No. 8
< No. 8
Gloss retention
n/a (slight chalk/fade)
≥30%
≥50%
Coating erosion
n/a (no crazing)
<10%
<10%
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AAMA 2604 – does every Superdurable meet it?
•  Remember first slide – to make powder coating you need resin,
pigments and additives
•  Every individual raw material must be rated as superdurable to meet
the AAMA 2604 spec
•  Not every superdurable powder on the market meets AAMA 2604
•  Resin/extenders primarily give the gloss retention
•  Pigments primarily give the color retention
•  Standard durable polyester will retain 60% of the initial gloss after 2
years in South Florida
•  Super durable resins can retain 80+% of the initial gloss after 5 years
in South Florida
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Accelerated Testing for AAMA 2604
South Florida – long time standard – it is real time test so if test is 5
years then it takes 5 years to get results
EMMAQUA – testing in Arizona – used by automotive industry –
significantly decreases time to get results – uses parabolic mirrors
and water spray
ASTM B117 Neutral Salt Spray – long time standard – again long
time to get results – not as aggressive on aluminum – 3000 hours
ASTM G85 Annex 5 – cyclical corrosion test – get results quicker –
more aggressive test on aluminum
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FLORIDA RESULTS- SKY WHITE PFW510S9
% GLOSS RETENTION
(AAMA 2603 QUALITY)
60 Degree Gloss
Units of Gloss
100
89
80
81
79
79
76
65
60
40
32
20
0
0
3
6
9
12
18
24
Months
Facing South 45°
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FLORIDA RESULTS- CNH CE GRAY PFH672S9
% GLOSS RETENTION
(AAMA 2604 QUALITY)
60 degree gloss
120
100
98
Units of gloss
90
83
80
80
81
76
72
60
40
20
0
12
24
30
42
48
54
60
Months
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DuPont Industrial Coatings
Accelerated Testing for AAMA 2605
South Florida – long time standard – it is real time test so if test is
10 years then it takes 10 years to get results
EMMAQUA – testing in Arizona – used by automotive industry –
significantly decreases time to get results – uses parabolic mirrors
and water spray
ASTM B117 Neutral Salt Spray – long time standard – again long
time to get results – not as aggressive on aluminum
ASTM G85 Annex 5 – cyclical corrosion test – get results quicker –
more aggressive test on aluminum
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Florida Results
Fluoropolymer Powder Coating (AAMA 2605 Quality)
Courtesy of Asahi Glass Co., Ltd.
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AAMA 2605 - Fluoropolymer
Kynar
Lumiflon
•
Kynar is a trade name
•  Lumiflon is a trade name
•
Kynar is PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride
•  Lumiflon is FEVE (fluorethylene
vinyl ether resin)
resin)
•
PVDF is a thermoplastic fluoropolymer
•
PVDF based resin is used to make liquid
architectural paint/powder coating
•
70% Kynar based products meet AAMA
2605-13
•
Used in liquid architectural coatings
suppliers products
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•  FEVE is a thermoset
fluoropolymer
•  FEVE based resin is used to
make architectural powder
coating/liquid coatings
•  Lumiflon based products meet
AAMA 2605-13
AAMA – 2605 Mechanical Factors
Liquid – thermoplastic – does not crosslink – softer coating – easily
wears off on touch surfaces – door push/pull handles
Powder – thermoset – does crosslink – harder coating – doesn’t
wear easily on touch surfaces
Anodized – softer and is more easily worn off on touch surfaces –
lead times for anodized is pushing 8 weeks
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Environmental Factors
•
Liquid has solvents (VOC) and powder is solvent free (virtually no VOC)
•
Both are eligible for LEED credit points
•
Exhaust for liquid typically will be passed through thermal oxider –
combusting the VOC
•
This is how the exhaust from a liquid line is environmentally friendly
•
Thermal oxidizer does increase carbon footprint for liquid
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Color Trends in Architectural Powder Coatings
•  Residential profiles have trended back to white, black and bronze
•  Commercial profiles still use white and bronze but special effect
coatings (mica/aluminum) are popular
•  Recently, powder coatings have made a very good offset for anodized
look coatings – clear anodized appearance is popular and can be
made in AAMA 2603 and 2604
•  In Europe, textured coatings are becoming popular, these can be
made in AAMA 2603 and 2604 for use on profiles in the US
•  The RAL color program is the popular choice for using colors on
architectural profiles – suppliers are making in AAMA 2603 and 2604
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Typical Architectural Color Palette
Bone White Matte
Rich Black II Matte
Hartford Green Matte
Ivory White Matte
Sandstone Matte
Colonial Blue Matte
Interstate Green Matte
Brick Red Matte
Fashion Grey Matte
Light Seawolf Matte
Enduring Bronze Matte
Metallic Bronze Matte
Charcoal
Gray Matte
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Gloss Ranges
Matte
35-45 (standard)
Semi-Gloss 50°-60°
Full Gloss 75°+
Why color matters?
•  Architects design projects using color as an expression of their
concept of the overall design of a building
•  Often furniture color selection, lighting components and fence color
selection are incorporated into the project
•  Extrusion components are not always coated in the same batch at the
same time
•  Look at hotels, restaurants, commercial strip malls at the window and
door openings and you will see color variations in extruded pieces
•  Liquid and anodized parts that have hand contact will wear off easily
exposing bare aluminum
•  Powder can eliminate those color variations
•  Color can be measured using spectrophotometer
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Color Measurement – get the right standard first
What is L, a, b and delta E
Determine if match is measured
by spectrophotometer
•
We need to know if it is a visual match or
the match will be measured on a
spectrophotometer
•
R&D Lab needs chip very close to master
color position in their spectrophotometer
•
Suggest measuring chip and recording its
position as well as master color position
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What are metallic powder coatings?
•  Manufacturers often refers to them as special effect pigment coatings
but the field generally refers to them as metallic powder coatings
•  There are many appearances possible with these special effect
pigments from silver, copper, gold, bronze, veins, speckles and more
•  These coatings can give the industrial appearance as in anodized as
well as the old world appearance of bronze
•  These metallic coatings do not spray like solid colors, they require a
change in gun settings, application methods and reclaim potential
•  How does Axalta manufacture metallic powder coatings
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How are special effect coatings produced?
Special Effect coating contains pigments like mica and metals such as
aluminum, gold, bronze, copper, to create an unique and exciting visual
effects in powder coating.
Special effect coatings are produced through three different processes
1.  Extrusion
2.  Dry Blend
3.  Bonding
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What are Bonded Metallic Powder Coatings?
The special effect pigments(Mica and/or Metals) are bonded to the base
powder through heat and impact
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Comparison of Dry Blend versus Bonded
Dry Blend Metallic
Bonded Metallic
Advantages
Advantages
1. Lower Cost
1. Uniform Metallic effect
2. High Metallic effect
3. Reclaim-ability
4. Higher pigment Loading
Disadvantages
Disadvantages
1.Can’t effectively reclaim
1.  High manufacturing cost
2.Can’t effectively use shaker box
feeder
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Fluidized bed
Powder / Air mixture to spray gun
Exhaust air
to booth
High / Low level probes
Porous tile
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Fluidizing air
Effective Application for Metallics
•  Metallic powder can be stood on edge creating a rough darker
appearance if the gun tip is too close to the part
•  For best results, maintain 8 – 12” from gun tip to part
•  Use continuous smooth up and down motion starting above the part
and continuing below the part for 2 – 3 double passes
•  Lower kVs to 55 – 65 kV
•  Use gun tip purge air if available
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Bad application :
Too much powder flow
Kv too High
No Regular spray
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After cure
Good application: Good transport
High Voltage adjust to 50-65 kv
Regular spray
After cure
Special Effect Coatings- What’s Possible?
•  Powder Coating layer of 2 – 3 mils with single application
•  Nearly 100% yield due to reuse of powder coating overspray
•  Clear coat not required for few types of metallic coating
•  Super-durable and Ultra-Durable metallic for Architectural
•  Anodic look with single layer powder coating – Anodic Powder
Coating
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Anodic Powder Coatings
Key Benefits
The first credible alternative to chemical
anodization
Smooth anodized look (virtually no
orange peel)
Extremely low gloss (7-12 @ 60º)
Soft touch; less prone to fingerprint
marks
Easy application
Uniform color match (batch to batch and on
welds and mixed alloys)
Uniform anodized look on steel and
aluminum
Fewer color related problems during
window assembly
Compatible with a wide range of substrates
Possibility to provide the anodic look on
complex shapes, various alloys, steel
cladding or sheet panels
Hides surface defects
Profiles, with extrusion lines or scratches,
can be used
Chemical anodisation
Anodic Powder
Meets Qualicoat I and AAMA 2603-Long
term field testing on going
New! - AAMA 2604 product now available
Can you apply these same coatings to steel/iron?
Architectural powder coatings can be applied to steel but most
suppliers do not offer the same warranty
Steel obviously cannot provide the same corrosion resistance as
aluminum
However, architectural powder can still provide the color and gloss
retention that is desired for steel/iron
Some suppliers do offer a color/gloss only warranty available
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Certified Applicator Program
•  Architectural Warranty only provided to Certified Applicator
•  Requires on site performance testing by Technical Service
•  Testing typically takes 6 months to complete
•  Detailed audit of customer processes and AAMA recognized
pretreatment is required
•  Most suppliers do not offer warranty to hand spray wand
pretreatment systems
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Architectural Audit – what to expect
•  The purpose of the audit is to verify that the coating line and customer
processes are able to consistently meet the AAMA requirements
•  Pretreatment must be recognized by AAMA
•  Technical Service will be panels, pretreated and bare. You need to
supply extrusion material that has minimum 2” flat surface
•  Extrusion will be coated at full length then cut into pieces for testing
•  Panels will be coated on panel rack to ensure good impingement
•  Powder Coating will be supplied to coat panels/parts
•  DI Boil test will be performed to ensure it passes on site
•  If passing DI Boil, then panels and extrusions are sent to Axalta
Technical Service for performance testing
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Calculating Applied Cost
Applied Cost Calculator
Instructions: Enter the specific gravity, recommended film thickness
and price per lb of the chosen powder or powders. Powder comparisons,
film thickness consequences and utilization effects can be evaluated using the
tables below.
Product Identification
Specific Gravity
Film Thickness
Coverage per lb (sq ft)
Price per Lb
Material Utilization
Cost per Square Ft
Option 1
Option 2
Option 3
Option 4
Company A Company B
1.68
1.39
2
2
57.2321
69.1727
#DIV/0!
#DIV/0!
$
2.00
$
2.56
$
2.00
$
2.00
92%
92%
92%
92%
$ 0.0321 $ 0.0340
#DIV/0!
#DIV/0!
Cost Per 1,000,000 Square Feet
$32,149.77
$ 34,048.13
#DIV/0!
#DIV/0!
Cost
Applied Cost / 1 Million Sq Ft
$40,000.00
$30,000.00
$20,000.00
$10,000.00
$-
Series1
1
2
3
4
Powder Options
16-Aug
Greg Hoven
Axalta Coating Systems
35
Thank you and Questions?